About Ochota Barrels:
 
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 altutude, cool climate, north facing Burgundian cloned Chardonnay over a rock base of quartz and ironstone, at 1,800 feet above sea level.
 
About Taras:
 
As an Oenology graduate from Adelaide University, Taras developed his craft at wineries such as Two Hands and MSV in the Barossa Valley, renowned for world class Shiraz, Grenache and Mataro. Prior to this, Taras was at Nepenthe in the Adelaide Hills, who have achieved numerous accolades such as ‘Best Chardonnay in the World’ at the London International Wine Fair.

More recently he worked as the European Flying Winemaker, concentrating on the Italian regions, Puglia and Sicily, for the Swedish wine importing company, Oenoforos.

California has also been a regular vintage destination of his, making wines with producers such as Kunin, Bonnacorsi, Arcadian, Schrader, Outpost and the famous Hitching Post’s label, Hartley-Ostini, from the movie ‘Sideways’.