Winemaker Notes
Deep ruby in color. Intense bouquet of violets, fennel, sage, boysenberry, marzipan, cigar box and a hint of
cedar. Layers of concentrated cherries and dark chocolate on the palate followed by slowly building fine grained graphite-like tannins of immense length.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted from a Cadus puncheon, the 2017 Shiraz Block 6 looks like another great vintage of this wine. Blueberry liqueur, fresh florals and vanilla appear on the nose, while the full-bodied wine is creamy and rich yet structured, with a crisp, tight finish.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
Tasting Panel
The aromatic nose paves the way for profound flavors of toasted oak, spice, and intensely rich blackberry. An outstanding Shiraz from 126-year-old vines, it’s well worth the price.
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Decanter
The wettest season since 1992, with a mild summer, warm days and cold nights in the lead up to harvest on 21 and 30 March has produced exceptional fluidity, freshness and definition of blackberry and bramble fruit. Lifted spice, violets and fine tannins rise on a persistent, beautifully balanced finish. Much to come. Matured 20 months in new French and American oak puncheons.
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James Suckling
This has a wealth of intense, dark-berry and plum aromas with hints of violets, licorice and earth, as well as fresh blueberries. The palate has such impressively deep flavors, delivered in a fresh, smooth mode. Long, blackberry and plum flavors carry deep. Impressive depth and balance here.
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Wine & Spirits
The vines at Block 6 in the Kay family’s vineyard were 125 years old in 2017. The soils in this 3.5-acre parcel start as red loam at the top of the hill, move into clay in the middle and gravelly alluvial topsoil lower down, all of it over sand derived from a complex mix of rock, including limestone and sandstone. The grapes were destemmed, fermented in open-top vats and basket pressed; then the wine aged for two years in puncheons. It’s an old-fashioned style of shiraz, black and smoky, cool and cedary, its fruit earthy against bloody, iron-rich tannins. Making no concessions to the contemporary market, it demands—and will reward—long and patient cellaring.
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Wine Enthusiast
The distinctive, rustic style of this historic winery is on display in this premium Shiraz made from the oldest block on the property. A nose of forest berries, cumin, mocha and baking spices leads to a powerful, textured palate. With more freshness than in previous vintages, this allows some fruit character to shine, although the tannins are still massive and the oak a tad prominent. This needs time and plenty of it, but should be a lovely one for the cellar.
Cellar Selection -
Wine Spectator
Powerful and polished, with plush, ripe huckleberry and blueberry flavors that show off a smoky thread, delivering terrific details of tobacco, baking spice and sandalwood. Shows great harmony on the finish.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.
Whites, often made from Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc tend to be opulent and full of tropical, stone and citrus fruit.