Winemaker Notes
Moonlight Race is a wine from three Central Otago vineyards and named after a channel of water that passes through the Burn Cottage property -- one of the hundreds of "races" that was created during the early years of European immigration to bring water down from the mountains.
This Pinot Noir is 35% from the Burn Cottage Vineyard, 35% from Northburn Vineyard in Cromwell, and 30% from the Mark II Vineyard in the lower foothills of the Pisa range.
Enticing savory aromatics of freshly rubbed thyme, dark berry fruits, rosehip, autumnal earth, truffle and black tea. Dark toned and dense, this wine has vibrancy, suppleness and power. The textural tannins yield to a lingering and powerful finish. An exciting youthful wine which is still unfolding, and also promising very good cellaring potential.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This regional blend of a suite of parcels has an attractive red and dark cherry fruit core, with well-placed spicy oak, pleasingly grainy youthful tannins and a long fresh finish that is accented by concentrated cherry fruit flavors
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Burn Cottage Moonlight Race has a very pretty nose of crushed red cherries, raspberry preserves and rose hip tea with hints of potpourri and garrigue. Light to medium-bodied with a delicate palate of red berry and earthy flavors, it has beautifully silky tannins and great harmony in the long finish.
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Wine Spectator
Exotic aromas of sandalwood and mahogany complement the pure red fruit flavors. Vanilla, cedar and forest floor details linger on the finish.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Home to the globe’s most southerly vineyards, which are cultivated below the 45th parallel, Central Otago is a true one-of-a-kind wine growing region, but not only because of its extreme location.
Central Otago is more dependent on one single variety than any other region in New Zealand—and it isn’t Sauvignon blanc. They don’t even make Sauvignon blanc there.
Pinot Noir claims nearly 75% of the region’s vineyards with Pinot Gris coming in a far second place and Riesling behind it. This is also New Zealand’s only wine region with a continental climate, giving it more diurnal and seasonal temperature shifts than any other.
The subregion of Bannockburn has enjoyed the most success historically but the area’s exceptional growth has moved to the promising regions of Cromwell/Bendigo and Alexandra districts. Central Otago is known for its fruity and full-bodied Pinot noir. With the freedom to experiment here, growers and winemakers are easily exhibiting the area’s great potential.