Sam Neill, the Actor and Winemaker, Dies at 79

Sam Neill, the actor known around the world for roles in “Jurassic Park,” “The Piano,” “Dead Calm,” “The Hunt for Red October” and “Peaky Blinders,” died on July 13 in Sydney, Australia. He was 79. Beyond film and television, Neill had become one of the best-known public advocates for New Zealand wine, a role he built over more than three decades through his Central Otago winery, Two Paddocks, and through his steady promotion of the country’s wine industry abroad.

Born in Northern Ireland in 1947 and raised in New Zealand, Neill often spoke of wine as part of his family history as much as his adult life. He bought his first vineyard in Central Otago in 1991 and founded Two Paddocks in 1993. Over time, the estate grew into one of New Zealand’s most respected wine labels, closely associated with Pinot Noir and with the rise of Central Otago as a serious fine-wine region.

Earlier this month, New Zealand Winegrowers named Neill a Fellow in recognition of his work promoting the country’s wines. He had been due to be formally inducted at a celebration dinner at the end of August. In a statement, the organization said Neill had used his international profile and “distinctive voice” to bring attention to New Zealand wine and to the people and places behind it. The tribute reflected a long-standing view within the industry that Neill helped give New Zealand wine a broader cultural presence beyond trade circles and specialist media.

That role was rooted not only in ownership but also in personal enthusiasm. In an interview published by Decanter magazine in its July 2026 issue, conducted by Lucy Shaw before his death, Neill spoke openly about wine as a lifelong interest shaped by family tradition, travel and daily habit. He said wine had always been present at the family table and described a lineage tied to the drinks trade that stretched back generations. His family, he said, had operated a wine and spirits firm for 150 years, while an ancestor, Benjamin Ingham, made a fortune selling Marsala during the Napoleonic Wars. He also referred to another forebear who made crystal wine glasses in Cork in the 1700s.

The interview offered a portrait of Neill not as a celebrity collector chasing labels for status, but as a drinker with broad tastes and strong opinions. Asked where he kept his everyday wines, he answered simply: in the laundry. Asked what was on his rack, he said he enjoyed wines from around the world and took particular pleasure in drinking bottles very different from the Central Otago Pinot Noir produced at Two Paddocks. He said he had recently brought back mixed cases from Ribera del Duero in Spain and described them as his latest enthusiasm.

Neill also expressed affection for large Australian reds, citing Yalumba’s The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz 2022 as an example of a style he admired. That preference stood alongside his own work with Pinot Noir, a grape he repeatedly described as demanding but rewarding. In the same interview, he called Pinot Noir the variety with which he most identified and said only “a crazy person” would bother to grow it, though he added that it was worth the effort.

His comments also showed how closely his identity as a winemaker remained tied to Two Paddocks. When asked about his go-to bottle for a night at home, he said it had to be one of his own wines because it carried the satisfaction of seeing hard work reflected in the glass. He stressed that people often underestimated how difficult it was to produce organic wine, especially from Pinot Noir. That remark pointed to another important part of Two Paddocks’ reputation: its commitment to organic farming at a time when sustainability has become central to premium wine production in New Zealand and elsewhere.

Central Otago itself has changed dramatically since Neill entered the region in the early 1990s. Then still emerging as a modern wine area, it is now internationally recognized for Pinot Noir grown under extreme continental conditions unusual in New Zealand. Producers there have benefited from rising export demand and from growing consumer interest in cooler-climate reds with freshness and structure rather than sheer weight. Two Paddocks became part of that story early on, helping define both style and image for the region.

Neill’s public remarks over the years often mixed humor with directness, and that tone carried through the Decanter conversation. He named St. John in London’s Clerkenwell as his favorite restaurant but complained that owner Fergus Henderson stocked only French wines, calling that choice baffling for such an inventive chef. Asked for restaurant recommendations near his winery, he pointed to The Old Clyde Bank, Olivers and The Packing Shed, all close to Two Paddocks.

He also spoke about food with the practical ease of someone rooted in rural life rather than restaurant theater. For dinner parties, he said lamb from the farm would typically be served along with vegetables and fruit from the home property. He admitted he was not much of a cook himself and preferred others to do “the heavy lifting.” For dream guests, he named Stephen Fry, Michael Caine and Oscar Wilde, suggesting that conversation mattered as much as what was poured.

On special-occasion wines, Neill singled out Penfolds Bin 389 and said he considered it better than Grange and better priced. Asked about the best bottle he had ever tasted, he recalled sharing two bottles of 1964 Château Latour with a producer who hoped to persuade him to join a film project. He said Bordeaux was not his favorite region and noted that he did not end up taking the role anyway. Even so, he resisted naming any single bottle as supreme, saying wine was really about conviviality, conversation, food and friendship.

That view helps explain why Neill occupied an unusual place in wine culture. Many actors lend their names to vineyards or labels; fewer spend decades building credibility inside an agricultural community while speaking about wine with enough fluency to interest serious drinkers. Neill did both. His fame gave him reach, but his standing among growers came from continuity: years of vineyard ownership, repeated public support for New Zealand producers and visible engagement with what makes wine meaningful beyond commerce alone.

His death comes at a moment when New Zealand wine continues to broaden its international identity beyond Sauvignon Blanc into Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and site-specific regional styles. Neill had recently told Decanter that he still wanted to explore Spain and Portugal more deeply and that although he was “a fool for Chardonnay,” he had only just planted some this year. The comment suggested that even late in life he remained curious about new directions both as a drinker and as a grower.

For New Zealand Winegrowers, his passing leaves an empty place just weeks before an honor meant to recognize exactly that contribution. For Central Otago, it marks the loss of one of its most visible champions. And for many wine drinkers who knew him first through cinema and later through bottles bearing the Two Paddocks name, it closes a chapter shaped by unusual range: actor, farmer, winemaker and advocate joined in one public life.