Burn Cottage Moonlight Race

Burn Cottage is a twenty four hectare estate in the foothills of the Pisa range in Central Otago, New Zealand. Not only is Central Otago the world’s southernmost wine region, but it is home to some of the world’s best Pinot Noir.

Purchased in 2002 by the Sauvage family, the site had been grazed by sheep for as long as can currently be remembered. There were, and still are, no immediate vineyard neighbours making it a unique spot for making wine. 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 family enlisted Ted Lemon – owner and winemaker of Littorai in Sonoma, California – to help with the project. The addition of Ted to the team brought someone with the practical knowledge of terroir winegrowing based on many years of experience in Burgundy, California and Oregon, someone with deep experience in not just winemaking, but in world class vineyard development.

At Burn Cottage they believe in minimal intervention winemaking. “Our task is to discover the genius of the site and of the individual vineyard blocks within and to allow the wines to reveal it.”

Following biodynamic principles, the moon plays an important part of how they farm their property and vineyard, though the Moonlight Race name comes from a water pathway which passes through the property. One of the hundreds of water channels, “races”, which were created during the early years of European immigration to bring water down from the surrounding mountains.

Fruit comes from two different vineyards on the estate: Burn Cottage Vineyard in Lowburn, and the Sauvage Vineyard in Bannockburn. The combination of these two sites produces a vibrant expression of classic Central Otago Pinot Noir. Fermented using indigenous yeasts and bottled after 12 months in French Oak, this Pinot has bright floral notes, red cherries and plum. With a vibrant core, and a silky texture, there are complex layers of savoury black tea, spice and earth.