Sam Neill, founder of Two Paddocks and Jurassic Park star, dies aged 78
Sam Neill, the actor behind Jurassic Park’s Dr Alan Grant and founder of Central Otago winery Two Paddocks, has died aged 78. While celebrated across the world for his film career, he spent more than three decades quietly building one of New Zealand’s most respected Pinot Noir estates.
The actor Sam Neill, whose screen career spanned more than five decades and included roles in Jurassic Park, The Piano, The Hunt for Red October and Peaky Blinders, has died aged 78.
For the wine trade, however, Neill leaves behind another legacy. In 1993, at the height of his Hollywood success, he planted the first vineyard that would become Two Paddocks in Central Otago, establishing a winery that earned international acclaim on the strength of its wines rather than its famous owner.
His family said his death in Sydney was “sudden and unexpected” and that he died surrounded by loved ones. Neill revealed in 2023 that he had been diagnosed with cancer, before announcing earlier this year that he was cancer-free.
A reluctant celebrity winemaker
Neill consistently rejected the description of “celebrity winemaker”, arguing that it diminished the work of those behind the wines.
Speaking to the drinks business in 2013, he said: “I don’t like the celebrity winemaker tag because people groan if they hear a wine has been made by a celebrity and presume it must not be any good.”
Instead, he spent more than 30 years developing Two Paddocks into one of Central Otago’s benchmark Pinot Noir producers. From an initial five-acre vineyard planted in Gibbston in 1993, the estate expanded across four small vineyard sites in Gibbston, Alexandra and Bannockburn, becoming the only Central Otago producer with vineyards across all three of the region’s principal valleys.
Neill remained deeply involved in the business throughout its development, championing organic farming, Burgundian vineyard principles and site-specific Pinot Noir at a time when New Zealand’s international reputation rested overwhelmingly on Sauvignon Blanc.
Pinot before publicity
Unlike many celebrity-backed wine projects, Two Paddocks was never built around its founder’s profile.
Production remained deliberately modest, with an emphasis on estate-grown Pinot Noir alongside highly sought-after single vineyard bottlings. The winery became certified organic from the 2017 vintage and developed a reputation for restrained, ageworthy wines that reflected Central Otago rather than chasing fashionable styles.
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Speaking to the drinks business during Pinot Noir NZ in 2017, Neill described winemaking as “one of the arts”, adding that his ambition was to leave behind “a thing of beauty” that would outlive him.
He was equally outspoken about screwcaps, dismissing what he called the “romance bollocks” surrounding cork closures, and argued passionately that New Zealand Pinot Noir deserved greater recognition alongside Burgundy.
Life beyond Hollywood
Born in Northern Ireland before moving to New Zealand aged seven, Neill belonged to a generation of leading men who seemed more interested in living well than living loudly. Like Paul Newman and Robert Redford, he carried an easy charisma without ever appearing to chase celebrity, preferring wide open landscapes to the machinery of Hollywood.
Although millions knew him as palaeontologist Dr Alan Grant, Neill deliberately chose to spend much of his life away from Hollywood on his Queenstown farm, where he became almost as well known in later years for his social media posts featuring pigs, sheep, ducks and horses as for his acting.
His farm became an unlikely online sensation, with followers delighting in his dry humour and stories about celebrity-named livestock, including pigs Taika Waititi and Imogen Poots, chicken Meryl Streep and duck Charlie Pickering, who frequently accompanied him on swims around the farm’s lake.
In interviews, Neill often spoke of preferring life among animals and vineyards to the film industry’s glamour, finding satisfaction in farming and the rhythms of the seasons.
The Bond who never was
Neill’s career almost took another famous turn. A surviving screen test from 1986 shows him auditioning for James Bond, and many fans have since argued he would have made an excellent 007. Having already portrayed the real-life master spy Sidney Reilly, one of Ian Fleming’s inspirations for Bond, he certainly possessed the charm and intelligence for the role, even if he ultimately seemed almost too decent a man to inhabit Britain’s most famous secret agent.
An enduring legacy
While his filmography secured his place as one of cinema’s most recognisable actors, Neill regarded his vineyards as something that might endure even longer.
“If your wine is a dud it only goes so far,” he told the drinks business in 2017. “But if you have great wines, it’s a good way to start.”
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