The 2011 Merlot is black cherry in colour with a medium weighted palate. A nose of briary fruits, gum leaf and blackberry flavours upfront with a slight dusty character. The palate is tight and structured with black olives, tobacco, blackberry and boysenberry. Hints of smoky cedar oak give way to fine, chalky tannins and a warm lingering finish.

Kay's are specialist traditional red wine makers utilising grapes from their own 22-hectare Amery Vineyard. The grape varieties grown are Shiraz (including the 1892 Block 6), Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Viognier, Grenache, Mourvedre (Mataro) and Muscat Blanc. Colin Kay's winemaking philosophy is to make rich fullbodied fruit-driven wines (using the original Open Fermenters and Basket Press) with small oak cask maturation.