The Sauvage family are cattle, cotton and wheat farmers in Oberlin
Kansas and have a tradition of agricultural holdings, including in
Australia. They were one of the original American cotton farmers to set
up in Moree NSW Australia in the 1960s. As farmers, the Sauvages have a
particular appreciation and patience for the time and investment
required to begin a new agricultural enterprise. The family entered the
wine distribution business in the early 1990s, and now have many years
of experience in the fine wine business and the peculiar requirements
for success in it. World class winegrowing requires both patience and
determination, qualities not lost on Kansas farmers.
The addition of Ted to the team brought someone with the practical
knowledge of terroir winegrowing based on many years of experience in
Burgundy, California and Oregon, someone with deep experience in not
just winemaking, but in world class vineyard development.
Great wines are not made from fruit; they are born of the soils which
nurture the vines. Unlike many new world producers, Burn Cottage
Vineyard does not make wine from "fruit". Burn Cottage makes wines from
vineyard blocks with individual character traits on an estate property.
The team recognizes that years of experience will be required to develop
the full potential of the estate. Yet from day one the very highest
standards have been applied to every aspect of vineyard development and
to cellar practices. While Burn Cottage celebrates the diversity of wine
styles around the world, the estate is a passionate believer that the
true genius of any site can only shine through wines of balance, wines
picked at balanced levels of potential alcohol, and which receive only
judicious use of new oak and the application of minimal technology. Burn
Cottage believes that the greatest expression of terroir is built upon
the accumulated expertise of thousands of years of winegrowing world-
wide and applied by those with a sense of humility and dedication to
achieving the purest wines possible.
_Copyright© 2012