The Calera Row and the Future of Clos Ostler Chardonnay
Updated: 6 days ago
One row can be enough to begin an enquiry
Chardonnay occupies a small part of Clos Ostler, yet the planting already contains a useful contrast. Roughly half a hectare is planted to clone 95. Beside it is a single row of Calera 107. The difference in scale is considerable, but the smaller parcel has value precisely because it can be followed closely.
The first task is not to assign each selection a fixed flavour. Vine material changes its expression with site, season, crop level and harvest date. At Clos Ostler, the useful comparison is local. The same north facing limestone slope, the same Waitaki weather and the same cellar can reveal how two selections behave under closely related conditions.
Two documented histories
Clone 95 belongs to the French Chardonnay material widely planted for quality wine. Foundation Plant Services at the University of California records comparative work in which clone 95 showed its own pattern of bunch composition, acidity and ripeness. Those results belong to the trial conditions in which they were measured. They are a reference point, not a prediction of how the clone must taste in North Otago.
Foundation Plant Services records Chardonnay 107 as the Calera selection donated from Larry Hyde's material in Carneros. New Zealand nursery information describes it as relatively thick skinned and early into flowering and veraison. That makes the row interesting in a cool region, although its significance at Clos Ostler must be established through our own fruit rather than imported assumptions.
Keeping the lots apart
The clearest way to learn from the row is to keep its fruit separate through pressing, fermentation and maturation whenever the crop allows. Comparable vessels and oak reduce distractions. The wines can then be tasted alone and in measured blends with clone 95, returning to them as élevage develops.
A small addition can change the middle of a wine, its aromatic range or the persistence of its finish. It can also make a blend less coherent. Trial proportions such as five, ten, fifteen and twenty per cent are useful because they reveal where a contribution becomes noticeable and where it begins to dominate. The best result may be a blend, or clone 95 may remain the more complete wine on its own.
The family’s commitment to Chardonnay
Chardonnay has a deliberate place in the future imagined by Antonio, Connor and Georges Roulet Magides. The three Swiss-French brothers grew up with exceptional wines and a family winegrowing inheritance rooted in Peseux. At Clos Ostler, the limestone and extended cool season drew them to the possibilities of Chardonnay as well as Pinot Noir, and the estate’s first Chardonnay in 2024 began a new sequence of vintages to understand.
Working with viticulturist Timbo Deaker and winemakers Sarah-Kate and Dan Dineen, the family wants to build that understanding over generations. The Calera row is part of a longer enquiry into what this hillside can express, with observations and wines that future custodians will be able to return to as the vineyard matures.
Read the full story of the Roulet Magides family at Clos Ostler.
A flagship must earn its place
The future of Clos Ostler Chardonnay should be decided in the glass. A flagship selection cannot rest on the rarity of one row, a higher proportion of new oak or the appeal of a clone name. It must have greater length, depth and completeness while retaining the white floral lift, white nectarine and freshness that already distinguish the estate's young Chardonnay record.
The 2024 and 2025 wines provide the first reference. Both were whole bunch pressed and barrel fermented. The 2024 completed malolactic fermentation, while the 2025 followed a partial course and retained an especially lifted floral character. The Calera row now adds another variable to follow over time. Its value lies in widening the possibilities of the vineyard without predetermining the answer.
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