2018 Ochota Barrels She's Lost Control Fragola

About The Wine

This is not your average wine. Actually, it's not even made from average wine grapes...

The variety Fragola is part of the vitis labrusca family, a different genus of grape to the widely planted vitis vinifera varieties that fill the bottle shop shelves. Fragola is grown primarily for its phylloxera resistant rootstock, but here it makes a psychedelic wine.

There is very little of it planted in the whole country. Only three short rows are available to Taras Ochota, which makes around two to three barrels. In his opinion, "The weirdest grapes I’ve worked with, the weirdest wine I’ve made", which is saying something...

Weirdness factor aside, this is seriously good to drink. Brimming with jubey fruit and fascinating flavours.

One for the experimental wine lovers out there.

About Ochota Barrels

The term “rockstar winemaker” gets thrown around a lot these days but Taras Ochota, owner/purveyor of cult wine label Ochota Barrels, is the real deal.

His grungy, minimalist attitude towards his label has seen him gain huge cult status internationally as one of the most boundary-pushing winemakers in Australia. From his home in the beautiful Basket Range of the Adelaide Hills, Taras and his wife Amber craft small batches of wine from surrounding vineyards in the Hills and special sites across McLaren Vale and the Barossa Valley. Taras picks earlier than most as a general rule, so expect lighter, more ethereal wines with freshness and 'tension' as a motif.

These are highly sought after and extremely limited wines which have a pulsating energy and drive to them. Some of the country's most exciting vinous creations, no doubt.