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Andrew Murray Vineyards is a family-owned winery located in Los Olivos, California. Nestled in the Santa Ynez Valley AVA of Santa Barbara County, it specializes in Rhône varieties Syrah, Grenache, Roussanne, Marsanne, and Grenache Blanc.

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Both the red and the white Eleven blends look interesting and well priced. I think I might be in on one of each.

The red Eleven comes off as pretty sweet for my palate. Not a fan. The Syrahs are all good, if a bit overpriced at winery prices.

kylemittskus wrote:The red Eleven comes off as pretty sweet for my palate. Not a fan. The Syrahs are all good, if a bit overpriced at winery prices.

Did you get a chance to taste the White Eleven?

kylemittskus wrote:The red Eleven comes off as pretty sweet for my palate.

That makes me more interested.

Hopefully Andrew chimes in and can give some more stats on the Red Blend; RS, PH, barrel treatment, drinking window, etc.

I am very intrigued by that one, though I am really trying to stop buying for the foreseeable future.

And thank you for having me back...it has been far too long...the powers that be at WOOT! have been staying in touch, but we have simply not had enough wine for a traditional WOOT! offering...these new, "boutiques" are really great, at least from my perspective... Really glad to be here with you all...

Andrew

Winedavid39 wrote:This one was hard fought. Thanks Andrew (and Neil)!

Very glad to have Andrew Murray back on woot.

redwinefan wrote:Did you get a chance to taste the White Eleven?

Nope. Wish I did, though. It wasn't being poured.

I sincerely hope that you take a chance...the Unplugged is wonderfully crisp, dry, and light from the dominance of the old Chenin Blanc vines (planted originally by the Firestone Family when they were first starting the winery...decades ago) (only 12.5% alc for this portion of the wine). The SB adds a bit the nose...a more tropical SB edge because it comes from the Musque clone from the Great Oaks Vineyard in SYV. We lastly add the "glue" of the blend...River Bench Chardonnay from Santa Maria...un-oaked, crisp, yet smooth on the finish. We inhibited ML...so this wine is definitely UN-CALIFORNICATED!

The Red is dominated by Cab and Cab Franc...definitely speaks of a big, ripe fruit/spice driven Cab because of the smaller additions of Sangiovese and Tempranillo...and a bit o' Cow Bell...Grenache. While the blend is like no other, I did carefully blend these wines...all fermented and French Oak aged for 2 years...about 20% new FO. I looked for inspiration in the sun drenched hills of seaside Spain and also from the Tuscan countryside...really no inspiration from Bordeaux at all in this wine. Cabs are from Great Oaks Vineyard...steep hillside, low yielding fruit...Temp and Sangio from Oak Savanna Vineyard...and the tiny bit of Grenache is from West Paso...from Terra Bella Vineyard.

I am infinitely proud of these wines. I am also proud to offer these as one of my first forays outside my comfort zone of Rhone varieties...been Rhone only for 21+ years...

Hope you all give them a shot...we definitely tried to price them very fairly. These are all contracted grapes, carefully fermented and blended at AMV...not some sleazy bulk wine deal...

Cheers

Andrew

redwinefan wrote:Both the red and the white Eleven blends look interesting and well priced. I think I might be in on one of each.

I am wondering if the Red comments come from the 2006 vintage? We have just released the 2009 vintage to our tasting room only about a couple of months ago...I have never heard anyone say that the 2009 tastes sweet...the RS was tested at bottling as having less than 0.01%...looking right at the final analysis before bottling, the pH is 3.75 and the TA is 6.0 g/L...and the alc is 14.95. Perhaps a perceived sweetness from the riper flavors? I am never one to say that someone else is wrong in what they taste...so I am just here to provide the chemical analysis (BTW, I have tasted MANY wines that I swore were sweet...I kept some wine and sent it to a lab, only to learn that it was dry...sweetness can be confounding for sure!)...

North316 wrote:That makes me more interested.

Hopefully Andrew chimes in and can give some more stats on the Red Blend; RS, PH, barrel treatment, drinking window, etc.

I am very intrigued by that one, though I am really trying to stop buying for the foreseeable future.

Andrew: it was the 2006. Sorry for the confusion.

AndrewMurray wrote:I am wondering if the Red comments come from the 2006 vintage? We have just released the 2009 vintage to our tasting room only about a couple of months ago...I have never heard anyone say that the 2009 tastes sweet...the RS was tested at bottling as having less than 0.01%...looking right at the final analysis before bottling, the pH is 3.75 and the TA is 6.0 g/L...and the alc is 14.95. Perhaps a perceived sweetness from the riper flavors? I am never one to say that someone else is wrong in what they taste...so I am just here to provide the chemical analysis (BTW, I have tasted MANY wines that I swore were sweet...I kept some wine and sent it to a lab, only to learn that it was dry...sweetness can be confounding for sure!)...

