Diary of a Shopkeeper, 19th July

Big country, small vineyards: Central Otago

When the death was announced this week of actor Sam Neill, my mind went back to the day I met him in New Zealand in 2017. Or rather the day I nearly met him. I was this close…only a glass of wine separated us.

He was never a starry star, Sam, but when you look at his track record, it includes a remarkable number of era-defining films: Jurassic Park, Dead Calm, The Hunt for Red October, The Piano, and (my favourite) Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Yet rather than hang out in Hollywood, he preferred to spend time in the South Island of New Zealand, where he ran a winery called Two Paddocks.

Celebrity-endorsed wines are not a rarity. High-profile launches have included showbiz stars like Brad Pitt, Graham Norton and Kylie Minogue. It’s hard to imagine Kylie being very hands on, pruning vines in winter frost, or picking grapes at harvest. But Sam was different. He lived at the Two Paddocks winery near Alexandra in Central Otago, and was deeply involved in both viticulture and winemaking. Of course his name on the label (in small print, on the back) helps sell the wines, but they don’t need much help, as they’re outstanding examples of Otago Pinot Noir, with seductive aromas and crunchy, redcurrant and cherry flavours.

In 2017 Kirkness & Gorie won a national award for its New Zealand wine selection. The prize was a three-week tour of NZ’s main wine regions, including flights to the other side of the world and back. I have an interest in New Zealand literature, so scheduled my southward flights a few days before the wine tour began, and met various poets, novelists and critics in the Auckland area. Later in the trip, in Christchurch and Wellington, I’d sneak away between wine tastings to talk to story writers and academics. Weirdly, the wine tour had become the day job I had to take seriously, while literature was the illicit pleasure I indulged in while no one was looking.

Occasionally the two interests crossed over. Once was when I met New Zealand’s most acclaimed playwright, Roger Hall, in his apartment by the beach in Takapuna, a few hundred metres from where my literary hero, Frank Sargeson, had lived 50 years before. Not only did Roger open one of New Zealand’s finest bottles for me, Te Mata’s Coleraine (a Bordeaux blend as fine as any Bordeaux) but, when he discovered I was on my way to an international celebration of Pinot Noir in Wellington, he insisted I should meet his friend Sam Neill, who he knew was also going to be there.

A week later, I was at the door of a large function room in the Te Papa national museum, with dozens of the country’s finest winemakers standing at trestle tables around the hall. There was a scattering of guests tasting and taking notes, but only one table was really crowded: the Two Paddocks one where Sam was pouring.

‘I’ll circle back to him later when he’s less busy,’ I said to myself, and headed off instead to taste Pinots from Super Nanny, Burn Cottage and Felton Road.

An hour later the hall was filling up. I threaded my way towards Two Paddocks, and found a small scrum gathered around Sam, swirling their glasses and gazing adoringly at him.

‘It’ll be quieter at lunchtime,’ I thought, and headed off to sample Maude, Mount Difficulty and Prophet’s Rock.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a message from Roger Hall: ‘I told Sam you were coming. He’s looking forward to meeting you. Just tell him you’re Roger’s writer friend from Scotland.’

The room was busier than ever. I fought my way through the crowds of happy red-faced tasters, avoiding jutting elbows carelessly raising glasses of NZ$100 wine to expectant lips. The Two Paddocks table was rammed. I could just make out the top of Sam’s head and catch a few words amidst the clamour – something about the pros and cons of barrel toasting. I grabbed an empty glass from a passing trolley, and thrust my way towards him, my arm stretched out in front of me, partly as an excuse for my intrusion, partly as a wedge to separate the crowd.

Eventually I made it through. ‘Mr Neill,’ I said, ‘I just wanted to say hello. I’m…’

‘In need of some Two Paddocks?’ he grinned, and poured me a generous slug.

‘Sam, Sam!’ came a shriek in my right lug, ‘Is it true you’ve a pet cow called Helena Bonham Carter?’

He shrugged. ‘She’s the most beautiful cow you’ll ever see.’

Laughter erupted. I felt myself being pushed backwards.

‘And a chicken called Meryl Streep?’ someone shouted, as I was ejected from the ruck into the aisle, and peals of laughter resounded, drowning out whatever Sam might be saying.

I retreated to a quiet corner, pulled out my notebook, and wrote some tasting notes about Two Paddocks, Last Chance Pinot Noir, 2012: ‘Vibrant ruby in colour; lovely aromas of redcurrants and something earthy; long-lasting flavours of redcurrants again, and brambles. Classic Otago.’ Cheers, Sam.

This diary appeared in The Orcadian on 23rd July 2026. A new diary appears weekly. I post them in this blog a few days after each newspaper appearance, with added illustrations, and occasional small corrections or additions.