The First Two Decades of Clos Ostler
Updated: 6 days ago
Caroline’s Pinot Noir has recorded the seasons of Clos Ostler since a small experimental wine was made in 2004. The estate’s archive currently documents fourteen Caroline’s vintages through 2022, spanning the early years of the vines, contrasting Waitaki seasons and wines returned to after time in bottle.
The early labels and reviews often use the name Ostler. They belong to the same north-facing limestone escarpment near Duntroon that continues to produce Caroline’s today.
Read together, the bottles show considerable variation. Cool seasons have produced wines of lifted perfume and fine structure; warmer years have brought darker fruit and greater breadth. Acidity, savoury detail and length recur across both. The value of the archive lies in following those characteristics through a sequence, with contemporary criticism alongside the estate’s own observations.
Continuity through the 2021 transition
The Otago Daily Times reported on 22 July 2021 that Anne and Jim Jerram had sold Ostler Wines to ACG Wines Ltd. The sale included the Clos Ostler vineyard, the Caroline’s and Ostler brands and the existing Caroline’s stock. It was a change of ownership, not a change of origin for the wine.
The early labels therefore remain part of the same vineyard record. The name Ostler identifies the founding period, while Clos Ostler identifies the estate today. The north-facing limestone escarpment, Caroline’s name and the sequence of vintages provide the line between them.
ACG carries the initials of Antonio, Connor and Georges Roulet Magides, the three Swiss-French brothers whose family continues the estate. Their own winegrowing history reaches back to Peseux, where their great-great-grandfather Paul Albert Roulet kept vineyard observations spanning 1887 to 1943. That inheritance gives particular meaning to the work of preserving Clos Ostler’s bottles and records, allowing the experience of one generation to inform the next.
Jim and Anne were delighted that the estate’s legacy would continue with a family that deeply cared. For the brothers, the early Caroline’s vintages are a tangible expression of the courage and dedication of Jim, Anne and Jeff Sinnott. Keeping those wines, returning to them and carrying their history forward are part of the responsibility they hope eventually to pass to their own children.
Read the full story of the Roulet Magides family at Clos Ostler.
Caroline’s 2021 was harvested before the July sale and later received 96 points with the New Zealand Red, New Zealand Pinot Noir and North Otago Pinot Noir trophies at the International Wine Challenge 2025. Its recognition brought international attention to a wine from the final founding-era season while the vineyard continued into its next phase.
2002–2006, the first vines and wines
Jim Jerram and Jeff Sinnott recognised the potential of the site when modern viticulture in the Waitaki Valley was still being established. Pinot Noir was planted in 2002. Northern exposure and limestone-derived soils made the slope compelling, while frost and the cool growing season made it demanding.
Their preparation included modelling the climate from the available temperature data. Even so, the vineyard proved cooler than they had anticipated, as Jamie Goode recorded after visiting in January 2016. For Sinnott, planting the vines would provide the clearest test of the site. The first vintages therefore carried a particular weight. They were the first opportunity to judge in the glass what the calculations and the slope had suggested.
The tiny 2004 release offered an early indication of perfume, spice and savoury character. A contemporary wine-pages review called it an “Excellent debut”. The wine came from very young vines, yet gave a reason to continue the work.
A cooler 2005 followed, with a tauter, more herbal expression. When Jamie Goode tasted five Caroline’s vintages at the estate in January 2016, the 2005 was among his three favourites, alongside 2011 and 2013.
The 2006 has a different place in the estate’s tasting record. Notes describe red fruit developing towards mushroom, truffle and undergrowth, with acidity maintaining the wine’s shape. Barry Weinman’s April 2013 review also observed its supple texture and persistence. Such accounts allow an early vintage to be considered at more than one stage of its life.
2008 and 2009, two early expressions
Caroline’s 2008 was red-fruited and energetic, with raspberry, cherry and a savoury, bittersweet edge. Fine tannin and pronounced acidity gave it a clear line. Five-star assessments from Raymond Chan and Sam Kim form part of its contemporary record.
The 2009 brought greater concentration. Raspberry and redcurrant sat alongside smoke, dried herbs and liquorice. The wine was fermented with wild yeast and matured in French oak, 25 per cent new. Raymond Chan awarded five stars, and it appeared in The Independent’s Christmas wine selection in 2011.
These vintages established more than one possible expression of the site. Fruit weight changed, while perfume, acidity and savoury detail remained important to the wines’ character.
2010 and 2011, recognition and bottle development
The 2010 attracted particular attention. Jamie Goode awarded 95 points in his selection of New Zealand’s top Pinot Noirs. Raymond Chan and Sam Kim also awarded 95, and Matt Kramer included the wine among his five most interesting wines of 2013 for Wine Spectator.
