2022 Ochota Barrels 'Texture Like Sun - Sector Red' Red Blend Adelaide Hills

Winemaker Notes: In 2022, with fewer white varieties in the blend, this wine leans more fresh red than deep rosé. It has sour cherry, pomegranate, and white pepper aromas on the nose. The palate is supple and juicy, as if the juice that pools at the bottom of a raspberry-picking basket were blended here. Acidity commands your attention on the mid palate, and there is a bite of bitterness on the finish. Drink chilled.

The label may be completely illegible with its utterly lurid and almost painful yellow label. “That’s the idea”, said Taras back in 2018. “It’s something in a clear bottle, released in Spring, nothing to hide, yummy”. This wine has always been about the result and not the components, with each vintage changing quite a bit in the ‘how’s’ and ‘what’s’. 2022 marks the second vintage of a new era at Ochota Barrels with Amber taking control in the vineyards and cellar following the tragic passing of her husband Taras. The name of the wine is taken from lyrics from the song ‘Golden Brown’ by The Stranglers as it was the song Taras and Amber danced to at their wedding. Keeping the song and eternal love going was never going to be in question and this blend of roughly 60% Adelaide Hills fruit with nearly 40% McLaren Vale fruit helps to accomplish that goal. Amber chose in 2022 to cut back on the number of varieties in this blend, showcasing Gamay and Grenache primarily, with a touch of texture from the Gewürtz and elegance from the Pinot Noir. The fruit was hand-picked with only the best fruit being used. The clusters were kept separate and cold soaked for a few days, then fermentation kicked off naturally in small, open-top fermenters. Toward the finale of primary fermentation the Gewürztraminer skins were tossed into the Pinot Noir ferment. The fruit was hand plunged multiple times a day over the course of two weeks prior to being basket-pressed to old French barriques for aging. Amber made the barrel selecti

Ochota Barrels, a project started by Taras and Amber Ochota in 2000, is a name that typifies the new wave winemaking scene 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 vivid, highly textured, small batch, single-vineyard wines. Over the years, the regions and vineyards have evolved slightly, but the focus has remained the same. The Ochotas have always taken a less is more approach to winemaking and have infused their love for music into their wines. In fact, the majority of the wines are named after their favorite bands/songs (Fugazi, Slint, I am the Owl, Texture Like Sun, etc.). Taras once said, “I reckon you can often see the styles of music people like in the wines they make. I like edgy music, rawer, sharper, and my wines tend to be all elbows and knees sticking out." After Taras' untimely death in 2020, Amber has continued to make the same minimalist, single-vineyard wines, honoring Taras' dying wish.