Ochota Barrels Where’s the Pope Syrah 2024
One dark day in October 2020 news broke through to the wine community that Taras Ochota had died. Taras had sent me his wines a couple of times but I’d never met him, and his story had never been mine to tell. That is, other than via the glass, I had no personal connection to him, either real or pretend. And yet I always remember the moment that I heard that news; it was like hearing that one of the world’s navigating lights had been turned off. It felt wrong in both concept and in fact. This news was sad, obviously, but it was also unsettling. I’d never stared long and hard at Taras Ochota, but I had glanced at him, frequently, as had so many. These glances, textured like sun, had burned something onto us, and into us. Life would be lesser without him, but greater for him.
I don’t know Amber Ochota either, but I can’t imagine – given the above – that it was an easy decision to continue to make the Ochota Barrels wines. Anxiety is a beast, and for all manner of reasons, the position Amber finds herself in has anxiety written all over it, even though of course, it shouldn’t. Life’s not fair like that.
In any case, this Ochota Barrels Where’s The Pope Syrah 2024, which I bought at full retail price, is a cause for any and all involved to rest that bit easier. It is, truly, a gorgeous wine to drink. It’s a light-ish wine but it’s meaty, it’s peppery, it’s cherried and it’s tense. I drank it on a Wednesday night, and it made the life ahead seem that bit brighter, not to mention, greater.