The estate’s later notes record black truffle and earth emerging beneath the dark fruit. Those observations extend the early picture of a floral, finely textured Pinot Noir, showing how the balance of aromas changes as the wine matures.
Caroline’s 2011 was a more delicate expression. Its record includes floral and herbal notes, fine tannin and later savoury development. Goode awarded 95 points and included it in his New Zealand wines-of-the-year selection, published in January 2017 after tasting it in 2016.
Considered together, the two vintages are especially useful. They show how different fruit profiles and structures can belong to the same vineyard, and how a quieter season can become increasingly interesting with age.
2013 and 2015, a widening record
Caroline’s 2013 combined red cherry, dried herbs and firm, chalky tannin. It received the Waitaki Valley Pinot Noir Trophy at the 2015 International Wine Challenge and 95 points from Cameron Douglas MS. It was also among Goode’s favourites in the 2016 estate vertical.
The 2015 had a broader, darker-fruited character, with floral notes and powdery tannin. It received 96 points from Douglas and the North Otago Pinot Noir Trophy at the 2017 International Wine Challenge. The competition’s note drew attention to its aromatic detail, earthiness and fresh finish.
Regional trophies gave the Waitaki a presence within a wider international tasting. For the vineyard, these results also connected the early releases with a more established sequence of wines.
2016, concentration and fine structure
The 2016 became an important reference point for Caroline’s. Black plum and cherry were accompanied by rose, thyme and spice, with concentration held within a fine structure.
The estate’s review record includes 98 points from Ray Jordan, 97 from Huon Hooke and Sam Kim, and 96 from Bob Campbell MW and Cameron Douglas MS. At the International Wine Challenge, it received 96 points; the judges particularly noted the combination of lightness in texture with power and length.
In September 2026, David Walker Bell returned to the wine for WineFolio and awarded 95 points. His review described lively acidity, fine tannin and a silky texture. Ten years after the vintage, it supplies a valuable later observation alongside the original assessments.
2018 and 2020, warmer seasons
The warm, dry 2018 season produced a Caroline’s with ripe red fruit and breadth. Estate notes now place mushroom, dried herbs and game alongside the cherry and plum. Cameron Douglas MS awarded 96 points, praising its structure and length.
Caroline’s 2020 followed another warm, dry season. The estate’s harvest record places hand picking between 11 and 29 April, with all five Pinot Noir clones contributing to the composition. The wine combines cherry and damson with mushroom, herbs and a broad, savoury finish. Sam Kim awarded 97 points, while Candice Chow awarded 96.
These wines give a useful view of ripeness in the Waitaki. Their fruit is generous, while acidity and tannin continue to define the shape of the palate.
2021, three International Wine Challenge trophies
The 2021 Caroline’s brought together 115, 667, 777, UCD6 and Abel from a warm, dry season. Damson, black cherry and blackcurrant are followed by dried thyme, sage and spice. Fine tannin and fresh acidity support the concentrated fruit.
At the 2025 International Wine Challenge, it received 96 points and the New Zealand Red Trophy, New Zealand Pinot Noir Trophy and North Otago Pinot Noir Trophy. The recognition belongs to this particular wine and competition; it also gave a wider audience reason to look at the vineyard’s earlier vintages.
2022, Caroline’s and the first EOS
The 2022 season brought a different balance. Cool, damp flowering was followed by a mild summer and a settled autumn. Caroline’s shows red fruit, flowers, herbs and earth, with supple tannin and bright acidity. It received 96 points from Sam Kim and 95 from Candice Chow.
The same vintage introduced EOS. Selected principally from 667 and 777, with a smaller contribution from Abel, it centres on perfume, power and structure. Caroline’s continues to reflect the season through all five clones; EOS provides a more focused selection alongside it.
EOS 2022 received Platinum and 97 points at the 2026 Decanter World Wine Awards. Decanter identified this as the Waitaki Valley’s first Platinum result. It gave the region another significant point of recognition, following Caroline’s trophies the previous year.
The next vintages
The estate’s early observations of 2024 describe a particularly warm season, with darker fruit, greater concentration and ripe tannin. Caroline’s and EOS remain young, and their development will add a further contrast to the cooler 2022 wines.
Each tasting adds a dated account of a particular vintage to the record. The library preserves those connections. It allows the choices made in one season to be reconsidered years later, and gives future custodians the same opportunity.
The first two decades have supplied a substantial foundation. Continuing to keep, taste and document the wines is how the history of this limestone vineyard will become more complete.
Readers who would like to follow this history in the glass can explore selected earlier vintages through the estate’s Caroline’s Library Selection.
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