Meet the Matchmakers at Tasting Australia
CityMag sits down with five local winemakers participating in Tasting Australia’s debut Matchmaker Series.
It wouldn’t be a foodie festival in South Australia without highlighting the thing best paired with food – wine.
So in a new event for Tasting Australia this year, the Matchmakers series allows ticket holders to meet the local winemakers responsible for some of South Australia’s most beloved wines, such as The Lane, Seppeltsfield, Ministry of Clouds and more, but in a much less intimidating way.
There will be chatting, tasting and mingling, so CityMag sat down with five local winemakers participating in this series to learn more about their brands and ethos.
Amber Ochota from Ochota Barrels
Amber Ochota. This picture: supplied.
CM: What wine do you specialise in?
Amber: Grenache and Gamay, but also lots of other Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale deliciousness.
What’s your favourite part of your job?
Working at home with my children, family and animals surrounding me, long lunches in the garden and swims in the waterhole when we get hot and sticky.
What’s your favourite wine at the moment?
My favourite wine is any back vintages from our museum stock. Opening an old bottle takes me back to different parts of our life together and makes me both so, so happy and so, so sad at the same time.
What food do your wines pair well with?
I think our rosé pairs best with people you love to hang out with and laugh the loudest with, eaten with Mediterranean-style foods picked, if possible, straight from the garden.
What do you have planned for your label after the Tasting Australia event?
Ignore the barrels for a while and focus on the garden. We use the flowers and herbs in one of the wines we make and after the long dry summer, the plants are crying out for some love, attention and, hopefully, rain. The children and I also have a few trips planned this year, which will combine some wine work but also lots of play, exploration and adventure.
You can find Amber at Tasting Australia’s Rosé Matchmakers event on Saturday, 10 May.
Bernice Ong from Ministry of Clouds
Bernice Ong. This picture: supplied.
CM: What does your role involve?
Bernice: Both Julian [Forwood] and I are hands-on at Ministry of Clouds, so pretty much everything and anything that needs to be done. We are slowly getting better at finding some balance in our lives and now have a tiny coterie of amazing people around us. We love being on the tools during vintage, but also love the social aspect of what we do, showing our wines to consumers and our trade partners. We feel very lucky to be doing what we do and are big believers of making the most of our lives.
What wine do you specialise in?
Ministry of Clouds is a continuation of our time in the wine world. When we started back in 2012, we vowed to only work with varieties we love or varieties with a bright future in our region given the effects of climate change. Living with a severe case of FOMO, we do make a wide range of wines. That said, Grenache holds a very special place in our minds and hearts. It always has, and it’s the variety that gives us the most joy. We count ourselves very lucky to be able to work with some of the most coveted old bush vine Grenache blocks in McLaren Vale. Hence, the number of Grenaches and Grenache blended wines in our range.
What are you most looking forward to about the Tasting Australia Matchmaker event?
An opportunity to share our almost sold-out 2024 Picpoul baby with those attending – a white wine variety a little like Riesling, originating from the South of France, and famous for its ability to retain amazing acidity in a warmer climate.
What food does Picpoul pair well with?
Oysters. Picpoul is often referred to as ‘lip stinger’, lauded for its amazing acidity – give me a dozen freshly shucked oysters anytime and keep the lemon.
What’s a common misconception about your industry?
I think it is sometimes human nature to put people into boxes with labels on them. I am sure it happens in all industries, and in ours we tend to get separated into roles: winemakers, viti-people, marketers and salespeople. Thanks to the disrupters out there, who refuse to be pigeon-holed by any one of these classifications in pursuit of a more holistic view of our industry, these lines of demarcation are becoming fuzzy and fading away. Our industry is richer for its embrace of this diversity.
You can find Bernice at Tasting Australia’s Riesling and Friends Matchmakers event on Thursday, 8 May.
Fiona Donald from Seppeltsfield
Fiona Donald. This picture: supplied.
CM: What wine do you specialise in?
