Kay Brothers, Amery Vineyards Hillside Shiraz, McLaren Vale

Wow, what a lovely wine. Smooth and silky with velvety (I can’t say silky again) tannins some fruit still present with loads of tertiary complexity. Almost a long finish. A

2001 vintage

On the nose is pepper and spice with dark fruit (blackberry springs to mind), on the palate vanilla and oak flavours in all the right proportion, the wine is full bodied and well balanced, length is impressive and leaves a lingering after taste of delight. Great wine from a great winery and in a great space right now.

2010 vintage

Blackberry, plum, violets, tobacco, cigar box, mocha, spice. Medium-full body. Medium acidity. Medium-light, dusty tannins. Medium-long finish. In its peak drinking window and it will be several years before it begins declining.

2010 vintage

Over the hill. Drinkable, but past it’s prime. Couldn’t get the cork out, but when I pushed it in it appeared in great condition. Wine had a lot of bricking, hence the red color with orange elements. The most oak I have ever experienced on a nose. A turnoff but might have been worse without it. Wine had some fruit and texture, but wasn’t like a typical Aussie Shiraz. Oh well, wasn’t expensive at all.

2001 vintage

Blackberry, plum, tar, violets, mocha. Full-minus body. Medium-plus acidity. Medium tannins. Medium-long finish. Went well with beef short ribs. Got better with time.

2010 vintage

Colour: still had that dark plum Shiraz. Very nice Nose: plum with sweet cherry Taste: surprisingly better than last bottle. This time, opened bottle for over an hour before pouring. Rich sweet plum smooth and delicious. Sediment was present, definitely should be decanted.

2001 vintage

Nice fruit and long finish. Holding up very nicely. IMO has at least another five years of very fine drinking.

2001 vintage

At first, very nice sweet plum on the nose. First few sip, a slight sweet at the front and then the bitterness was apparent. After 2-3 hours it opens up very nice and tasty surprise! Not very big flavour, I would say medium but still plenty of fruit flavour. The colour is still very nice - plum dark red. It still have some life. I think it can still be nicely drunk a year or two later with proper storage.

2001 vintage

Faded but bit of fruit and spice left. Have not had anything from MV this old so not bad for age and price. Good experience. Update: after 3+ hrs, depth, flavor, and complexity improved. Welcome surprise!!

2001 vintage

drinking very well. some fruit still and a nice long finish.

2001 vintage

Moderate amount of fine sediment in the bottle. Decanted for 3 hours and consumed I've the next 3. Dark opaque purple. Blackberry, plum, bacon, tar, olive, pepper. Full body. Medium-high acidity and tannins. Medium-long finish. Went well with steak and on its own. Good now, but still tastes young, and likely to improve with several more years of bottle age. I'd give it 2 or more years before trying the next bottle.

2010 vintage

Lovely ripe plums and blackberries, spicy oak, McLaren Vale chocolate, aniseed. Good length. Lovely fine tannins. Silky and smooth; rich in texture but not syrupy or porty. Dark in colour. Great balance on the finish with a kick of acid for freshness. Old school Aussie wine done very well and without pretension.

2010 vintage

Way too jammy and fruity. Have had plenty of Aussie shiraz, this was not one of the good ones. Only drank a little of it, then dumped the rest.

2010 vintage

Still drinking nicely, with muted fruit notes. Not yet past its prime, but don't wait much longer.

2001 vintage

Needed time to open up. Delivered the goods after 1 hour. Still fruity, with an omnimous tar, peppery finish.

2010 vintage

Near or at end of peak, was great with 10 min of air. declined after about 2 hours of air. Consume over the next 3 years.

2001 vintage

Kind of text book approach to the varietal but nothing to write home about. Dark fruits, but very basic palate overall.

2010 vintage

Wow, this is a great bottle. Rich, smooth, integrated, not overly sweet. I personally think the Hillside is better than the Block 6, and I have had plenty of each. This was amazing on the PnP and probably at the end of peak. Simply awesome for $35.

2001 vintage

Saturated, very dark red violet color; tart black fruit, roasted black fruit, menthol nose; baked black fruit, roasted black fruit, light pepper palate; medium-plus finish

2010 vintage

What a wonderful surprise here. Spicy goodness, full mouthed fruit treat. Recommended

2010 vintage

Substantially better then previous. Needs air to open, which reveals nice balance of dark fruit and tannins. medium to long finish.

2001 vintage

Loved it. Fave of mine. Second bottle of night. Could have been first. Next time. These brothers rock. Only one of mine does.

2001 vintage

This wine is in good place right now. Reaching the pop and pour stage. Tannins are gone and fruit is delicious but not plush. Drink up!

2001 vintage

Loving the Brothers work. Would have loved to share a bottle of this with them 100 years ago! Fruity. Quality. Glad I've still got another half dozen or so!

2001 vintage

Really fruity and ready to go. Also has a peppery edge, almost Zinfandel-like. Primarily composed of raspberry and pepper. The finish is a bit short, but very full and round. Nice effort, but not really worth the entry fee.

2001 vintage

Wonderful! Yummy long finish...wish we had more!!

2001 vintage

Not sure if Fredrick or Herbert wins on this one. Both have subtle overtones. They linger. Not quite to the end. But enough to enjoy their company. Colin seems to have aged quite well. This is a quality red. Eating with seafood but want it with a massive beef roast. I got liquor ice and absolutely no mint per previous scripts. Either way I liked it.

2001 vintage

Drinking extremely well and a little surprised by this as I expected it to have held up less than the block 6 (very similar actually). Extremely smooth mouth feel with generous hints of dark fruits and plums from start to finish. Medium weight with some caramel cola and slight raisin on the finish. Definitely best with food that can stand up to it as it still have some of its boldness.

2001 vintage

Brilliant caramel nose. While still a relevant fruit bomb, this was somewhat brutish / obnoxious in it's soured acidity. This is a wine more appreciated during your sophmore stage - as I suppose most acclaimed shiraz to be. These days I'm starting to lean more towards delicacy ... which this wine exudes none of.

2001 vintage

After 30 min out of the bottle, it was pretty disjointed. 90 minutes out = amazing. Smooth, supple, balanced. Can't believe that this wine was so good...it's not even their highest-end Shiraz! Drink now and taste the experience. 91 points; purchased from WineBid.com for $34.50 on 1/15/2012

2001 vintage

thought it was slightly off; cork was fine, but the fruit was overly raisiny

2001 vintage

Beautiful fruit. Lots of flavors and medium viscosity. A little palate-fatiguing. Finish is 90+ seconds.

2001 vintage

Amazing aroma! Rich & fruity, with floral hints. The color is absolutely black. The texture is wonderful, smooth and round, almost chewy. Taste is subtle and balanced. Not nearly as fruity as the aroma. Taste of tar, , dried cherry, plum, and wood. I can't imagine it getting any better from where it is right now.

2001 vintage

Didnt get what the rave reviewers got on this one. Seemed dumb with almost no fruit. Hoping it was bottle variation.

2001 vintage

Dark and brooding. The nose is pure black cherries and cherry cola. This has a wonderful mid weight mouthfeel with loads of red/black fruits. There’s hints of cassis, a nice amount of black cherry, red raspberries, some cola, some Kirsch, and some black plum pumice; notes of worn leather; espresso bean, warm river stones, hints of menthol, spice box and wet forest floor. A really pretty and evolved wine that seems in such a perfect place right now, why wait. …

2001 vintage

Are you sure?

Kay Brothers, Amery Vineyards Hillside Shiraz, McLaren Vale

Vintages

No vintages

Community Reviews