Two Paddocks is a small family wine producing business that is entirely dedicated to making great wine.

We started in 1993 with modest ambitions and first planted five acres of Pinot Noir at our original little vineyard at Gibbston, Central Otago in the deep south of New Zealand. At the same time, our friend Roger Donaldson planted the land next door, hence the name Two Paddocks. (Roger has his own brand now, and we are left with the title.)

I wanted to produce a good Pinot Noir that would, at the very least, be enjoyed by my family and friends. Frankly, my friends will pretty much drink anything, so this didn't seem too hard. To our great surprise, our first vintage in 1997 was much better than we hoped, in spite of a difficult growing season. 1998 was a more distinguished vintage, and in 1999 we were astounded to produce a Pinot that was, we thought, world class. 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, we have produced a Pinot Noir that has done us proud and is, to be frank, too good to be wasted on our friends. They still somehow manage to bludge a lot off us, and that, combined with the proprietor's generous thirst, accounts for the occasional scarcity of Two Paddocks Pinot.

Our 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. We planted it with Burgundian Pinot vines (5, 6, 115) in 1998. Two Paddocks "The 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 we acquired Redbank, a lovely-sheltered sixty acres also in the Earnscleugh Valley, which nestles between two dramatic rocky escarpments. We have planted more Burgundian clones here (777, 667, and 115) and expect our first single vineyard Pinot from this block in 2004. As a departure, we have also planted 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.

I have had a long-standing interest in Pinot Noir and the way it is produced in Burgundy. We follow the same techniques; our low yielding, close planted vines are hand tended, the grapes hand picked, the wine aged in small French oak barrels (30-40% new) and so on. It is time consuming and labour intensive, but produces rewarding wines that are of high quality and impressive with age.

The wine is made at the Central Otago Wine Company in Cromwell, a small winemaking facility in which we are partners. The C.O. Wine Co. was founded by our friend Mike Wolter, a gifted winemaker and one of the pioneers of wine in Central Otago. Sadly Mike died in 1997. However we soldier on, and Bridget, Mike's widow, continues Mike's work.

Rudi Bauer took over as winemaker for two vintages, and has gone his own way to Quartz Reef. He has been succeeded by young rising star Dean Shaw who has proved himself a consummate winemaker, particularly of Pinot.

Every year our original label features a flower of some kind, usually a rather humble one. Each of these flowers has a personal meaning for us, and always has a central Otago connection. It may grow wild in the area, or come from my own garden.

We are firm believers in the "terroir" of Central Otago. It is not only my favourite corner of the world, we now know that it has the right climate and soils to produce world-class Pinot Noirs. But of course the other side to winemaking are the people involved — we take particular pride in the slightly disreputable bunch here at Two Paddocks Headquarters (see Our Team). It is their unlikely genius combined with God's own country — Central — that produces our (we think) amazing Pinots.

Recently, as an addition to our two premium single vineyard Pinot Noirs The Last Chance and First Paddock, we have added a second tier label: Two Paddocks Picnic.

The first two vintages of Picnic were Picnic Pinot Noir, and Picnic Riesling. Now we have added Picnic Sauvignon Blanc, Picnic Socialist Chardonnay and Picnic The Sociable Red (a merlot blend), to be released 2005.

Our Picnic wines are excellent value, and remarkably high quality wines. We source our Chardonnay from Canterbury, Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough and our Merlot from Hawkes Bay – we consider these the best growing areas for those particular grapes in New Zealand. All are approachable, affordable, unpretentious and easy drinking. Try and exercise restraint, if you can!

Things are constantly on the move at dynamic Two Paddocks. Reports come in regularly by jungle drum from all over the world. To keep on top of all the information that's fit to print, be sure to visit our News section.

We hope and trust that you will enjoy Two Paddocks wine, as much as we enjoy making it. We certainly enjoy drinking it, which makes it a little scarcer than perhaps it might be otherwise. But good luck in finding Two Paddocks anyway!

-- Sam Neill