Andrew Murray founded his eponymous winery in 1990, right after graduating high school. Stints in Australia and in the Rhône Valley, and a degree in Viticulture and Oenology from UC Davis helped him through his first 10,000 hours at quite a young age. This year he is celebrating his 35th vintage, all of them with Andrew Murray Vineyards in Los Olivos, in Santa Barbara wine country. Andrew was an early pioneer of Rhône Varieties, a path he has rarely ever left. Today, Andrew Murray Vineyards meticulously farms his Estate Vineyards to perilously low yields in the cool, coastal valleys of Santa Ynez, that result in rich, age worthy wines. Though famous for his consistently high-scoring entry level Tous les Jours Syrah, this offer is for his most limited wines, reserved for Wine Club Members and guests visiting the Winery along Foxen Canyon Road.
2023 Andrew Murray Vineyards Estate Grown Syrah, Santa Ynez Valley
Tasting Notes
94+ Points, Vinous
“The 2023 Syrah Estate Grown is bright, vibrant and structured, with ample depth and sneakily firm structure. Iodine, graphite, toasted spices and dark plum fruit open slowly. It’s a young wine that will need time to integrate its oak, at which point the overall harmony should kick up a touch. That said, the balance today is quite nice, and there’s ample freshness to carry it. Time is on your side.”
93 Points, James Suckling
“A powerful but polished red offering deep, vivid black fruit and savory flavors on a full body. Blackberries, singed sage, dried blueberries, black pepper, iron and sour cherries on the palate. Firm, fine-grained tannins.”
Our Estate is approximately 100 acres of uplifted, gently sloping vines, in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley with gravelly loam soils over a deep bed of ancient maritime sand. Here the vines are 15 to 47 years old. Though we have several Syrah blocks, our Estate Syrah is from the U-1 Block that is divided into 2 sub-blocks, A (Clone 471) and B (Clone 383). Clone 383 (a French Clone) gives ample fruit, solid structure, and a lovely cool-climate Syrah flavor profile. This clone’s small, round, marble-shaped berry has a tight skin, which results in more structured wines. The qualities of Clone 471 are similar, but with a bit more fruit-forward note. The U-1 block was grafted a few years ago onto Viognier vines. It has quickly become our favorite block of Syrah and results in a very delicious and complex wine. We harvest each block multiple times to ensure optimum ripeness and smaller fermentations in open top tanks. As each block is received at the winery, we assess quality, taste, and stem ripeness to help determine whether or not to include stems and if so, at what percentage. As such, some wines are fermented without any stems, while others are fermented with 100% whole bunches. Each fermentation lot is kept separate throughout the entire 18 months élevage after being barreled down in a mix of new and 1–4-year-old French oak barrels. The Estate Syrah is always crafted from the best of these barrels each vintage. The 2023 vintage is wonderfully dark with a blue/black core and bright red-black at the rim. The primary fruits are cherry and raspberry, balanced by a dusting of white pepper with a lovely and fully integrated toasty oak finish from the nearly 25% new French oak. The mid-palate is energetic and massive, while the finish is rich and long. This is a stunning vintage of our Estate Syrah that will benefit from another 5-10 years of bottle aging.
All small lot, open top fermented. Average about 15% Whole Cluster. The wine was on skins for 2-3 weeks depending upon each lot’s progression. Then each lot was separately pressed to stainless steel to settle a bit overnight before being transferred to barrels for 18 months. We only use the finest tight-grained French Oak barrels at the winery – this wine was aged in 36% new French oak with the balance being 1-5 years old.
Specs
Varietal Blend: 100% Syrah
Appellation: Santa Ynez Valley
Alcohol: 14.4%
pH: 3.69
RS: 0.0 g/L
TA: 6.3 g/L TA
2023 Andrew Murray Vineyards Syrah, Nolan Vineyard, Alisos Canyon
Tasting Notes
94 Points, James Suckling
“The 2023 Syrah Nolan Vineyard is shaping up to be a gem of a wine. Deep, somber minerality underscores the wine’s natural fruit weight. The inner juxtaposition of brightness and darkness (acid vs. fruit) is so enticing. Effusive aromatics of black cherry, chalk, white pepper, and lavender meet with an ultra-fine tannin structure and such elegant freshness.”
