Robert Parker's Tasting Notes and Ratings Issue 167 Issue 161 Issue 155 Issue 143 Issue 135 Vertical Block 6 Tasting

Kay Brothers Amery Vineyards Wine List

Vintage Reports 2002 Vintage Report After the record 2001 vintage we were a little apprehensive when reports came in from other vineyards of anticipated lower yields due to a poor fruit set resulting from the cool windy spring. Luckily our Amery vineyard was not adversely affected by the spring weather or the long dry autumn and the tonnage was on a par with 2001. Overall the 2002 produced outstanding grape quality with the intensity of fruit flavour being one of the highlights. The 2001-2002 summer was South Australia's coolest on record and allowed for a milder ripening period for all varieties, meaning flavour ripeness was gained at high sugar levels while excellent natural acidity was maintained. As a result of this gradual ripening process the wines are some of the best seen in McLaren Vale with Shiraz the outstanding variety of 2002. All our 2002's have excellent colour, structured tannins and flavours with balanced natural acidity making for long living palate pleasing wines with the added protection of Stelvin closures for assured bottle maturation. 2003 Vintage Mild weather during the ripening process has resulted in the harvesting of superb fruit from our Amery vineyard. Colin Kay and assistant winemaker Matt Reynolds vintage report - "Moderate rainfall over winter was followed by a warm dry spring with excellent flowering and fruit set. Coupled with warm growing and ripening conditions, Kays Amery delivered average to above average yields throughout the vineyard, bucking a regional trend of low crops. Rain prior to harvest caused some concern, however the fruit quality was not affected and superb grapes were picked across the whole vineyard. Vintage began on the 24th February with Semillon and Frontignac (Muscat Blanc) and the resulting wines are fresh and varietal. Red grapes began filling the winery on the 12th March, the vines from the Amery vineyards producing bunches with small berries, thick skins, good phenolic ripeness and excellent natural acidity. The red wines are deep and rich, in colour and character and, when bottled after 18 - 28 months American and eastern European oak maturation, will be suitable for medium to long term bottle ageing." 2004 Vintage Colin Kay's 2004 vintage report: "A very wet spring gave the vineyards a great start and this coupled with unusually high fruitfulness has led to very good crops of excellent quality. Summer, apart from a couple of hot spells of short duration, was mild and dry with cool nights. This has led to vintage being a little later than normal after a steady and good ripening period. Flavour, colour, seed and phenolic ripeness have all occurred at lower sugar levels than the past few vintages and acid levels have been just right. At this stage we see wines with good fruit characters, fine tannin structure and nice acid balance. They should develop well in the maturation wood and be about 1% less in alcohol than the past few vintages. We are excited by the overall quality of the fruit and expect that wines from the 2004 vintage will show considerable elegance and style." 2005 Vintage Colin Kay's vintage report "A text book perfect season with very good sub-soil soaking winter rains followed by a gentle spring with just the right amount of moisture. The summer was mild with timely rain that cooperatively stopped about the time the grapes started to ripen. The weather through ripening was ideal with reasonable daytime temperatures and cool nights and vintage began on the 2nd March, perhaps a week later than average. Thanks to the mild and dry vintage weather the grapes ripened to perfection and the resultant wines are a delight with intense fruit character and showing excellent balance with fine tannins. The wines are settling down very well and we believe 2005 vintage will be one of the great ones." We picked a total of 174.92 tonnes from our Amery vineyards - 123.79 tonnes Shiraz, 15.86 tonnes Cabernet Sauvignon, 9.88 tonnes Grenache, 4.05 tonnes Mataro, 18.44 Merlot and 2.9 tonnes Muscat Blanc (Frontignac). Even though the crop was down by 25% compared to the 2004 vintage we were more than pleased with the 2005 vintage. The reds have now begun their oak maturation with the Amery Shiraz, Amery Cabernet and Amery Merlot looking forward to 18 months in casks and the Block 6 Shiraz and Hillside Shiraz 28 months. 2006 Vintage Colin Kay's 2006 vintage report "A wet winter and spring, good early summer rains, a mild early summer followed by warmer dry weather through the grape ripening period, all combined to provide ideal growing conditions. Picking started on the 9th March and finished on the 23rd March a short hectic vintage with everything ripening at once! Fortunately we had just installed a new Hypac basket press to keep the old Coq press company and as these two presses accepted the same baskets we were able to cope with a normal vintage tonnage in half the usual vintage processing time. The 2006 wines are all showing intense deep colours, very pleasing rich fruit characters and fine mouth filling tannins. We picked a total of 180.96 tonnes from our McLaren Vale Amery vineyards 26.49 tonnes Cabernet Sauvignon, 12.79 tonnes Grenache, 2.67 tonnes Mataro (Mourvedre), 21.83 tonnes Merlot, 3.37 tonnes Frontignac (Muscat Blanc) and 113.81 tonnes Shiraz."

