Having only been established as recently as 2oo2, Central Otago's Burn Cottage is already a New Zealand institution. Marquis & Dianne Sauvage purchased the unplanted property from sheep farmers and set to work planning their vineyard, which has been farmed biodynamically since the beginning and overlooked by head winemaker, Ted Lemon. Positioned in a sheltered bowl in the foothills of the dramatic Mount Pisa, it's a magnificent site for growing vines, and the quality of these wines well and truly speak for themselves.

Burn Cottage's flagship Pinot Noir is often touted as one of the best examples of Pinot Noir outside Burgundy. Beautifully complex with a focussed intensity, it has a perfumed nose of red fruits, dried lavender, and gentle wood smoke followed by notes of fleshy cherries, blood orange, alpine herbs, and dusty spice with soft acidity and elegant, velvety tannins. It's a wine that's best experienced after some time in the cellar, although it will certainly reward those who choose to drink it now.