94-96 Points, Vinous
“Deep, somber minerality underscores the wine’s natural fruit weight. The inner juxtaposition of brightness and darkness (acid vs. fruit) is so enticing. Effusive aromatics of black cherry, chalk, white pepper, and lavender meet with an ultra-fine tannin structure and such elegant freshness.”
We are really excited to be working with this newer vineyard that was planted along my favorite Syrah corridor within the newly minted Alisos Canyon AVA. We work with two specific blocks with soils that are sandy, shallow, dusty, and littered with big outcroppings of limestone. This is a magical place to grow amazing Syrah. Yields are kept ruinously low, so the fruit comes into the winery relatively early, with tremendous balance and concentration. Flavors lean toward the heady, fruity side, with notes of blue and black fruits along with ripe cherry and raspberry. In the mouth, the wine is rich and broad, with fine tannins that point towards a long life in the bottle.
All small lot, open top fermented. Average about 25% Whole Cluster. The wine was on skins for 2-3 weeks depending upon each lot’s progression. Then each lot was separately pressed to stainless steel to settle a bit overnight before being transferred to barrels for 18 months. We only use the finest tight-grained French Oak barrels at the winery – this wine was aged in 30% new French oak with the balance being 1-5 years old.
Specs
Varietal Blend: 100% Syrah
Appellation: Alisos Canyon
Alcohol: 14.9%
pH: 3.71
RS: 0.0 g/L
TA: 5.9 g/L
2023 Andrew Murray Vineyards Syrah, Watch Hill Vineyard, Alisos Canyon
Tasting Notes
94+ Points, Jeb Dunnuck
“Deep ruby/purple-hued, the 2023 Syrah Watch Hill Vineyard offers a pure, lively nose of black and blue fruits, black pepper, violets, and bouquet garni that gives this a Cornas-like vibe. Medium-bodied and concentrated, it has fresh acids, ripe tannins, and outstanding length, showing the cooler, fresh, focused, nicely structured style of the vintage. This blend of 95% Syrah and 5% Viognier was fermented with 15% whole cluster and aged 18 months in 15% new French oak. It will benefit from a year or three of bottle age and should keep for 15 years in cold cellars. Drink 2026-2040”
94 Points, James Suckling
“The 2023 Syrah Nolan Vineyard is shaping up to be a gem of a wine. Deep, somber minerality underscores the wine’s natural fruit weight. The inner juxtaposition of brightness and darkness (acid vs. fruit) is so enticing. Effusive aromatics of black cherry, chalk, white pepper, and lavender meet with an ultra-fine tannin structure and such elegant freshness.”
93+, Vinous
“The 2023 Syrah Watch Hill Vineyard is so bright and vibrant, almost startlingly so, creating a sense of energy and lightness that belies its dark color. Tart pomegranate, blood orange and sour red cherry make the 2023 feel very primary today. Compact tannins and licorice-like spice point to a wine that needs some time to flesh out in the cellar.”
I am so glad that we chose to craft a single vineyard Syrah from this esteemed vineyard over a decade and a half ago. This is among my top 2 favorite vineyards to harvest Syrah from each vintage. Critics have been praising this wine since our first Watch Hill bottling. More importantly, you all have really seemed to appreciate this wine as it always sells out every year. Each vintage, we co-ferment up to 6% Viognier and employ up to 25% whole cluster fermentation. We ferment the wine in small open top tanks and then age the various lots for 18 months in French oak barrels (33% new). This yields an impossibly dark (nearly black) color, with neon tinges at the rim, pointing at the cool climate origins. Right now, the wine has notes of blue and black fruits, cherry cola, cranberry, French Oak, vanilla, blueberry pie, white pepper, purple flowers, charred bacon. The ideal drinking window for this Syrah is 5 - 15 years from release. The 2023 Vintage is an extremely bright and layered Watch Hill Vineyard Syrah. The wine is ripe, but extremely poised, polished, and balanced with moderate tannins that persist long after you swallow the wine. I just cannot wait to see where this beauty goes in the future. It truly feels like there is a long life ahead, so do not be afraid to lose this in the cellar for a while…
All small lot, open top fermented. Average about 20% Whole Cluster and 5% whole cluster Viognier grapes were added for a co-fermentation that brightens and lightens the Syrah aromatics. The wine was on skins for 2-3 weeks depending upon each lot’s progression. Then each lot was separately pressed to stainless steel to settle a bit overnight before being transferred to barrels for 18 months. We only use the finest tight-grained French Oak barrels at the winery – this wine was aged in 25% new French oak with the balance being 1-5 years old.
