Cud Kay
Cuthbert (Cud) Kay took over the management and winemaking at
Amery and increased the vineyards, concentrating on more Cabernet
Sauvignon, Shiraz and Riesling with some smaller areas of
Sauvignon Blanc and White Frontignac.
Cuthbert Thornborough Kay lived from 16 June 1914 to 3 August
2001. He was a gentleman and a scholar, and one of our last links
to pre-war winemaking. His funeral was held in the 1895 cellar in
which he'd toiled his days away: a simple pale room of whitewashed
stone and creaky dry timber, with a door so low the pall bearers
had to bend way down.
The Kay Brothers were partners in business for 57 years, which
is a remarkable achievement in the Australian winemaking scene.
Herbert Kay was made Chairman of the Australian Wine Board in 1933
where he sat for twelve years. Herbert's son Cuthbert (Cud) Kay
took over the management and winemaking at Amery. He increased the
vineyards, concentrating on more Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and
Riesling with some smaller areas of Sauvignon Blanc and White
Frontignac. In the 1960s changes in the estate's primary UK market
and uneconomic prices led to the development of Australian
markets. Initially this was in bulk to other winemakers but
progressively more and more wine was packaged until eventually all
of the output became branded under the Kays Amery Vineyards label.
Text courtesy of Kay Brothers Winery www.kaybrothersamerywines.com/history
Aussie Wines www.aussiewines.com.au/wineries_Online.php?wines=Kay%20Brothers
Audio
Below are a selection of audio extracts taken from an interview
with Cud in September 2985 with Janice Brabbins.
Track 1:
Talking about the businesses his father and brother were involved
in before they established Kay Brother's Winery (2:31mins)
(2.88Mb)
Track 2:
His father's first endeavours to establish the winery (3:11mins)
(3.64Mb)
Track 3:
How many acres his father first owned (1:51mins) (2.11Mb)
Track 4:
Cud's favourite wine that he makes (1:28mins) (1.68Mb)
Track 5: Childhood
memories of wine making (1:00mins) (1.14Mb)
Track 6: Water
supply at the winery in the early days (1:31mins) (1.73Mb)
Track 7:
Power supply at the winery in the early days (3:18mins) (3.78Mb)
Track 8:
Pioneering the planting of Rhine Riesling in the district
(2:53mins) (3.32Mb)
Track 9:
Family taking over the management of the winery (3:13mins)
(3.68Mb)
Interview transcript
Download the full
transcript (1.6Mb) of an interview with Cud Kay in September
2985 with Janice Brabbins.
Colin Kay
Colin (Col) Kay was born (as his father was) in the Kay family
home 'Amery' in Kay Brothers Amery Vineyards in Kay's Road,
McLaren Vale in 1940, where he followed his father as winemaker
and manager. His father Cuthbert (Cud) Kay, and his mother,
Barbara (nee Haines) had four children, Colin, Helen, Bill and
Alice. Cud had succeeded his own father, Herbert, as winemaker and
manager. In 1970 Colin married Ruth Berry, and they had two
daughters, Helen (deceased) and Elspeth.
Amery is said to be the oldest McLaren Vale vineyard still in
founding family hands. In 1890 the brothers Herbert and Frederick
Kay bought a farm in the foothills of the Southern Mount Lofty
Ranges five kilometres from McLaren Vale. They planted vines in
1891, and in 1895 built a gravitational winery and carried out
their first crush.
Text taken from the interview summary provided by Susan
Marsden.
Audio
Below is an audio extract taken from an interview with Colin
Kay in June 2009 with Susan Marsden.
Track 1:
Memories of the Willunga train being used to transport the wine
(2:32mins) (2.31Mb)
Track 2:
Kay Brother's Wines and the planting of historic block 6
(2:29mins) (2.27Mb)
Track 3:
Grape varieties grown and the original fermenting cellars
(4:11mins) (3.83Mb)
Interview transcript
Download the full
transcript (1.3Mb) (still in draft) of an interview with Colin
Kay in June 2009 with Susan Marsden.
Photographs
A166
|
Amery homestead -
no date |
458
|
Amery homestead in 1984 |
460
|
Amery homestead in
1984 |
704
|
Fermenting cellar
in 1984 |
739
|
Hogheads in the
vintage room in 1984 |
9598
|
Horses turning the
crusher in 1909 |
708
|
Amery cellar door
sales area in 1984 |
461
|
Old building at
Amery homestead in 1984 |
463
|
Vineyards in 1984 |
754
|
3,000 gallon vats
being put in the cellar in 1909 |
731
|
Grape pickers in
circa 1900 |
755
|
Grape pickers in
circa 1900 |
748
|
Grape pickers in
circa 1900 |
730
|
Grape pickers in
circa 1900 |
753
|
Grape pickers
having lunch at the original house in circa 1900 |
