Tinpot Hut Sauvignon Blanc

The Tinpot Hut story began in 2003 when winemaker Fiona Turner and her husband Hamish established their own 20 hectare vineyard in Marlborough’s emerging sub-region of Blind River. Naming her range of wines after a historic Marlborough mustering hut, the ‘Tinpot Hut’ links the area’s sheep farming past with its current state as one of the world’s most dynamic wine regions. Fruit is sourced from Fiona’s ‘Home Block’ and is supplemented by grapes from selected vineyards. Fiona is assisted by Matt Thomson, a friend and colleague with whom she has worked for many years.

Vineyards

The fruit for this wine was sourced from Fiona’s own Home Block vineyard and two select vineyards in the Lower Wairau sub regions. The Home Block’s dry and sunny yet cool climate site in Blind River in the Awatere Valley sits on gravelly silt and wind-blown loess, producing fruit with a distinct mineral complexity. With more loams, Lower Wairau soils have higher water retention and parcels from here have great fruit intensity and body.

Vinification

The fruit from each vineyard was independently monitored and harvested before being carefully pressed to ensure minimal skin contact, thus preventing juice deterioration. Once settled, the batches were cool fermented in stainless steel tanks using specific cultured yeasts to add complexity while retaining fresh fruit characteristics. Shortly after blending, the wine was prepared for bottling under a screwcap closure.

Tasting Notes

A complex and elegant wine with classic characters of blackcurrant bud and fresh cut thyme. Underlying ripe fruit and mineral notes from the grapes grown in the Blind River sub-region of Marlborough combine with more tropical notes of passion fruit and melon from the Wairau Valley vineyards. A stylish, rich Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc with vibrant aromatics and fine balance of acidity leading to a lingering finish.