Our Story
OUR WINEMAKER
Ansel Ashby has been indulging in this wonderful world of wine (rarely, but occasionally too much) for all of his adult life. He started drinking wine, then writing about wine. Then selling wine - well convincing people to buy it really...
One day, entirely by mistake, he found himself working in a vineyard and winery in New Zealand. Fast forward a bit, he's worked in wineries and vineyards across Australia, New Zealand, and his native USA. He moved to South Australia a few years ago and started Gatch in 2016.
His wines have been awarded in the Royal Adelaide Wine Show and Royal Melbourne Wine Show, been featured in best of lists (his 2017 White Blend was Huon Hooke's #1 Sauvignon Blanc based blend in 2019), and featured on fine dining, restaurant, and bar wine lists across Australia and the United States. In 2020 he was nominated as a top 50 young winemaker in Australia by Young Gun of Wine.
His approach to winemaking is simple - start with good grapes and try not to mess it up. To that end, he takes a very hands-off approach to winemaking - only intervening when necessary. As such, his wines have low sulfur, no additives, minimal or no fining or filtration, and are vegan friendly.
He also makes the wines for Little Bang Brewing.
Where do you start with wine? The varietal? Or perhaps the region? Maybe the vintage? That ineffable French word ‘Terroir’? And that's not to mention oak regimes, picking dates, or any of the myriad of other complexities that wine buffs throw around like rice at a wedding. And they are important, but let’s step back for a second.
Let's start with the glass. Tell me, does it smell delicious? Does it taste ethereal? Does it bring you nostalgia and joy? Does it excite you? Does it demand to be shared?
These are the questions begging to be asked, but so rarely whispered.
At Gatch, we're trying to step back. We're trying to ask the important questions first.
So, what’s in the glass?