TN: 2013 Burn Cottage Pinot Noir (New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago)

Ian_Dorin · May 18, 2015, 2:22pm

2013 Burn Cottage Pinot Noir - New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago (5/16/2015)
A friend of mine reached out to me about this, and when I saw that Ted Lemon was involved, I had to give this a try as well. Definitely fits the profile of what I expected. Bright and wide open nose of spices, as well as lavender and roses. The palate is almost Chambolle-esque in it’s grace and purity, and solid core of red fruits, and then leads to a long finish of dusty tannins. This is really exceptional Pinot. Well done! (93 pts.)

mike_pobega · May 18, 2015, 3:30pm

Mine should be in my posession in time for Wednesday’s Pinot Duck dinner.
I most certainly will report back. Thanks LPass!

scott_c · May 18, 2015, 4:54pm

Thanks for the note. I just got the mailer from them, but don’t feel like buying a case (minimum required for shipping to the US). Will likely seek out a few bottles and pay the premium at retail.

M_A_T_T_H_A_R_T_L_E_Y · May 18, 2015, 6:43pm

It is certainly a great bottle of wine

Sanjay_Nandurkar · May 19, 2015, 9:06pm

“The palate is almost Chambolle-esque” Interesting. Must seek out…

mike_pobega · May 21, 2015, 11:30am

Had this last night. great wine and yes, it need time.
it does show some of the Littorai qualities of deftness that I also enjoy.
I would not open another for at least 4-5 years.
Today I will purchase the Cashburn bottling. That should be ready for da ‘bizeeness’.

Ian_Dorin · May 21, 2015, 1:51pm

I had the exact same take away, which is where my Chambolle comment derived from.

Should we move this to the Clark Smith thread???

mike_pobega · May 21, 2015, 1:59pm

Please don’t.

P_D_e_r_d_e_y_n · May 21, 2015, 2:57pm

I’ve had the Cashburn bottling in several different vintages and have found it to be be extremely overripe, not at all like other wines made by Ted.

Sanjay_Nandurkar · May 21, 2015, 8:49pm

Its surprising that Burn Cottage review has not to have attracted comment from the Kiwi crew.

ray_ormand · May 21, 2015, 9:52pm

Burn Cottage is an interesting wine with plenty of potential but the $60 tariff is discouraging.

Brian_Heslop · May 21, 2015, 11:00pm

To be fair, I don’t think it has had great market saturation here. There hasn’t been a massive push as I think most of the stock went to export. Perhaps now that production is higher they will be trying to sell more in the local market, having a distributor now will certainly help that.

Howard_Davis · May 22, 2015, 8:34am

Brian’s right, Burn Cottages are very hard to get here. I also intended to visit them last time I was in Central but ran out of time.

Thanks all, this thread has encouraged me to seek out a bottle or two …

Ian_Dorin · May 22, 2015, 2:01pm

Given the style, a Chambolle of equivalent style and stature is going to come in at around $80 a bottle (well, Drouhin is less, but I find it’s only great in top years, and is now $60ish in the market any way), so I’m not sure how discouraging that is.

Had the Cashburn last night. Definitely a different style, but the wife loved it, and was flipping for the aromatics. Definitely richer, darker and more forward, but still was very good QPR.

mike_pobega · May 22, 2015, 2:14pm

I taste my Cashburn tonight. I had the ‘cash to burn’ so I went for it…
Love the names of these. Burn Cottage— So goth.

scott_c · May 27, 2015, 3:12pm

I had a nice visit with them when I was in NZ last year. Ted Lemon was there, too (coincidentally, he sat across the aisle from me on our flight to Aukland as well). Short visit because they only make one wine (unless you count Cashburn, which I don’t remember tasting), but lots of interesting insight into terroir, farming, etc.

Ty_Hockstaff · May 27, 2015, 5:54pm

Nice TN…how does this compare to Ostler, Ata Rangi, Pyramid Valley and Mount Edward?

Ian_Dorin · May 27, 2015, 6:13pm

Tough question. Pyramid Valley is au natural, right? So really not close.

Ata Rangi is the only other one I’ve had of the group and remember clearly, and definitely had that cranberry-crunchy thing I get out of NZ Pinot.

Reminds me most of Mountford. Very cool winemaker too.

Ty_Hockstaff · May 27, 2015, 6:35pm

Ian, correct PV is Biodynamic and I have been pleasantly surprised with their recent PN’s. I think PV is Otago as well?

Rauno_E_NZ · May 27, 2015, 7:57pm

Ty, Pyramid Valley is Waipara, though I think they also make some wines from Otago fruit. The “home vineyard” wines, made with a “minimum of intervention” or some such, are quite distinct characters from other wines on the market, but ultimately a bit inconsistent.