Two Paddocks The Last Chance Pinot Noir

In exceptional vintages, Two Paddocks bottles a single-vineyard expression from one of its four organically farmed sites in Central Otago. In 2021, that vineyard was The Last Chance—a two-hectare terrace perched above the Earnscleugh Valley, where schist gravels, wild winds, and hand-dug gold miner irrigation define one of the world’s southernmost Pinot Noir plots.

2021 was a season of contrasts: early frosts, erratic flowering, and a dramatic summer storm gave way to a dry, stable autumn—allowing fruit to ripen slowly and completely. On April 8, a small crop of perfectly poised Pinot was harvested and vinified with 79% whole bunch in a French oak cuve. The wine spent 24 days on skins, including a 9-day wild ferment, before maturing for 11 months in French barriques (11% new).

The result is a vivid and textural wine, rich in lifted florals, fine tannins, and site transparency. The nose bursts with wild strawberry, red currants, rosehip and citrus peel, while the palate is savoury, mineral and long—featuring notes of mushroom, wet leaves, cedar and crushed herbs.