Irish-born Kiwi Sam Neill, best known as an actor in movies such as Jurassic Park and Hunt For The Wilderpeople, planted five acres of Pinot Noir grapes at a vineyard he named Two Paddocks in Gibbston, Central Otago, in 1993.
Since then, he has added three more vineyards in New Zealand to his repertoire, all producing world-class Pinot Noir and making Two Paddocks the only Central Otago winery with a vineyard in all three of Central Otago’s valleys – Gibbston, the Alexandra Basin and the Cromwell Basin.
Neill’s great-grandfather, Percy Neill, emigrated from Belfast to Dunedin in the 1860s where he founded Neill & Co, a wine and spirits importer – so the Neill family has therefore been part of the deep south’s wine industry for more than 150 years.
For more on Two Paddocks, visit www.twopaddocks.com
