To produce the Riesling, Grüner Veltliner “Burn Cottage Vineyard” Central Otago Burn Cottage the grapes were crushed, pressed and fermented separately. Whole bunches of Riesling were crushed by foot to soak the berries in juice for up to 24 hours. The Grüner Veltliner had no skin contact and whole bunches were gently pressed. The wines were fermented in stainless steel vats and rested in old oak barriques for 11 months prior to bottling.
The Riesling and Grüner Veltliner vines account for just over one hectare of total plantings at Burn Cottage, the only part of the vineyard which is not planted with Pinot Noir. At the time of planting back in 2007, the aspect of this particular plot did not suit Pinot Noir, so they decided to plant these two aromatic white varieties instead. Most of the terrain is made up of old river beds pushed up by glacial movements. The soils are derivatives of broken down schist and granite, classified as free draining sandy loams. The first crop was harvested in 2014. As with the Pinot Noir, the vines have been cultivated biodynamically from day one, Ted Lemon’s one stipulation for his involvement.
Burn Cottage refers to the name of the road on which this 28 hectare property sits in Lowburn, Central Otago. The estate was once a sheep paddock until it was purchased by Marquis Sauvage in 2002. Marquis enlisted Ted Lemon of Sonoma Coast’s famous Littorai as their winemaker and together they decided to plant Pinot Noir in 2003. Six years later, they released their first wine. In order to select the best sites for their Pinot Noir, they dug 60 soil pits and subsequently selected ten clones to plant on five different rootstocks tailored to the different soil profiles. Burn Cottage is distinguished in Central Otago as the first and only estate in the region to have practised biodynamics since day one. This was Ted Lemon’s one stipulation for his involvement. The winemaking at Burn Cottage is best described as ‘minimal intervention’. There is no addition of yeasts or bacteria for fermentations, with minimal sulphur use and no filtration before bottling.
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