Balkan Oak With our recent Block 6 Shiraz we have used some new Balkan (Eastern European) oak barriques in the wines wood maturation. It is oak that is the same species as French oak with its very tight timber grain but is often superior in quality. It has been largely forgotten that up until the 1930's much of the oak used in winemaking worldwide came from the Balkans, although it was then usually referred to as Memmel oak. With the reopening of trade with Eastern Europe since the lifting of the "Iron Curtain" these forestry resources are becoming available again. The actual oak we are using comes from Bulgaria and we are also experimenting with oak from Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic with results thus far very pleasing. We are finding the Balkan oak is complimenting the American oak beautifully and at this stage we believe a combination of the 2 is giving a better result than either one alone.

2007 Tasting Notes (PDF File) Download here

2003 Kays Amery Block 6 Shiraz SOLD OUT In their 111th year the ancient Block 6 vines produced a small crop of 14.18 tonnes of superb quality Shiraz grapes. They were hand picked on the 17th March 2003 and traditionally processed (open fermentation and basket pressing) prior to transferring to new American and Eastern European oak casks for 28 months of wood maturation. Bottled under Stelvin screw cap closures on the 28th July 2005. Colour: Dense inky black with purple tints. Bouquet: Toasty integrated oak, blackberries, briar, black pepper and spice. Palate: Multi layered concentration of very rich, juicy, full-bodied black-berried fruits combined with chocolate, tar, pepper, liquorice, smoky oak and chewy robust tannins. An intensely complex mouthful of Shiraz fruit with a finish that lingers and lingers. The rich fruit carries the 15.5% alc/vol and we would see this Block 6 developing into a great example of old vine Shiraz with 6 years plus in a good cellar.

    

2004 Kays Amery Block 6 Shiraz SOLD OUT In their 112th year the ancient Block 6 Shiraz vines produced a crop of superb quality grapes which were handpicked on the 9th March 2004. The grapes were traditionally processed at our heritage Amery winery with open fermentation and basket pressing prior to transferring to new American and Eastern European oak casks for 28 months of wood maturation. This magnificent wine will be bottled in late July 2006 sealed with Stelvin screw caps. Colour: Deep dark garnet/plum with purple highlights. Bouquet: A complex lifted rich ripe savoury integration of spices, peppermint, cinnamon, new leather, blackberry, toasty oak and briar. Palate: Unmistakable old vine Block 6 Shiraz mouth filling lip smacking intensity. Vibrant ripe fruit multi-layered with intense blackberry, dark chocolate, plum, mulberry, spice and liquorice flavours. The mouth feel is silky and the fine tannin structure adds the perfect balance to the long lingering finish. The robust, toasty, vanillin characters come from 28 months maturation in 100% new American and Eastern European oak, with the time in wood allowing the process of oak and fruit integration to evolve displaying the rich layering of this beautifully balanced and structured full bodied red. 15% alc/vol.

Block 6 Shiraz Vines Planted 1892.

