Bacchic and Bucolic: Les Vins de Sam

The Guardian spends the day with actor/winemaker Sam Neill, who is back home in NZ for 6 months working his three Central Otago vineyards. “I love coming here. I think it’s a great place”, comments Neill. On his Two Paddocks 1999 Pinot Noir: “One thing you can say about it is that it does get you pissed. I thought this could be our slogan at one time: Two Paddocks – it gets you pissed”. It’s either the brilliant sunlight or the Otago landscape, … or perhaps the wine in his blood … Neill masticates on everything from Zhivago,  to the attractiveness of cows to the absence of a national art gallery.