Burn Cottage 'Sauvage Vineyard' Pinot Noir 2022 is a single-vineyard Pinot Noir from Bannockburn, Central Otago, made by one of our favourite biodynamic wineries, Burn Cottage. It's savoury and mineral rather than fruit-forward, built around fine pepper and dark cherry over a long, structured finish, and it suits someone who wants a Central Otago Pinot Noir with real cellaring potential.
This is Burn Cottage tasting presenting a single vineyard, rather than a blend. Pepper and dried herb sit alongside dark cherry and soil-like minerality, and the tannin is fine and persistent rather than soft. It's a different side of Burn Cottage to their home-vineyard wine: less about ripe fruit up front, more about structure that unfolds slowly.
This is best enjoyed with great food, rather than on its own, and it's a wine we'd happily put away for a few years. Burn Cottage make it from a single site which also supplies fruit for their Moonlight Race blend, so this bottling is the rare chance to taste the Sauvage Vineyard on its own.
Bannockburn already has some of Central Otago's best-known Pinot Noir sites. This isn't Burn Cottage's home vineyard in Lowburn, though; the Sauvage Vineyard is a separate, older block, planted in 1999 and farmed biodynamically since 2018, and the wine shows differently as a result: more savoury and mineral than fruit-forward.
What it tastes like
The nose opens on dark cherry and violets, with fine white pepper and dried herbs running underneath, then earthy, soil-like notes that give it real depth. On the palate it's dry and taut rather than plush: red apple and cherry fruit, a savoury, almost nettle-like edge, and a long, mineral finish carried by fine, needle-like tannin. It's a wine that unfurls slowly in the glass rather than announcing itself all at once, and the finish is where it does most of its talking.
Style at a glance
- Body: Medium to full
- Sweetness: Dry
- Acidity: Fresh, with a mineral edge
- Tannin: Fine, persistent
- Oak: French oak, a meaningful portion new, adding structure rather than overt oak flavour
- Style: Savoury, mineral, structured, single-vineyard, built to cellar
Food to enjoy this with
Roast duck breast with juniper, seared venison loin, mushroom risotto, lamb rump with thyme and garlic, and a board of dry-cured charcuterie all work well, the last one a nod to the "sauvage" (wild) in the name. For something unexpected, try it with hard, aged cheeses like a mature gouda, where the wine's savoury, earthy side matches the cheese's own depth rather than getting lost next to it.
Who makes it
Burn Cottage was bought in 2002 by Marquis and Dianne Sauvage, a farming family from Kansas who saw the site's potential on an early-2000s visit to Central Otago.
Everything at Burn Cottage has been farmed organically and biodynamically from the start, with hand harvesting and double sorting of fruit. Claire Mulholland is Burn Cottage's General Manager and winemaker. Their Pinot Noir has built a following well beyond New Zealand, and Burn Cottage's reputation rests on patient, low-intervention winemaking that lets the land do the talking.
About the vintage
2022 was a strong recovery year for New Zealand wine after a small 2021 harvest, and Central Otago was part of that turnaround: the region brought in 12,575 tonnes, up 22% on 2021, which itself had been up 21% on 2020. Warm, dry weather through flowering gave even ripening across the bunch, and a warm, settled summer with few frost events carried through into a fast-paced, settled autumn harvest.
For Bannockburn's older vines, including the Sauvage Vineyard's 1999 plantings, that combination meant healthy crops that ripened evenly under good canopy cover, producing riper, bigger-structured wines than the cooler 2021 vintage.
Central Otago producers broadly describe 2022 as a stellar vintage, with very high-quality fruit across the region. It's a year that rewarded patience in the vineyard rather than intervention in the cellar, and that shows in the wines coming out of Bannockburn, Sauvage Vineyard included.
Critic scores and ratings
- 96 POINTS – Cameron Douglas, MS – camdouglasms.com, April 2026
"A fabulous bouquet of complexity and minerality, voices of soil and fruit, varietal signature and intriguing fruit and dried herb voices. A dry wine touches the palate then an unfurling of textures and fruit, soil and synergy. Fine needle point tannins are in abundance enhanced by the acid line and lees. Flavours of nettles and dried herb, a savoury seam and fruit flavours of red apple and cherry, raspberry fresh and raspberry freeze-dried. Lengthy and complex, a wonderful wine."
When to drink it
Burn Cottage recommends cellaring the Sauvage Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022 for 10–12 years. It's already drinking well, but its savoury, structured style means it has plenty more to give with a few years in the cellar, and it's the kind of wine that rewards being decanted if you're opening it now.
| Winery |
Burn Cottage |
| Wine |
Sauvage Vineyard Pinot Noir |
| Vintage |
2022 |
| Variety |
Pinot Noir |
| Region |
Bannockburn, Central Otago |
| Country |
New Zealand |
| Alcohol |
13.5% |
| Oak |
French oak, part new |
| Fermentation |
Indigenous yeast, open-top wooden and stainless steel fermenters |
| Closure |
Cork |
| Cellaring |
10–12 years, per Burn Cottage |
| Serving temperature |
16–18°C, the usual range for a structured Pinot Noir |
| Farming |
Certified biodynamic |
Where to buy
For international delivery to the USA, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, China and South Korea, the Burn Cottage 'Sauvage Vineyard' Pinot Noir 2022 is available via our winenz.com website. For delivery in New Zealand you can purchase from thewineryonline.co.nz. If you are visiting New Zealand, you can also buy it at our Queenstown and Arrowtown stores.
Questions we are often asked
What does Burn Cottage 'Sauvage Vineyard' Pinot Noir 2022 taste like?
It's savoury and mineral rather than fruit-driven: dark cherry and violets on the nose, white pepper and dried herbs, then red apple, cherry and raspberry fruit on a dry, taut palate with fine, persistent tannin and a long, earthy finish.
What makes the Sauvage Vineyard different from Burn Cottage's other Pinot Noirs?
The Sauvage Vineyard is a separate, older block in Bannockburn that also supplies fruit for Burn Cottage's Moonlight Race blend. This bottling is a single-vineyard expression of that site alone, distinct from Burn Cottage's home-vineyard wine in Lowburn.
Is Burn Cottage 'Sauvage Vineyard' Pinot Noir 2022 organic or biodynamic?
Yes. Burn Cottage farms the Sauvage Vineyard biodynamically, in line with the rest of the estate.
How long will Burn Cottage 'Sauvage Vineyard' Pinot Noir 2022 keep?
Burn Cottage recommends 10–12 years of cellaring from vintage, and its savoury, structured style means it will keep developing over that time.
What food goes with Burn Cottage 'Sauvage Vineyard' Pinot Noir 2022?
Roast duck breast, seared venison, mushroom risotto and lamb rump with thyme all work well, as does a board of dry-cured charcuterie or a mature, hard cheese like gouda.
What have critics said about Burn Cottage 'Sauvage Vineyard' Pinot Noir 2022?
Cameron Douglas, MS, scored it 96 points in April 2026, calling it "lengthy and complex, a wonderful wine" with fine, needle-point tannins and flavours of red apple, cherry and dried herb.
Where can I buy Burn Cottage 'Sauvage Vineyard' Pinot Noir 2022?
The Winery ships Burn Cottage 'Sauvage Vineyard' Pinot Noir 2022 internationally from winenz.com to the USA, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, China and South Korea, and delivers within New Zealand from thewineryonline.co.nz. It is also available in our Queenstown and Arrowtown stores.