Block 6 Shiraz - On the 26th of May 1891 Herbert and Frederick Kay ordered 30,000 Shiraz vine cuttings from Thomas Hardy. The cuttings were collected from Hardy's McLaren Vale "Tintara Vineyard" on 23rd July 1891 and planted to nursery beds. Tintara was planted in the 1850's by Dr A.C. Kelly who probably obtained the vine cuttings from his "Trinity Vineyard" at Morphett Vale. Dr Kelly drew his original planting material from the Busby collection, from Europe and quite likely from other early S.A. viticulturalists about 1842. The planting of Block 6 commenced on the 18th of July 1892 and when finished 5,890 Shiraz vines had been placed in the fertile soil at Kay's Amery Vineyard. Of the original 12 acres only 4 remain today with approximately 2,000 vines - 8 acres were grubbed in 1983/84. Soils: The present 4 acres comprise a corner of red loam, some rather heavy clay in the middle of the block and gravelly alluvial soils on the lower side. Viticulture: Rows run North-South and the vines were originally pruned to bush vines. In 1987 a modern trellis was built and the vines were trained onto this. Before 1987 the very elongated arms of the old bush vines presented something of a tangled mess, there was considerable suckering and the block was referred to as the "Pumpkin Patch". The retraining is still evolving and a small vigorous section has been adapted to vertical shoot positioning. Irrigation: The block was dry land managed till 1987, from 1988 to 1991 supplementary irrigation was applied, in Spring 1991 drip irrigation installed and now water is used to maintain vine health and optimise fruit quality. Yields: 2 to 2 3/4 tonnes per acre Pruning: Up to 1987 vintage bush vines spur pruned and vines rather spread out and haphazard (the previously mentioned Pumpkin Patch look). Since the new trellis installed a rod and spur system used. About 80% of vines are original plants; replacements have been made by layering from adjacent vines. The layering procedure has been used in the Amery Vineyards since the 1890's - it's slow but sure way of replacing a missing vine among mature vines. Harvest: The aim is to make a wine of about 14% alcohol; on the day of hand picking beaume across the various parts of the block varies by 3 deg. to 4 deg., typically we have three of our open fermenters with beaumes of 12 1/2 deg, 14 deg and 15 1/2 deg. Winemaking: The aim is to make a rich full flavoured fruit driven complex wine. Open fermenters are used (the original ones built by the Kay Brothers in 1895/96). Skin contact 7-10 days and the cap is submerged with head boards. Pressing by basket press (installed 1930's). Fruit is hand picked.

2003 Kays Amery Hillside Shiraz SOLD OUT The Hillside vineyard had its beginnings in 1992 when cuttings from the 100 year old gnarled vines of Block 6 were planted on the eastern hillside of the Amery property - further plantings of the Block 6 clone took place in 1993, 1997, 1998 and 1999. The 2003 Hillside Shiraz grapes were harvested in March, traditionally processed (open fermentation and basket pressing) and will have aged in new American oak casks for 28 months prior to bottling in late July 2005. Colour: Deep cherry black. Bouquet: Sweet fruit perfume of black cherries, blackberries, white pepper and spices over subtle toasty oak. Palate: A rich, round, soft, voluptuous, fruit driven Shiraz with a hint of confectionery sweetness in the background. A very approachable full bodied combination of blueberries, plum, Ribena, mocha chocolate, spice box, vanilla and pepper fill the palate with pleasurable flavours and the balanced soft tannin finish has both length and persistence. Excellent cellaring potential. 15% alc/vol.

2004 Kays Amery Hillside Shiraz SOLD OUT The Hillside vineyard had its beginnings in 1992 when cuttings from the 100 year old gnarled vines of Block 6 were planted on the eastern hillside of the Amery property - further plantings of the Block 6 clone took place in 1993, 1997, 1998 and 1999. This is the 8th vintage release from our Hillside vineyard, with the first being from the 1997 vintage. The 2004 Hillside Shiraz grapes were harvested during March 2004, traditionally processed (open fermentation and basket pressing) and will have aged in 100% new American oak casks for 28 months prior to bottling in late July 2006. To protect our wine from undesirable outside influences we use Stelvin screw caps to seal the bottles. Colour: Vibrant black cherry. Bouquet: Blackberry, spices, black pepper, cigar box, rich dark chocolate, red capsicum and vanillin oak. Palate: A rich, flavoursome, fruit driven combination of spicy dark cherry, pepper, blackberry, mulberry, briar, chocolate, ripe plum and vanillin oak. Bold and youthful this multi-layered savoury delight will complement a range of foods and situations that demand a traditional and distinguished full bodied red wine. The balanced acidity and fruit and oak tannins have all combined to make a rich satisfying wine, with full depth and length of palate, which can be bottle aged for many years. We recommend decanting 1-2 hours before enjoying. 14.5% alc/vol.

