Launched in 2006, Tinpot Hut is the solo venture of winemaker Fiona Turner, who has collaborated for a number of years with winemaker Matt Thomson in the production of some of New Zealand’s most highly-regarded wines. ‘For Tinpot Hut I try to make wines that I would like to drink, so from Marlborough I’m aiming for a Sauvignon Blanc with a subtle Awatere Valley mineral influence. I love Syrah from the Northern Rhone so I look to Hawkes Bay for aromatics in the plum and spice spectrum’, explains Fiona. ‘It’s really exciting to think that both of these wines have been endorsed by some of the world’s best sommeliers … especially two years running’, she adds. The Sommelier Wine Awards is Britain’s only restaurant focused wine competition. The judges are leading sommeliers, and to be eligible for entry, the wines have to be available in restaurants but not in mainstream retail outlets. The judges look for stand-out wines with good typicity, character, balance, and – above all – food-friendliness, and value-for-money. Fiona Turner has drawn on her considerable experience as a winemaking consultant in Marlborough and Hawkes Bay to identify exceptional vineyard sites. She then blends selected parcels of fruit from these vineyards with fruit from her own vineyard at Blind River in the Awatere Valley, to create the Tinpot Hut wines.