The worlds of both wine and entertainment were shocked this morning by the announcement that New Zealand actor Sam Neill has died suddenly, not long after announcing that he was free of the cancer that had plagued him for the last few years.
Neill was the most charming wine producer I have ever met. Completely without the sort of ego and entourage that you would expect of an international, award-winning film star, he was a South Islander, educated at the same Christchurch school as one of my oldest friends. He was christened Nigel but he soon dispensed with that.
His Wikipedia entry lists his professional life and many film (including Jurassic Park) and television (including Peaky Blinders) accomplishments but it was as a Central Otago wine producer that I and many in the wine community knew him best. He founded Two Paddocks in Gibbston Valley in 1993 with a mere five acres (2 ha) of Pinot Noir but went on to acquire vineyards throughout the region. We last reviewed its wines, enthusiastically, in this tasting article published at the end of April.
Many will remember how his online videos from the farm cheered them up during the COVID lockdown. He was, of course, a natural on camera and always, as in life, extremely self-deprecating. When not filming he commuted between Central Otago and Sydney and as soon as his family announced his death the Australian premier apparently immediately issued a statement, quite rightly highlighting his delightfully sardonic sense of humour. He named some of the animals on his farm after celebrities. There is a bull named Graham Norton and he was especially fond of a cow called Helena Bonham Carter.
His wry sense of humour was always evident at several meals we shared. I think the first time I met him was at dinner with Anthony Hanson MW since Haynes Hanson & Clark were his UK importers. But we went on to share food and wine both in New Zealand and London. I remember a particularly entertaining dinner with him and Nick at The Clove Club, and we once entertained him and his then-wife at our home in Belsize Park. The only Hollywood star to cross our threshold, I’m pretty sure.
He most recently added his considerable weight and online charm to the campaign against the establishment of an open mine in Central Otago.
He will be very much missed throughout New Zealand, Australian and on-screen.
Image © Two Paddocks.
