15 Minute Bottles Test Pots Pinot Noir 2023

We love that wine styles are constantly evolving. And this is a great example of that. It’s Central Otago Pinot Noir, a style you might expect to know well, but made in a light, fragrant, chillable style. It has the variety’s signature red fruits, but rather than ripe cherry, it’s more in the spectrum of crunchy, tangy cranberry. And being light certainly doesn’t mean it’s simple. There’s detail here in it’s flavour and gentle tannic structure.

15 Minute Bottles is a collaboration between two families, David Collins and Lana Kennett, and Tom Lascelles and Anne Kirsch. The project came about in Europe, when their paths crossed while Tom was working for Austrian natural wine superstar, Claus Preisinger. With both couples coming back to New Zealand in 2021, they saw an opportunity to produce here the style of energetic, approachable natural wines they’d loved in Europe. With one family based in Canterbury, and the other in Central Otago, their intention is to produce multi-regional wines that are unfined, unfiltered with minimal added sulphites. David best explains the reason behind their name, 15 Minute Bottles - 

“It’s rooted in the fun, energetic, thought provoking wine we fell for while in Europe. When we drank a banger, we would call it a '15 minute bottle' because it didn't hang around for long (enjoyed responsibly with a large group of friends of course)”.