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Heirloom Vineyards were born of love. A romance between an esteemed wine judge and his protege, consumated by a shared passion to preserve the integrity of venerable old vineyards. A deference for the sanctity of the soil and adherence to the timeless procedures of organic viticulture, were an integral part of the vision. Their parching quest, to secure some grand old blocks of vine in the elder precincts of Adelaide Hills, Coonawarra, Barossa and Valley Eden, were followed by years of corrective husbandry, pencil label releases and bespoke vintages. The fostered old vines have now been resurrected, yielding treasured harvests of the most sublime new world wine. Recipients of prestigious Platinum Award & Best Shiraz Trophy Sommelier International, Double Gold China Wine & Spirit, Gold.. Serenading sleeping vineyards to life»
The mean gravelly soils and invigorating climes of Mount Barker of the Australian southwest, were identified during the 1960s by the world's leading viticulturalists, as a place uncannily similar to the great terroirs and clime of Bordeaux. The pioneering vines of Forest Hill were the first ever planted here, sired from rootstock of ancient Houghton clones, inaugurally vintaged by the illustrious Jack Mann in 1972. The Cabernet and Riesling of Forest Hill were promptly distinguished by multiple trophy victories and praised by gentleman James Halliday as the most remarkable wines to come out of the Australian west. Forest Hill have remained a source of the most profoundly structured, intensely focused, yet softly spoken range of wines. Powerful yet disciplined Cabernet, generously.. Softly spoken wonders from the west»

Two Paddocks Picnic Pinot Noir CONFIRM VINTAGE

Pinot Noir Central Otago New Zealand
The Picnic Point label depicts Sam Neill's grandparents picnicking on Karitane Beach at Otago circa 1919. The jovial chap with a pipe is Sidney Neill, established importer of French wines, among other things. Some friends, a blanket or two, a bit of lunch and a glass of wine, looks like life was good. Picnic Point is made for times like these. Sam Neill's entry level Pinot Noir, though by any measure, a praiseworthy effort. Each year Picnic Point release a limited amount of vintage, so you may find yourself on a journey bound for Central Otago to find it.
Available in cartons of six
Case of 6
$245.50
Picnic Point is a perennial favourite at Two Paddocks, the wine Sam Neill enjoys everyday! Central Otago presents its fair share of challenges to growers, the most notable being early frosts in Gibbston and late frosts in the Alexandra basin. The viticultural and winemaking team walk the vineyards at harvest, tasting the grapes to determine time for harvest. All grapes are hand picked, most bunches are de-stemmed and cold macerated for a week. Following completion of a wild, indigenous ferment, batches are treated to a further week of maceration on skins. Components are transferred to a selection of seasoned French medium toast barriques for ten months maturation, before racking and bottling.
Rich ruby colour. Brambles and plum up front, herbs and spice on the mid palate with savoury undertones. Redcurrant, bramble, wildflower and spice aromatics followed by a richly textured wine. Nice tension, flow and persistence. A splendid expression of Central Otago, elegant, complex and structured, full of the traditional qualities expected of fine Pinot Noir.
Two Paddocks
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Two Paddocks
Two Paddocks is a small family wine producing business that is entirely dedicated to making great wine

Two Paddocks' three vineyards are located in Central Otago on the South Island of New Zealand. From this golden countryside, where old trails still wind through historic gold mines and ice blue lakes nestle below rugged mountains, comes some of the world's best Pinot Noir, a wine that will rival the great Pinot Noirs of Burgundy. It's the region's continental climate with its hot dry summers, cool autumns, and cold winters that provides the perfect environment to nurture the perfect grape. Add to that warm days and cool nights for colour and stability and the wine that results is nothing less than excellence.

Two Paddocks

The winery started in 1993 with modest ambitions and initial plantings of five acres of Pinot Noir at the original little vineyard at Gibbston, Central Otago in the deep south of New Zealand. At the same time, winery friend Roger Donaldson planted the land next door, hence the name Two Paddocks. (Roger’s paddock proved to be a slow starter. His brand Sleeping Dogs, takes its name from the first film he and Two Paddocks winemaker Sam Neill made together.)

Sam wanted to produce a good Pinot Noir that would, at the very least, be enjoyed by family and friends. Admittedly, Sam's friends will pretty much drink anything, so this didn't seem too hard. The first vintage in 1997 was much better than hoped, in spite of a difficult growing season. 1998 was a more distinguished vintage, and in 1999 a world class Pinot was produced. Here was a wine of considerable complexity with an amazing nose, delicious fruit and a good lengthy finish.

Since that time with each successive vintage, Two Paddocks have produced a Pinot Noir that has done the winemakers proud and is to be frank, too good to be wasted on the close circle of friends. While Sam Neill and friends' generous thirst accounts for the occasional scarcity of Two Paddocks Pinot, the ambition has become to produce year after year, the world’s best Pinot Noir

Two Paddocks

Two Paddocks original vineyard has now been augmented by two other small, superbly sited vineyards in the Alexandra district. Alex Paddocks is a 7-acre vineyard on a very beautiful terrace above the Earnscleugh Valley, and sits under some very striking rocky headlands. Planted with Burgundian Pinot vines (5, 6, 115) in 1998, the Two Paddocks Last Chance Pinot Noir is from this single vineyard (first vintage 2002). The Last Chance name comes from an old gold miners watercourse that runs through the yard, dating from the 1860s.

In 2000 Redbank was aquired, a lovely-sheltered sixty acres also in the Earnscleugh Valley, which nestles between two dramatic rocky escarpments. More Burgundian clones have been planted here. As a departure, some Riesling here, and we grow medicinal and culinary herbs as well. We inherited a still at Redbank, which we use to distill a brilliant essential oil from the English and French lavenders we grow on the property.

The wine is made at the Central Otago Wine Company in Cromwell, a small partnered winemaking facility. The C.O. Wine Co. was founded by friend Mike Wolter, a gifted winemaker and one of the pioneers of wine in Central Otago. Sadly Mike died in 1997. Every year the original label features a flower of some kind, usually a rather humble one. Each of these flowers has a personal meaning and always has a central Otago connection.

Central Otago has the right climate and soils to produce world-class Pinot Noirs. The other side to winemaking are the people involved. It is their unlikely genius combined with God's own country that produces amazing Pinots. At Redbank and Alex Paddocks the winemakers' movement is towards being certified organic producers. While they don't class themselves as being wide-eyed zealots, they just don’t much like pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and so on. The focus is on good healthy soil, and a good healthy product. Two Paddocks also believe that red wine (in moderation) is good for you, and that it should be the healthiest wine possible.

Two Paddocks