Kay Brothers: 128 years of Block 6 Shiraz

Within a week of acquiring the Amery vineyard on 2 February 1891, brothers Bert and Fred Kay had ordered 60,000 vine cuttings from Thomas Hardy’s Tintara vineyard.

On 18 July 1892 they began planting Block 6 – the origin of Kay Brothers’ now iconic McLaren Vale Shiraz.Created in 1984 from the surviving 1.6ha of original, gnarly old vines, Block 6 Shiraz attests to the successful reorientation by Bert’s son (Cuthbert) and grandson (Colin) to making premium, estate-bottled wines.Today, the family farm comprises about 20ha, compared with more than 100ha at peak production.

The family had focused until the 1980s on selling bulk blends of Grenache, Mataro and Shiraz to negociants due to an industry oversupply of red grapes which shrunk Kay Bros’ thriving business.

Block 6 Shiraz – featuring Bert and Fred on the label – may be a creature of the ’80s, a decade known for excess, but Colin Kay asserts: ‘we never went for extreme ripeness’.

A recent vertical displayed consistent balance and profile, with site-driven savoury, supple tannins.

With the shift to larger-format vessels, French oak and finer-grained, better-seasoned and toasted American oak (with no coconut character), later vintages beautifully showcased the vineyard’s fruit intensity without diminishing from this Shiraz’s signature savouriness or balance.

Complexity and balance

For winemaker Duncan Kennedy, Block 6’s strong house style lies in a terroir that is ‘quite complex and diverse… an advantage, especially when producing a single-vineyard wine’.

As Colin observed of the undulating block’s four soil types (grey sandy loam, hard brown loamy clay, alluvial red-brown gravel and hard red-brown clay) which influence flavour ripening levels, tannin and structure: ‘It’s all about how you mix the colours.’

Kennedy believes that Block 6’s collection of mixed massale selection vines adds complexity too.

As for balance, ‘the most critical objective’, says Kennedy, Block 6 benefits from a predominantly east-facing (less sunny) aspect and exposure to gully and sea breezes.

Lately, regenerative farming methods such as mulching, composting, cover crops and eschewing artificial fertilisers and phasing out herbicides have improved soil quality and vine balance, allowing flavour to develop at lower potential alcohol levels.

Gentle handling techniques in the winery include hand harvesting, fermenting whole berries and hand plunging, as well as using a hydraulic basket press, installed by Bert and Fred Kay in 1928.

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