2004 Kays Amery Late Harvest Frontignac Handpicked on the 8th March 2004 it is a fresh, vivacious style best enjoyed icy cold. Bottled under Stelvin closures on 25th May 2004. June 2005 Tasting notes: As most late harvest styles are consumed when they are quite young it is always fascinating to follow our Frontignacs as they mature in the bottle. The colour is pale straw with green hues and the lifted musk perfumed honeydew/passionfruit/hibiscus nose is a delight. Lingering tropical fruit flavours of sweet melons and passionfruit dominate the semi sweet citrus crisp palate and the long fruity finish is both clean and crisp. A deliciously tasty drop now - try with pate or stilton cheese. 11 % alc/vol.

2003 Kays Amery Merlot SOLD OUT The Merlot grapes were mechanically harvested on the 24th March 2003 with 17.55 tonnes from Block 22 of the Amery vineyard. Our fifth Merlot was traditionally processed, using the original Amery winery open fermenters and basket press, prior to maturation in American Oak barriques for 18 months. The finished wine was bottled under Stelvin screw caps on the 19th January 2005 with a 15.5% alc/vol. Selected in the Top 100 Australian Wines For 2005 with a score of 94 points (the highest rated Merlot) - "It envelopes you with its immaculately sweet, juicy, prune, mulberry and marshmallow sugar bouquet, seasoned just a tad in gentle oak. The palate follows smoothly: syrupy and slick, with an illusion of sweet confection. Its vegetal tannins take you slowly back to the earth from which it came. But they'll soften with six years of cellar." Philip White - wine writer for the Advertiser Newspaper.

2003 Kays Amery Shiraz SOLD OUT The grapes for the 2003 Amery Shiraz were selected from our McLaren Vale vineyards planted exclusively with cuttings from the 1892 Block 6 Shiraz vineyard. The Block 6 clone (on which all our Shiraz plantings are based) is quite unique in that it allows Colin Kay to make consistently superior long living wines. Harvesting took place during March 2003 and after traditional open fermentation and basket pressing the wine was placed in American oak barriques to develop and complex over the next year and a half. Please decant at least 1 hour prior to pouring. Bottled under Stelvin screw caps on the 21.1.05. June 2005 Tasting notes: When we continually make such delicious Shiraz wines it's easy to see why we find it an interesting exercise selling other varieties! What a pleasure it was to taste this red, it's so user friendly. Dense black cherry colour and aromas of butter over blackberry and blackcurrant together with pepper, tar and liquorice. The intense fruit dominant characters carry through to the velvety textured palate and combine with flavours of chocolate (mocha), liquorice, coconut, vanilla (American oak), pepper and spice - a red with tremendous mouth feel and great length. It will live for many years in the bottle but is well worth a look at now. 14.5% alc/vol.

2004 Kays Amery Shiraz The grapes for the 2004 Amery Shiraz were selected from our McLaren Vale Amery Shiraz vineyards planted exclusively with cuttings from the 1892 Block 6 Shiraz vines. Harvesting took place on the 5th March 2004 and after traditional open fermentation and basket pressing the wine was placed in American oak barriques and hogsheads to develop and complex over the next 23 months. Bottled under Stelvin screw caps on the 23rd February 2006. Decanting 1 hour before enjoying is recommended. Colour: Dark ruby with purple highlights. Bouquet: Ripe plums and blackberry surrounded by cloves and vanillin oak with chocolate and briar notes together with hints of menthol, black pepper and spices. Palate: A complex array of plum and dark berry fruit, complemented by an assortment of spices. The rich silken fruit, soft layered persistent tannins, balanced acidity and subtle vanillin oak influence give a full bodied, satisfying Shiraz with excellent fruit expression and palate length. This Shiraz can be enjoyed now or cellared in temperature controlled conditions for 5 years plus. 14% alc/vol.

