Burn Cottage 2019 Burn Cottage Vineyard Pinot Noir 750ml

The 2019 Pinot Noir Burn Cottage Vineyard is like a taste of Christmas with its decadent baking spices combining with plum fruit and pure black cherry. There’s lovely clarity of fruit and an intense core of youthful fruit flavors within its mid-weight frame. The remaining angles are those of an awkward teenager rather than a shape that will last into adulthood. The abundant, chewy tannins are resolved and will continue to mellow with bottle age (or if served with roast duck), and in combination with fine acidity, they provide the packaging for this unadulterated wine. The finish lingers long, offering baking spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, along with black cherry and mocha.

Score: 95 points -- Rebecca Gibb, Vinous, 2022

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American-owned Burn Cottage is a 24-hectare estate in Pisa, Central Otago. (The Sauvage family also owns Koehler-Ruprecht in the Pfalz.) With Ted Lemon of Littorai as a consultant, the amphitheater-like site is farmed biodynamically. The emphasis is on Pinot Noir, although there's also a tiny amount of white wine produced (a blend of Grüner Veltliner and Riesling).