"The flagship from Two Paddocks – an organically grown barrel selection from the estate properties. In 2016 this wine was produced from the four Neill family Central Otago vineyards. These small sites are high-density planted in a range of clonal material cropped to under 5 Tonne per hectare with most vineyard practices carried out by hand. As in the vineyard, the wine is hand crafted using traditional methods including a 25% whole bunch, indigenous fermentation and hand plunging."
Two Paddocks was established in 1993 by Kiwi actor, Sam Neill, who was raised in the South Island of New Zealand, and still calls it home. Initially Sam bought a paddock in Gibbston and aimed to grow a small amount of his favourite grape – Pinot Noir – with the hope of producing enough wine for his friends and family. Back then, Central Otago was in the very early days of winegrowing, so to buy and plant Two Paddocks was a huge leap of faith. Nowadays the region is 80% planted in Pinot Noir and has arguably been New Zealand’s most successful region with this variety. Sam Neill spends several months a year based in Central Otago.
Two Paddocks now consists of four small vineyards in the Gibbston, Alexandra (Earnscleugh) and Bannockburn sub-regions of Central Otago. The vineyards are grown within a holistic farming model, which aims to naturally recycle all farm animal and vine by-products back into composts and nutrient rich soil enhancers that are then applied to the vineyards.
