Ochota Barrels Masterclass Pack

• 2025 Ochota Barrels Slint Chardonnay
• 2025 Ochota Barrels A Forest Pinot Noir
• 2025 Ochota Barrels Price of Silence Gamay
• 2025 Ochota Barrels Fugazi Grenache

2025 Ochota Barrels Slint Chardonnay

The Slint is an electric Hills Chardonnay. Sourced from a high 550m site in the heart of the Piccadilly Valley - farmed by good mate to the Ochota family, Sam Virgara - these vines have been digging in since the 1980s. It’s proper cool-climate territory, and it shows in the glass.

For the 2025 release, Amber Ochota kept the usual winemaking program. The fruit was hand-picked in late February and pressed with full solids straight to Burgundian barrels (a mix of seasoned and shiny new oak) for a seven-month rest. It was fermented wild, of course.

It leads with mouth-watering grapefruit and nectarine, but there’s a savoury depth here too. Think mealy Granny Smith apple, beeswax and a hit of nougat spice. Svelte and tightly wound - with fewer than 3,000 bottles made, it’s a rare look at exceptional Adelaide Hills fruit treated with respect.

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2025 Ochota Barrels A Forest Pinot Noir

Amber Ochota is passionate about Pinot, and this is another excellent release of 'A Forest'.

Sourced from Sam Virgara’s Piccadilly plantings and the 'Taras' block - farmed by their good mate Laurence Scanlon - it’s a Pinot that feels deeply connected to the local community.

The winemaking is all about staying out of the way. Amber ferments the fruit in micro-batches before basket pressing it to seasoned French oak. It creates a wine that is savoury and complex rather than just fruity.

In the glass, it lives up to the "forest" vibe with notes of undergrowth, crushed petals and damson fruit. There is a real rustic edge here - think peaty, meaty elements mixed with tarry red currants and a distinct medicinal twang. It’s taut and compact right now but evolves massively with air, so don't be afraid to decant it or even drink it over a couple of days.

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2025 Ochota Barrels Price of Silence Gamay

Gamay holds a special place in Amber Ochota's heart. It's the one variety planted on their home block in amongst the beautiful Hills of the Basket Range.

It will be a few years before we see a wine from those vines but in the meantime, the Price of Silence Gamay is a great stand-in.

This is a beautifully delicate yet juicy number made from three separate clones of Gamay all planted on the same vineyard back in 1985. After a few years as Gamay, the vines were grafted to Chardonnay, Taras helped the Piccadilly Valley grower cut the Chardonnay back and re-graft Gamay. Chainsaws in the vineyard. A few years later we have this wine.

It’s fresh, zippy, and best served slightly chilled - a perfect companion for sunny afternoons and spontaneous moments. This is one of the fastest Ochota Barrels wines to sell out each year. If you are one of the lucky few who get to try it, kudos to you.

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2025 Ochota Barrels Fugazi Grenache

This is the heartbeat of Ochota Barrels. It’s the wine that kicked everything off back in 2008 when Taras and Amber were cruising in their Kombi, Fugazi blasting on the stereo, and they found this incredible patch of dirt. If you want to understand what this label is all about, you start here.

The source is a single block of dry-grown bush vines on the Blewitt Springs ridge, planted in 1947. These old vines dig deep into ironstone and red clay, producing tiny berries with insane concentration. Amber treats them with total respect - handpicking them in late February and giving them three weeks on skins before a seven-month rest in old French oak.

It defines the modern McLaren Vale style - lighter, fresher, but with serious grip. It’s taut and nervy, packed with red currant, plum and a hit of red jelly. There’s a fleshy weight to the mid-palate, but it’s reined in by fine, dusty tannins that drag the finish out. It’s svelte, it's rock and roll, it's the original archetype for modern McLaren Vale Grenache.

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