About
"The ochota barrels tale began on a surf trip, late 2000 along the Mexican west coast in a Volkswagen campervan. A final destination after traveling some of the world’s best wine and surf regions, Taras and Amber Ochota conceived the idea to make super premium wines back home in South Australia.
The concept was to concentrate on the zenith variety of Mclaren Vale (Grenache) and the Barossa Valley (Shiraz), find an exceptional old vineyard site in each region and create plush, small batch, single vineyard wines.
With the winery situated in Lenswood, and steep, high altitude, cool climate, north facing burgundian cloned Chardonnay over a rock base of quartz and ironstone, at 550 meters above sea level......hello!!!?
“My idea is to embrace that natural acidity, which is basically from picking early. With that you get lower alcohol than your typical Australian wines. Wines that have energy. Taking a holistic approach to making wines that have an energy, that have a vibrancy. Wines that ‘pop’ when you put them in your mouth!" Taras Ochota
With the untimely passing of Taras Ochota in 2020, Amber Ochota has taken the reins and is forging her own path with Ochota Barrels.
2025 Summer Release
2025 fugazi grenache
this was our first wine made back in 2008 when taras and amber started ochota barrels- a tiny parcel of grenache picked up in the back of the kombi van and named fugazi for the band that was playing
produced from nearly 80 year old dry grown bush vines on the blewitt springs ridge- tiny berries and a miniscule yield from an incredible vineyard
the taut nervous tension of compact red currents and satsuma plums fills the mid pallet with mouth watering red berry intensity
finely grained tannins position this svelt, fleshy and measured weight of forest cherries and persimmons into a long succulent and savoury finish
2025 mclaren vale grenache
pH – 3.32 T.A. – 6.3 Alc. – 13.9%
3604 bottles filled
north facing unirrigated bush vines, planted in 1947 on ironstone and gravel infused red clay
handpicked 20th february
21 days on skins
pressed to seasoned (5-10 year) French barriques for 7 months
unfiltered and unfined
2025 slint chardonnay
a stunning vineyard with a high altitude of 550m, planted in the 1980s, in the heart of the piccadilly valley, farmed by our mate sam virgara
a tightly wound cool climate chardonnay which leads with mouth-watering grapefruit and nectarine
mealy granny smith apples and a fine tuning of nougat and honeysuckle spice sets the foundation for the almost nettle like svelte texture
aromatically evolving between, bee’s wax and meyer lemon rind, the palate is taut and precise and finishes long with powerful elegance
2025 adelaide hills chardonnay
2897 bottles produced
pH – 3.32 T.A. – 6. Alc. – 13.5%
hand picked 28th February, pressed with full solids straight to a mix of seasoned and virgin burgundian barrels for 7 months
indigenous yeast fermentation
2025 the price of silence gamay
in 1985, three clones of gamay were planted high up in the piccadilly valley. a few years later due to its unpopularity, they were grafted to chardonnay
it wasn’t until 2013, that taras convinced his grower mate sam, to chainsaw off the chardonnay grafts and bring back canes from the gamay rootstock evolving from there. cuttings were taken of these three clones and grafted on established vines in sam’s quartz-laden woodside vineyard, planted on a former gold mine
a crop was picked in 2019, bushfire burned in 2020, a harvest in 2021, and vines finding natural balance in 2022
a tightly wound classic example of gamay which shows medicinal fragrance, savoury spiced red currants that has a polished mineral palate that is lithe, dense yet elegant in its long and pure finish
2025 adelaide hills gamay
932 bottles produced
pH – 3.37 T.A. – 6.4 Alc. – 14.3%
thirteen days on skins, 30% whole bunch, 7 months in French oak
unfiltered
2025 a forest pinot noir
a strikingly floral nose of crushed petals and stems sets this liquid’s framework… garrigue and nordic forest undergrowth taunts damson fruit, pain d’epice and subtle peaty elements into a convincing show of rusticity
the delicate sappiness holds the taut, yet compact and textural palate in a state of flux, whilst tarry red currants and slightly meaty components enfold long with a savoury egress… through the experience a medicinal quality flutters, reminiscent of billie hoke, which cannot be ignored by the further travelled
once opened, this wine will move considerably after day one with more flamboyant adjectives that will make this tasting note seem 101 standard issue
2025 adelaide hills pinot noir
2351 bottles produced
pH – 3.71 T.A. – 4.7 Alc. – 12.6%
clones 114/115: D5V12: MV6 from sam virgara’s vineyards, 777 from Scanlon’s ‘taras’ block
open top fermented in micro batches
2025 home pinot noir
this is a wine of true love, made from a tiny single vineyard in uraidla, around the size of a tennis court, was planted with a mix of clones taken from the ashton hills vineyard a few decades ago
100% whole bunch, handpicked by 3 generations of our family, we picnic under the persimmon tree, in the crawford’s stunning garden, then head home to foot stomp in an open top fermenter
14 days later, we basket press to a tiny (really, really tiny), custom seasoned french barrel
this wine is all about family and enjoying slow lunches together under our hazelnut trees at home in beautiful basket range
bright red lifted aromatics of exotic spices fold through cherry skin and kirsch feminine, elegant, and gorgeous
label photo of a poppy field, taken by amber from her bicycle, on the track to the winery where we worked in the southern swedish town, simrishamn
2025 adelaide hills pinot noir
267 bottles this year
pH- 3.62 T.A.- 5.9 Alc- 11.1%
100% hand picked whole bunch, basket pressed, 8 months in barrel
hand bottled, hand labelled, hand double waxed
unfined and unfiltered
2025 control voltage chardonnay
a selection of our favourite micro parcels of chardonnay from this vintage
days of tasting, thinking, retasting
holding it in its mouthwatering state is the complexity of brioche and white flesh stone fruits are the layered textural elements from batonnage and restrained input from virgin oak
2025 adelaide hills chardonnay
425 bottles produced
pH – 3.34 T.A. – 5.7 Alc. – 13.7%
handpicked mid-march, pressed with full solids straight to burgundian barriques
indigenous yeast fermentation
weekly batonnage
2025 186 grenache
we removed the head of a favourite seasoned vosges barrique and filled it with bunches of gorgeous blewitt springs grenache… we put the head back on and popped it into the corner of the winery…a bit over 186 days later, we pulled it out and pressed it off… dallas and yari helping out, we extracted tiny amounts of rich, delicious juice…
....this wine is an homage to the beautiful man that was taras, and his process...
2025 blewit springs grenache
only 120 bottles filled
pH – 3.44 T.A. – 5.7 Alc. – 14.0%
100% whole bunch
201 days on skins
8 months in barrel
unfiltered and unfined
