This Pinot Noir is ruby red in colour with a purple hue. It has elegant aromas of red and black cherries and plum, which mingles with a hint of redcurrant. Savoury mushroom and toasty oak characters complete the attractive nose. On the palate, it has classic black cherry notes that dominate and are supported by hints of bramble, reflecting the aromatics. Structurally, the tannins are soft and silky, and well-balanced acidity ensures good length and weight.

Tinpot Hut wines are made primarily from fruit grown on winemaker Fiona Turner's vineyard in Blind River. Fiona, who has worked with Matt Thomson for a number of years, supplements her own grapes with fruit from other growers in Marlborough and Hawkes Bay. The tinpot hut that gave its name to Fiona's wines is an old mustering hut in the remote hills between the Wairau and Awatere Valleys. The huts were used as a base for musterers as they rounded up the sheep that had been in the hills from spring to autumn. The name links Marlborough's past as a sheep farming centre with its current state as one of the world's most dynamic wine regions.

This Pinot Noir is produced from grapes grown entirely on Fiona's low-yielding "Home Block" vineyard in Blind River. This was one of the founding properties to be planted in the emerging sub-region of Blind River, just south of Marlborough’s Awatere Valley.

The 2022 growing season was characterised by La Niña conditions. Warm weather during flowering and regular rainfall during fruit set meant that rigorous canopy and yield management were crucial to bring the vines and yields into balance, giving fruit of exceptional varietal character.

The fruit was picked at optimum ripeness and carefully transported to the winery for destemming and chilling. Each vineyard parcel was kept separate in small open-top fermenters and cold soaked to extract maximum flavour and colour stability. The wine was fermented using native yeast strains and the must was hand plunged up to four times a day. The wine was presed off to a mixture of new and used French oak, and stainless steel tanks. Each parcel went through malolactic fermentation and was aged on lees before being blended, stabilised, lightly fined with vegetable protein and prepared for bottling.