17th January 2014
Two Paddocks vineyards have this week acquired their fourth vineyard, this one in Bannockburn. Sam Neill says “We’ve been quietly looking around for something good in this neck of the woods for quite a while now and we were very fortunate that the opportunity came up of buying a small vineyard that we’ve always admired – Desert Heart.” Read More >
The 2010 vintage in Gibbston Valley, Central Otago, in the deep south of New Zealand’s South Island is one of those years that will bring a smile to the face of the regions winegrowers for all eternity. You can sense this by just looking at the grin of satisfaction on Sam Neill’s face, the proprietor of Two Paddocks; it’s the look of a man vindicated–of what they said was a folly–that the region he planted in was ‘too cool, too marginal in climate to ripen pinot noir”. They said, “You cannot make truly great pinot noir in Gibbston” Read More >
One of wife’s work colleagues from the Toronto office was in Singapore for a lightening visit and came over to our place for casual dinner. Looking squinty eyed and a little pale, Peter was clearly suffering from major jet lag, so we pumped a bit of Two Paddocks Riesling into him on arrival to see if we could revive the poor man. Read More >
We just had Sam Neill and Jeffrey Grosset visiting and a great evening was had by all imbibing in fabulous riesling, pinot noir and the wife’s legendary duck curry. The Two Paddocks Riesling did itself proud in the slipstream of the almighty Polish Hill, with Sam declaring he’s a big fan of the Polish Hill and something about it being as “Dry as Taranaki on a Sunday”. There was a dominance of Two Paddocks Pinot Noir with the duck due to unfortunate accident with Grosset’s luggage, his Pinot Noir the main casualty. Still, there were no complaints from Jeffrey as he dipped his nose ever deeper into the 2008 Two Paddocks, still brooding away (see note) although drinking superbly on the night and a perfect match for the duck. Read More >
A note came through the email this morning from Sam Neill, proprietor of Two Paddocks, that prompted me to report on their 2008 Pinot Noir, which I have 5 cases in the cellar; well 4 cases now having liberated a case recently to check on how it is evolving – and was consumed within the week! The ‘Prop’ had suggested “To drink up the 08’s, there’s exciting things ahead”, which illustrates the enthusiasm for the 2009 and 2010 vintages in Central Otago. Read More >
Back To Singapore
Back to the Future
“It would be doubly remiss to not remark further on the incursion to Singapore, but Monsieur Blog has been hoping for more documentary evidence in the form of photos.
Anyway, as orchestrated by Curtis Marsh, Wandering Menace of Eastern Parts…”
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So here we are back in London, again! That is we were in London for 7 days in early June, and on to Paris for 3 days, then down to Burgundy for 3 days, back to Paris, subsequently home to Singapore. All of which I should have written up by now but got as far as Tate Gallery and have been sidetracked by all number of things since. Not least a fantastic 4 days of the continuing pinot noir conspiracy with Sam Neill (Two Paddocks) and Phillip Jones (Bass Phillip) with several events in Singapore.
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