We deliberately sought out sites capable of producing distinctive cool climate wines with a difference. Our Waitaki Valley vineyards meet these demanding requirements.

We planted 8 hectares of densely spaced (by New World standards) pinot noir and pinot gris vines on a limestone-rich slope overlooking the braided Waitaki River - the Ostler site.  These vines are tended intensively by the hands of our dedicated and enthusiastic local team to the highest standards according to modern sustainable practice.

The wine making is carried out by Jeff Sinnott with as little intervention as possible, using traditional Burgundian and Alsatian techniques to produce our flagship Caroline's Pinot Noir and Audrey's Pinot gris.

We also make fine aromatic white wines - riesling and pinot gris - under the Ostler label, from fruit produced by selected growers who are as committed to serious viticulture as we are ourselves. They are owner operators who have their own unique terroir giving each of their vineyards a tantalising point of difference.

These differences offer unique characteristics worthy of celebration in the hands of a skilled winemaker.

Jeff Sinnott

After training as a sommelier in New Zealand in the early 1980's, Jeff's career in wine began in the retail & wholesale trade in Melbourne. From this fertile training ground he developed his palate and especially a deep affection for, amongst other things, fine Pinot Noir. This path eventually led him to graduate with a Degree in Viticulture from Roseworthy, South Australia , after specializing in Pinot Noir & sustainable viticulture.
Several vintages in the great southern land was enough to make him realize that there was more to life than Aussie Shiraz and he moved to Gisborne where he became assistant winemaker at the Millton Vineyard in 1992 and then principal tutor in Wine studies at Tairwahiti Polytechnic. In 1997 he was attracted down to Marlborough where he helped establish a small family winery called Isabel Estate. During his time in Marlborough he had the pleasure of working both in California & in Burgundy.
After 5 years and some spectacular results with Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, including the IWC Trophy in 1999, he finally realized his passion for Pinot Noir in establishing Ostler Vineyard while working as winemaker at Amisfield in Central Otago. The Ostler site was found after a trip to Burgundy and the lure of the terroir was immediate. Captivated by the slope, aspect and more importantly the limestone seam that underlies the vineyard it became apparent that this was one of the most viticulturally significant sites in New Zealand. "It is with the greatest of pleasure that I can work with what I believe to be one of this country's Grand Cru estates".

Jim Jerram
Jim is passionate about wine and he loves growing it.
After a youth spent working as a farmhand on a sheep station in the Southern Alps, Jim qualified as a medical doctor and spent 29 years in this career. This included two years as a volunteer working in Kunde Hospital near Mount Everest in Nepal for Sir Edmund' Hillary's Himalayan Trust, as sole charge doctor. Fifteen years were spent as a family practitioner in Nelson then nine years running the University Of Otago's Student Health Service.
Always having had a great fondness for wine, it was during the nineties in Dunedin that Jim honed his tasting and wine appreciation in the company of some new friends with developed tasting skills. Over many evenings of tastings, frequently 'blind', his attraction to the fickle pinot noir grape began.
After meeting Jeff Sinnott the germ of an idea which incorporated both his frustrated farming ambitions and his love of wine flourished. Together Jeff and Jim prospected the limestone country in the Waitaki Valley and found the Ostler site.
Together with wife Anne, Jeff's sister, Jim developed the Ostler site. As the first harvest approached in 2004, he left his medical career to pursue the production of the 'perfect grape'.
He and Anne live in the Valley where they have developed the Ostler business to become this exciting new wine region's first local producers. Other passions include the outdoors, flying, hunting fishing and the Waitaki Valley and its inhabitants.

The vineyard crew

Noir Harvest

Harvest

Jim and Annie

Jeff Sinnott