Established in 2002 by Marquis and Dianne Sauvage, Burn Cottage quickly became one of New Zealand's most buzzed about wineries. The Sauvages had spent decades in the wine business, working at several estates, import and... Read More

Established in 2002 by Marquis and Dianne Sauvage, Burn Cottage quickly became one of New Zealand's most buzzed about wineries. The Sauvages had spent decades in the wine business, working at several estates, import and wholesale companies across Germany and the USA. They knew that at some point they wanted to start their own wine making project and after tasting a few bottles from Central Otago and being blown away by their quality and brilliance, they decided New Zealand's most Southerly wine growing region was the spot where they would birth Burn Cottage.

After a long search (because the dramatic landscape of river valleys flanked by mountains there is not a lot of arable land) they set up their 24-hectare vineyard at the base of the Pisa Hills. Their experience led them to this spot as they believed that it had everything that they were looking for. After purchasing the property they found out that the other bidders were some of the area's most respected winemakers, which provided a bit of validation that they had made the right choice.

Another excellent choice they made was convincing Ted Lemon of Littorai to work with them on laying out and planting the estate vineyards. Ted already had deep roots in New Zealand and they quickly went to work digging over 60 soil pits to get the clearest understanding of the property's terroir. Ted is Burn Cottages founding winemaker.

As one would expect from any project headed by Ted Lemon, the estate has always been holistically biodynamic. Thus, Burn Cottage is a fully functional farm, with 10 hectares under vine and the rest of the land devoted to cattle, chickens, beehives, olive groves, and other native species of New Zealand plants, bushes, and trees. They also produce their own compost and grow many of the preparations needed for Biodynamic farming just like at Ted’s own Littorai on the Sonoma Coast.