2003 Kays Amery Cabernet Sauvignon SOLD OUT Harvested on the 3rd April 2003 with 14.09 tonnes from Amery vineyard Block 22 and 4.92 tonnes from Oliver's McLaren Vale Taranga vineyard. The grapes were traditionally processed with open fermentation and basket pressing and aged in American oak barriques for 18 months prior to bottling under Stelvin screw cap closures on the 20th January 2005. June 2005 Tasting notes: An elegant medium bodied, rich, fruit driven wine with a deep purple hue and complex aromas of creme de cassis, blackberries, black olives and coffee. The fruit dominant palate displays flavours of bIackberry, cedar, mocha chocolate, liquorice and mint combined with fine integrated oak and grape tannins and a long persistent finish. This red developed beautifully in the glass and is an excellent food wine, which will complement rather than dominate food. 2-4 year cellaring potential. 14.5% alc/vol.

2004 Kays Amery Cabernet Sauvignon Harvested on the 17th March 2004 from Block 22 of our McLaren Vale Amery vineyard. The grapes were traditionally processed with open fermentation and basket pressing and matured in American oak barriques and hogsheads for 23 months prior to bottling under Stelvin screw caps on the 23rd February 2006. We recommend decanting 1 hour before enjoying. Colour: Deep purple hue. Bouquet: A delicate, lifted, perfumed nose with violet and floral notes combined with mint leaf and caraway seed. Palate: Full, rich, ripe berry fruit (blackcurrant and mulberry) overlapped with a vein of black olive, capsicum, oak and mint. An elegantly finessed Cabernet with seamless fine tannin structure and balanced acidity. It is fruit dominant, with the integrated American oak playing a supporting role, and exhibits both subtlety and power with a delightfully satisfying palate length. It is ready for immediate enjoyment or can be cellared in temperature controlled conditions for 6 years plus. 14% alc/vol.

2002 Kays Amery MGM (Merlot/Grenache/Mataro) SOLD OUT Vintaged from grapes grown on the Amery vineyard, our first Merlot/Grenache/Mataro was traditionally processed (open fermentation and basket pressing), then aged for 18 months in American oak casks prior to bottling under Stelvin screw caps on the 3.6.04. June 2005 Tasting notes: Merlot is the main component of this soft, fruity, very approachable red and it has filled out wonderfully with a year in the bottle. Brick red in colour with a Grenache raspberry confection bouquet and a sweet, fruit dominant palate with an excellent balance between savoury meat and confectionery flavours. It is medium bodied with soft tannins and the Grenache/Mataro, add both weight and complexity. It is a delight to enjoy now (or over the next 3 years) - easy drinking but with plenty of character and interest. Decanting will bring out the best in this blend. 15% alc/vol.

Liqueur Muscat - An intensely luscious rich Liqueur style of great complexity. Vintaged from very ripe McLaren Vale Muscat Blanc (Frontignac) grapes (the grapes are left on the vine until they are raisined) and matured for many years in small oak casks. Enjoy with Coffee, Dried Fruit and Nuts or try over Crushed Ice, with a twist of lemon. Also great as an adults only topping on your favorite icecream - Why should the kids have all the fun? Average age: 14 years. Packaged in 375mI wax sealed bottles.

Founders Very Old Tawny Solera - This superb Tawny Port was released to celebrate and commemorate the KAY family's 100th year at Amery in 1990. To produce a port of this quality takes many years of small oak ageing and a patient Winemaker but the result is well worth the wait. A beautifully balanced port with a rich intensity of mouth filling flavours and a lingering aftertaste. 'Don't forget to lock the door before opening a bottle or wait until the guests have left!! Average age: 16 years. Packaged in 375mI wax sealed bottles.

Kays Amery Red 10 Litre Wine Cask This delightful easy drinking red blend is ideal to enjoy now or it can be bottle aged for 1-2 years to add further complexity. Each 10 L cask contains the equivalent of 13 1/3 bottles.

Established 1890 - Kays Amery Winery & Vineyards Kays Road, Mc Laren Vale - Traditional Premium McLaren Vale Wines -

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