ABOUT BURN COTTAGE
We came about from a passion and love for Pinot Noir, a bit of fortuitous timing, and a gut feeling about the wild and rugged land in Central Otago.
We're a small winery tucked away at the bottom of the world — in the world's southernmost winegrowing region. We grow Pinot Noir, and we aim to do it at the highest level we possibly can.
That’s the short version.
The longer one starts with a piece of land tucked in the foothills of the Pisa Range in Central Otago — a sheltered, northeast-facing amphitheatre that stopped Marquis and Dianne Sauvage in their tracks on a visit in the early 2000s. They are farmers at heart — Kansas wheat, cattle and cotton — and they recognised something special in this place. The soils. The shelter. The particular way the light moved across it. In 2002, they bought the site at auction and got to work.
It turns out quite a few others had their eye on it too. Good timing played a part- we dont take that for granted.
"poured by people who love Pinot Noir from Queenstown to Queensland, from Sydney to Shanghai"
From the start, everything at Burn Cottage has been farmed organically & biodynamically. Not because it was fashionable — but because it felt right. Farming families understand that how you treat the land shapes everything that comes from it. The Sauvages understood that instinctively.
The wines that have followed — now poured by people who love Pinot Noir from Queenstown to Queensland, from Sydney to Shanghai — are the result of over two decades of patient work. Of listening to this particular piece of ground. Of harvesting by hand, sorting twice, and guiding the wine along to find its own way.
We’re proud of what this place produces. We’re also well aware that the land deserves most of the credit.
crafted in central otago
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