Specs
Varietal Blend: 95% Syrah, 5% Viognier
Appellation: Alisos Canyon
Alcohol: 14%
pH: 3.65
RS: 0.0 g/L
TA: 6.1 g/L
What’s Included
6-bottles:
2x - 2023 Andrew Murray Vineyards Estate Grown Syrah, Santa Ynez Valley
Andrew Murray fell in love with the emerging Rhône varieties, Syrah and Viognier, in the late 1980’s while traveling through France’s Rhône Valley. Leaving his UC Berkeley paleontology studies behind, he pursued his new mistress, Syrah, with an internship in Australia. His three-month tryst evolved into a 15-month romance with the famed Australian Shiraz. Returning to the states, he earned a bachelor’s degree in viticulture and enology from UC Davis’ renowned wine program, then founded his eponymous Santa Ynez winery and vineyard.
He sought out growers who shared his passion for excellence and who dared to farm their vines to perilously low yields with the most advanced viticultural methods in the industry. This uncompromising winemaker’s lucid philosophy is summarized succinctly in three words: Passion – Evolution – Wisdom; the Passion of an unflagging love affair with Rhône varieties; the Evolution of winemaking techniques where even the most subtle nuance is divined from each new vintage; and the Wisdom gained with 20 years of winemaking experience.
Andrew’s focus and dedication to his craft have culminated in what Robert Parker, Jr. calls, “…one of the shining stars in the Santa Barbara firmament.” This perennially youthful perfectionist has been named ‘Tastemaker of the Year’ by Food and Wine Magazine, as well as, ‘One of the most fearsome talents in food and wine.’ Still, despite myriad accolades, Andrew remains the same modest, approachable, contemplative man he was when he first embarked to Australia back in 1992. He is eternally committed to vinicultural ‘Kaizen’ – the unrelenting pursuit of continuous improvement.
As Robert Parker, Jr. put it, “…Andrew Murray’s offerings are a breath of fresh air given their exceptionally high quality and realistic prices – reader take note.” We hope you’ll come visit us and delight in sampling the fruits of Andrew’s passionate labors.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI, WY
Andrew Murray Vineyards 93+ Point Mixed Syrahs
6 bottles for $139.99 $23.33/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $229.99 $19.17/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
Andrew Murray Vineyards 93+ Point Mixed Syrahs
2023 Andrew Murray Vineyards Estate Grown Syrah, Santa Ynez Valley
Tasting Notes
94+ Points, Vinous
93 Points, James Suckling
Specs
2023 Andrew Murray Vineyards Syrah, Nolan Vineyard, Alisos Canyon
Tasting Notes
94 Points, James Suckling
94-96 Points, Vinous
Specs
2023 Andrew Murray Vineyards Syrah, Watch Hill Vineyard, Alisos Canyon
Tasting Notes
94+ Points, Jeb Dunnuck
94 Points, James Suckling
93+, Vinous
Specs
What’s Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$58 - $65 per bottle, not for sale on winery website, $724/case MSRP
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Dec 7 - Wednesday, Dec 9
Andrew Murray Vineyards 93+ Point Mixed Syrahs
6 bottles for $139.99 $23.33/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $229.99 $19.17/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2023 Andrew Murray Vineyards Estate Grown Syrah
2023 Andrew Murray Vineyards Syrah, Nolan Vineyard
2023 Andrew Murray Vineyards Syrah, Watch Hill Vineyard
My trigger finger has been removed from the keyboard awaiting rattage.
There’s a lot of reading up top…also looking forward to rats!