Two Paddocks Pinot Noir 2024

If you're after a textbook Central Otago Pinot Noir with a touch of extra finesse, you're in the right place. Made from organically grown fruit across four of their best vineyards, it's the flagship wine of a certain Hollywood star who takes his winemaking seriously. A mix of old and new French oak brings depth to its blackcurrant, red plum, and spicy aromatics, while dark cherry and ripe berry fruit adds freshness and vibrancy. With a good weight, texture, and real complexity, it's refined, and effortlessly elegant - not just a celebrity side project.

If you fancy giving it a year or two in the rack, it'll only get better. For pairng with food, roast chicken, duck, or spiced pork really show off its silky fruit and bright acidity.

Actor Sam Neill’s side project, Two Paddocks, has turned into something rather serious. What started in 1993 as five acres of Pinot Noir in Gibbston - next to filmmaker Roger Donaldson's plot, hence the name 'Two Paddocks' - has grown into a major Central Otago property. Their first vintage in 1997 showed promise, and before long, they were making Pinot that could hold its own on the world stage. Now spanning three more vineyards in Alexandra and Bannockburn, they're the only winery with a foothold in all three major Central Otago valleys - a sign of both their ambition and their confidence in the quality of Pinot Noir in these parts.