Fiona: Seppeltsfield has long been internationally renowned for its treasure trove of fortified wines, highlighted by the Centennial Collection – the world’s only unbroken lineage of single vintage Tawny dating back to 1878. But the star is starting to well and truly shine on the 174 Year Old Estate’s new chapter – the luxury collection of still wines, only possible since recently gaining full ownership of its trademark in 2017. Led by Barossa Shiraz, our hero variety here in the region.
What are you most looking forward to about the Tasting Australia Matchmaker event?
Sharing the story of Grenache – one of the original grape varieties behind our fortified history, and just how diverse it is, an important part of our luxury collection of wines – Rose, Grenache (Joven), Grenache Shiraz Mataro, Single Vineyard Grenache.
What’s your favourite part of your job?
Working with the diverse and passionate team here at Seppeltsfield – viticulturists, winemakers, cellar hands, production, cellar door, sales and marketing.
What food does your Grenache pair well with?
The 2024 Barossa Grenache is perfect with Char Siu Pork. The wine’s bright fruit and supple tannins complement the rich, caramelised flavours beautifully.
Subscribe for updates
What’s a common misconception about your industry?
That it’s all about drinking wine! There’s a lot of science, patience and long hours behind the scenes, but that’s what makes every wine so special.
You can find Fiona at Tasting Australia’s Grenache Matchmakers event on Saturday, 3 May.
Melanie Chester from Giant Steps
Melanie Chester. This picture: supplied.
CM: What does your role involve?
Melaine: I’m focused on the production side of Giant Steps, which is about growing the best grapes and making the best wines from our unique sites across the Yarra Valley.
What’s your favourite part of your job?
Harvest and vintage are the best part of my job because it’s a creative and exciting time. There is nothing as satisfying as picking a bin full of grapes, such a beautiful sight, and knowing the potential behind it.
What’s your favourite wine at the moment?
I’m really into Chenin Blanc at the moment. They are delicious and salty, but there’s always a bottle of Chardonnay in my fridge as well.
What are you most looking forward to about the Tasting Australia Matchmaker event?
If you love Pinot, you’re obsessed with Pinot, so I’m really looking forward to sharing a glass with other passionate Pinot producers and all of the guests coming along to partake.
What’s a common misconception about your industry?
The wine industry is often romanticised, and people forget that the industry is farming and primary produce. It’s also one of my favourite things about the industry: every drop in a bottle of wine is grown, it’s not a manufactured product.
You can find Melanie at Tasting Australia’s Pinot Noir Matchmakers event on Friday, 9 May.
Sam Milne from The Lane Vineyard
Sam Milne. This picture: supplied.
CM: What’s your favourite part of your job?
Sam: The diversity and seasonality of it. You’re never doing the same thing for long. From the intensity of vintage to barrel work to blending, it’s constantly changing. I like the yearly cycle of it, too – you’re only as good as your last harvest/release. There’s no time to rest on your laurels after making a great wine, and conversely, if you’re not 100 per cent happy with where a product is, there’s always next year.
What’s your favourite wine at the moment?
Of our wines, it’s like choosing your favourite child. I think the Lane 2024 Estate Chardonnay is looking particularly good at the moment and is about to be released.
In terms of other producers, I was lucky enough to try a 2018 Chateau Cheval Blanc at the end of last year (although at the price, I’m not sure when I’ll get to try another one of them).
What’s a common misconception about your industry?
That it’s glamorous and we sit around tasting wine all day. Most of winemaking is cleaning things so that you can get them dirty (and then clean them again).
What food does your specific wine pair well with?
At the Lane Vineyard Restaurant, we serve Lois with fresh oysters topped with green apple and caviar – a great match.
For me, though, it can go with just about anything – sweet or savoury. Sparkling wine offers itself to a wide range of food pairings – seafood, vegetarian dishes, charcuterie (or even simply a bag of plain chips, which is a personal favourite).
What are you most looking forward to about the Tasting Australia Matchmaker event?
Meeting some enthusiastic consumers and working with some extremely talented local winemakers. Any chance to talk about sparkling wine is a good time.
You can find Sam at Tasting Australia’s Sparkling Wine and Fizz Matchmaker session on Sunday, 4 May.