Spring and Summer 2001 - 2002

An Excellent Season

The season got off to a great start with an early spring and some very warm weather. This has put Gibbston about two weeks ahead of schedule and Alexandra about a week ahead of itself. However, some rain at flowering at the end of Spring may mean a fairly small fruit set. We shall see. In the meantime, all looks good and there has been much throwing of caps into air by all us peasants.

Planting at Redbank proceeds apace. Steve and Jim will have planted 12,000 Pinot plants by Christmas. These are on root stock and are all Burgundian clones -- 667, 777 and 115. Most of the planting is on a north facing sun drenched hillside with a variety of soils including some red and yellow clays which we think may contribute to the excellence of our esteemed colleagues' Pinot at Felton Road.

From all of us at Two Paddocks, we wish you all Happy Christmas and New Year and let's hope there are lashings of Two Paddocks Neill Pinot Noir in your stocking.

Central Otago Pinot Noir Celebration

Queenstown, February 1 - 2, 2002

Two Paddocks has been chosen to represent the 1999 Vintage for Gibbston at the biennial Pinot Noir Celebration in Queenstown. A jury of our peers (wine makers and producers organising the event) have judged 1999 Two Paddocks Neill Pinot Noir to be the best from the Valley for that year and will thus fly the flag for Gibbston. A singular honour!

We are delighted to be present, along with 20 other Central Otago wineries, for this the second Central Otago Pinot Noir Celebration. This is a prestigious event attracting writers and enthusiasts from all over the world. In addition to the Central Otago wineries, this year there will be a number of invitees from elsewhere including Dry River, Fromm and Muddy Waters (NZ), Tally (US) and Diamond Valley (Aus).