Burn Cottage

Burn Cottage Vineyard Property is a twenty four hectare estate in the foothills of the Pisa range in Central Otago, New Zealand. The  vineyard property was purchased in 2002. It had been grazed by sheep for as long as can currently be remembered. There were, and are, no immediate vineyard neighbours. The site was much coveted in the region as it is sheltered from both northerly and southerly winds by large hills and forms a beautiful, protected bowl, much like a modern amphitheatre. The vineyard is owned by the Chicago based Sauvage family. Wines are made with minimal intervention, avoiding the use of additives and racking where possible. Work is coordinated with lunar and celestial rhythms.

Grapes are handpicked and then brought to the winery, for sorting. Grapes are stemmed and a portion is kept whole with the stalks intact. The balance is then destemmed and the individual berries cross over a second sorting table for inspection by the winery team.

Each block within the respective vineyards is fermented separately in a combination of open top wooden and stainless steel fermenters. The indigenous ferments are nurtured for 17-22 days and given a combination of gentle pump overs and plunge downs before being pressed off and transferred to French barrels. The family prefer oak to be a partner and support the wine but not to show overtly, and so only 20-30% new oak is used.

After around 11 months in barrel tasting begins; evaluating and selecting the parcels of wine that will be bottled, unfined and unfiltered as Burn Cottage Vineyard, Moonlight Race and Valli Vineyard. Our wine talks of place, climate, geology and most importantly of the people that make the dream possible.

Husband and wife Marquis Sauvage and Dianne Sauvage were on a return trip from the Mornington Peninsula in Australia and had decided to visit several regions in New Zealand. For some time the family had contemplated starting their own winery. Dianne and Marquis were struck by the extraordinary beauty of Central Otago and became even more impressed after tasting through the region's wines, particularly Felton Road and Gibbston Valley. They decided that they had found the place they were looking for. Marquis continued the property search with a real estate broker and came across the Burn Cottage site. As Marquis likes to say, he had visited enough great vineyards around the world and this one had the right look. Unbeknownst to the Sauvages, several prominent, local wineries and winemakers were interested in the site and had had their eyes upon it for some time.