Wine.Woot : One Week, One Wine (SM)

Starting to make that job into a career? Beginning to wonder if you’d get married at thirty? Maybe thinking about putting that tiny bit of stashed away retirement money into a really nice car? If you were Andrew Murray, the answer to the question “What were you doing at twenty five?” would be “being praised as one of the top winemakers in America.”

With his Santa Barbara vineyards, Andrew Murray has been able to use his talent for making delicious wines on a regular basis. In fact, he’s only gotten better in the past decade (and remember, he was pretty darn good back in 1999). The Los Angeles Times, Bon Appetit, Appellation Magazine, The Chronicle, Food & Wine Magazine, for the past ten years, they’ve all been calling Andrew Murray “one to watch” and ranking his wines among their favorites. You can bet your obscure Rhone varietals, we’re pleased as spiked punch to be offering this incredibly special three pack.

In fact, the wines Andrew’s offered us are from those very lesser-known Rhone varietals we invited you to bet! They’re rarely used, and having them means the fruit can grow in the rocky, well-drained soils and cool microclimates of the Andrew Murray Vineyards. There’s a richness, a maturity, that these varietals offer. And from someone still comfortably under forty, it’s unspeakably impressive.

The 2005 Roasted Slope Syrah comes from small-berried hand-harvested grapes, picked in the cool foggy mornings of October. That we can be so precise is a credit to the vineyard. That same eye for detail is also why they prefer the French co-fermentation method, letting the Viognier and Syrah vines grow and ferment together, rather than just mixing them after the fact. Of course, the difference is subtle, but what isn’t in the world of wine? The 2005 Roasted Slope Syrah offers a nose of black cherries, violets, and a touch of toasty oak. The long, lingering finish promises a bottle that will age gracefully for the next five to seven years. That���s right, he says five to seven years, right from the Winemaker’s Notes. We told you, this guy knows all about his wine.

The second bottle is from the 2006 Great Oaks Vineyard. This wine is inky black, with gobs of black cherry, blueberry and smoky spice. It comes from the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley, and the fruit has done so well, its reputation is beginning to spread, so keep your eyes peeled. Before long, Great Oaks (owned by Michael and Nancy Lippman of Lippman Entertainment) is going to be written on many great bottles. Andrew’s been crafting with them for some time, and this debut release is the first he’s bottled for himself. Though drinkable now, we’re told the wine will be at its best in two to five years. By then, Great Oaks will have likely exploded nicely on to the wine scene. Won’t it be impressive to pull out a nicely kept bottle you got before anyone else even knew they existed?

Then there’s the bottle from the 2007 McGinley Vineyard (formerly known as the Westerly Vineyard). This fruit comes from a hotter climate, in the eastern Santa Ynez. This wine is a Syrah that comes blended from the very best barrels produced at McGinley. It is a riper-style, boasting aromas and flavors of black cherry, charred and toasty oak, and subtle hints of earth aromas, black olive and white pepper. It’s big and round on the mid-palate and will be best in one to three years.

Andrew Murray has proven himself and earned his praise over and over again. We know you’ll be just as excited as we are to have this specially assembled three pack here today. And remember, these wines might be delicious now, but they’ve been designed to age. So you might want to order an extra set for the future. You’ll be thanking yourself in 2012.