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Ochota Barrels

2025

‘Texture Like Sun – Sector Red’

Red Blend   |   McLaren Vale - Australia
Shelf Talker Spec Sheet Wine Label Bottle Image

About

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.” The idea is simple: they take bits of fermenting juice destined for other varietal Ochota wines and blend them all together. 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’.  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. The 2025 vintage marks the fifth 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. This vintage is a real mish-mash, with Pinot Noir the dominant grape (though at only about 30%).

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 with an average of 40% of the clusters intact and the remainder de-stemmed. All varieties were hand plunged multiple times a day over the course of 12 days prior to being basket-pressed to old French barriques for aging. Amber made the barrel selections for the blend after a few months of aging then blended the wines to tank to settle. It was bottled with just a small addition of sulfur and a pad filtration. No fining.

Stats

  • Grapes: 30% Pinot Noir - 24% Grenache - 23% Gewurztraminer - 15% Gamay - 8% Pinot Meunier
  • Vineyard: Wait (McLaren Vale, Grenache) - Eureka (Adelaide Hills, Gamay & Gewurztraminer) - Chapel Valley (Adelaide Hills, Pinot Noir) - Uva (Adelaide Hills, Pinot Meunier)
  • Vine Age: Average: 40-years-old
  • Soil Type: Predominantly ironstone and gravel-infused red clay
  • Viticulture: Certified organic (Grancari Vineyard) and the rest dry-farmed
  • Fermentation: Native – separate ferments in open-top vats with avg. 40% whole cluster
  • Skin Contact: Average: 12 days
  • Aging: 4 months in old French barriques
  • Alcohol: 12.2%
  • pH: 3.49
  • Total Acidity: 5.6 g/L
  • Total SO2: 65 ppm
  • Total Production: 295 cases
  • UPC: None

Tasting Note

Thee palate entry is lusciously red and supple, then gives way to finely shaped tannins that are swept up by a wash of damson, cigar box, and cassis. It’s juicy and vibrant–the perfect wine for a picnic by a waterhole, fine dining in the world’s best restaurants, and everywhere in between. It’s long, fleshy and so very drinkable…

 

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Producer


Ochota Barrels

Region


McLaren Vale

Country


Australia

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