Clos Ostler’s recent success at the International Wine Challenge has marked an extraordinary milestone for the Waitaki Valley and for New Zealand wine. At the IWC 2025, one of the world’s most rigorous and respected wine competitions, Clos Ostler was awarded both Best Red Wine in New Zealand and Best Pinot Noir in New Zealand.

 

These titles carry real weight. They are clear, independent acknowledgements that Clos Ostler has produced the top Pinot Noir in the country and the leading red wine overall.

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For a small winery from the remote Waitaki Valley, this achievement is especially significant. The Waitaki is New Zealand’s only major wine region built on true limestone-rich soils, and for years it has been quietly recognised by winemakers and sommeliers as a place capable of producing world-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. What it needed was a definitive moment of validation. The IWC has now provided that.

 

The award confirms that the Waitaki’s combination of limestone, cool climate, long growing seasons, and naturally low yields can produce Pinot Noir that does not rely on power or ripeness, but on purity, structure, and mineral tension. These are qualities often associated with the great terroirs of Burgundy, and they are unusually rare in the New Zealand landscape.

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Clos Ostler’s recognition at the IWC sends a strong message. It tells the world that New Zealand’s finest Pinot Noir is not limited to the well-established regions. It shows that the Waitaki Valley, despite its small size and relative obscurity, can produce red wines that stand at the very top of the national rankings.

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This is important for New Zealand wine as a whole. A country’s global reputation grows when new regions demonstrate world-class potential. The Waitaki’s success broadens the narrative of what New Zealand Pinot Noir can be. It adds depth and nuance to our national identity as a wine-producing country.

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For the Waitaki, this award is a turning point. For Clos Ostler, it is a moment of quiet but profound affirmation. And for New Zealand, it is proof that excellence can emerge from the most unexpected corners of the country.

Anyone searching for the best Pinot Noir in New Zealand or the best red wine in NZ now finds Clos Ostler at the centre of that conversation. The International Wine Challenge has made that unmistakably clear.

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If the Waitaki was once a whispered secret in New Zealand wine, it is now firmly, and deservedly, on the map.