Dark brooding, elegant and fleshy with a tight tensile profile showing great depth and drive. 

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.
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. Over time, this will make the Two Paddocks portfolio entirely certified Organic.

Featuring the Proprietor’s Grandfather, Sidney Neill – Wine Merchant, on the label, Picnic is the perennial favourite, the wine to enjoy everyday and a wonderful introduction to the pleasure of Central Otago Pinot Noir. This fruit was sourced from Two Paddock’s own vineyards in Alexandra and Gibbston and Bannockburn. Picnic Pinot Noir is made in a diminutive style aimed to reflect the characters that Central Otago Pinot does so very well, black and red cherry fruit, spice and a generosity that keeps you reaching for the next sip.

Vintage 2021 was characterised by climatic variation extremes throughout spring and early summer and then developing into a fantastic finish, with a long stable mid-summer / autumn warm period, right up to and over harvest. At the start of the season, a cold winter continued into a dry warm spring with steady vine shoot growth. The grapes flowered over December 2020, which was warmer than last year but with intermittent rain that resulted in only half the vineyard blocks achieving desired crop loads. The first week of January saw a significant rain event and that set the vineyards up with optimum soil moisture levels for the rest of the season. There was some typical early and late in the season frost fighting, but the vine canopies stayed resilient and green with harvest staring a week earlier than typical on the 30th of March and finishing on the 22nd April.

Whilst wine is approachable in its youth, it will be well rewarded with cellaring for 3-8 years.