Wine sales for Sam Neill’s brand Two Paddocks boom after Jurassic Park actor’s death

Fans across New Zealand are raising a glass to Sir Sam Neill — sparking a staggering boom in sales for the late actor’s wine brand. Alcohol retailers across Neill’s homeland have revealed sales of his Two Paddocks wine range have soared dramatically since his death on July 13. The late Jurassic Park actor began his wine-producing business in 1993 in Central Otago, an inland region in New Zealand’s South Island. His wine brand is best known for producing riesling, rose and their best-selling pinot noir. Since Neill’s passing, sales of the vineyard’s pinot noir have spiked by an astonishing 1828 per cent in just a week — with the red wine jumping from Liquorland NZ’s 423rd best selling bottle to their fifth most popular. The bottles have also been in high demand across Liquorland stores in Australia, with the website listing the red wine as one of the most popular purchases this week. It’s not just wine giants struggling to keep up with the demand for the actor’s wine, however. Boutique wine stores across New Zealand have revealed Two Paddock bottles have been flying off the shelves since Neill’s death. Wellington wine store Regional Wines told the Guardian that they had completely sold out of Neill’s wine brand on the day of his death. Gourmet grocer Moore Wilson’s has also revealed Two Paddocks has been selling at five times its usual volume since the news broke. “Customers have shared plans to enjoy Sir Sam Neill’s movies with a glass of his pinot noir,” Moore Wilson’s general manager Amanda Thompson said. “Others are stocking up for the cellar, and some cafes and restaurants were putting up a blackboard special to celebrate his life.” Two Paddocks general manager Jacqui Murphy said the actor would have been “deeply moved” by the widespread support of his wine brand. “I’m sure he would regret the reason they needed to do this but he talked about wine being conviviality, connecting people,” she said. “I think he would think it was very apt and he’d be even more excited that they were, of course, drinking his Two Paddocks.” Dean McHenry, who manages Two Paddocks’ distributor Negociants New Zealand, said the brand had always been popular but demand has boomed in the past week. “I just think it shows what he meant to us as a nation at the bottom of the world,” he said. Fans haven’t just thrown their money at alcohol in the late Jurrasic Park actor’s honour, however. The hospital where Neill infamously underwent cancer treatment, the Dunstan Hospital Foundation, has also received dozens of donations from across the world. The foundation’s chief executive Hayley Anderson said many of the donations came with heartfelt messages celebrating the actor’s life and the role the hospital played in his life. Beill passed away from pneumonia on July 13, sparking an outpouring of tributes from his Australian and international colleagues. Aside from the Jurassic Park films, Neill was also known for the Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Rams — shot in WA’s Great Southern region — and The Twelve. He still has two other unreleased projects upcoming — Godzilla x Kong: Supernova and The Last Resort.