I saw the 14.5% and had to scroll back up to see if this was Paso juice, and it looks like only the Grenache was. Does the high alcohol in this case just come from the ripeness of the fruit and the fact that you fermented it to dry?

Also, what is the proportions of the varietals in the red blend (and the white for that matter), I don't see either listed anywhere?

And what would you suggest as the drinking window?

AndrewMurray wrote:I sincerely hope that you take a chance...the Unplugged is wonderfully crisp, dry, and light from the dominance of the old Chenin Blanc vines (planted originally by the Firestone Family when they were first starting the winery...decades ago) (only 12.5% alc for this portion of the wine). The SB adds a bit the nose...a more tropical SB edge because it comes from the Musque clone from the Great Oaks Vineyard in SYV. We lastly add the "glue" of the blend...River Bench Chardonnay from Santa Maria...un-oaked, crisp, yet smooth on the finish. We inhibited ML...so this wine is definitely UN-CALIFORNICATED!

I see crisp, crisp and more crisp here. Is there any minerality coming through on this blend, floral, buttery-ness?

North316 wrote:I see crisp, crisp and more crisp here. Is there any minerality coming through on this blend, floral, buttery-ness?

No butter because of the no MLF. I can't answer the other questions, though.

Not sure if I should give away the secret on this thread since I'm contemplating buying one, but in his vinter's voicemail, Andrew says there are only 5 Syrah Magnums allocated to Woot!

Ended up going in on Red Eleven, White Eleven, and the Watch Hill Syrah Magnum. Just realized I've got a vertical of the Watch Hill in my wine locker 2006-2008, so adding in the 2010 could make for an interesting wine tasting night in the future.

Oh, yes, and I got an order of wine ice bags too. Thanks Woot!

Thanks for chiming in today...

I get a bit defensive when folks accuse our wines of being "over priced"...I work so darn hard to grow and craft and bottle wonderful, distinctive and unique Syrah bottlings (heck all of our varieties). We have been consistently perfecting our craft and garnering great critical success for over 20 years. More important that critics...we have developed a wonderful and interactive fan base through the years. As our scores have gone up, I have actually lowered our prices...now, who is crazy enough to do that (I dropped our Esperance $5/bottle and our Watch Hill Syrah by $6/bottle with the most recent vintages)? If I was bottling Pinot Noir from Sonoma or SRH or Cab from Napa, I would have to double or triple our prices to match wines with equivalent critical scores. You never hear me brag about our scores...but we have been on a bit of a roll lately! Take this quote from the Rhone Ranger edition of the Wine Advocate about our wines...“This set of wines from Andrew Murray is remarkable for its breadth of quality and sheer value.” I was more proud of that quote than any score Grapes prices have been going up 20-25% per year lately because of the very short vintages and as a result, we have been stuck crafting and bottling less lately. Our wines (thankfully and even luckily have been selling at a pace that we can barely keep up with. We hand sort and open top ferment in small lots all of our red wines. We then barrel age our reds for a minimum of 18 months (sometimes 24 if needed) in an average of about 20-25% new French Oak for single vineyard Syrah bottlings. Our wines get the royal treatment...no additives, no oak chips...all natural. I am rambling like crazy...sorry. I totally understand that you are entitled to your opinion about the prices of our wines, I just wanted you to know more about our wines and our prices. The average price of all our wines have gone down since we started...this is true because my accountant bugs me all the time. Crazy for me to see it written, but I would argue that our wines are tremendous values. They may still seem expensive to many (most) people, but I am hear to shout from the rooftops that we charge the bare-minimum for our wines so that we can have legions of fans, reach more peeps, and still stay in business. Thanks for allowing me the forum to discuss our pricing...

Cheers

Andrew

kylemittskus wrote:The red Eleven comes off as pretty sweet for my palate. Not a fan. The Syrahs are all good, if a bit overpriced at winery prices.

Right on...thanks so VERY much. We only "saved" 6 Watch Hill magnums for the wooters...so I am glad that you got in on one. BTW, the 2010 is a bit more like the 2008...cool vintage, lower alcohol (only 14.1%), impossibly dark, yet balanced and nervy...I have been out on the road quite a bit and it seems that all kinds of folks appreciate the Watch Hill...I feel like a proud father when I pour this wine...

Andrew

redwinefan wrote:Ended up going in on Red Eleven, White Eleven, and the Watch Hill Syrah Magnum. Just realized I've got a vertical of the Watch Hill in my wine locker 2006-2008, so adding in the 2010 could make for an interesting wine tasting night in the future.

Oh, yes, and I got an order of wine ice bags too. Thanks Woot!

I am blushing...

Wine is so cool like that. We all must have those wines...the wines that flip the lights on for you...I am honored that one of our wines may have had an impact on you!

For me it started with a Viognier (Condrieu actually) from Faury...it changed me forever. I was still in High School... I have been a Rhone variety fanatic ever since...Rhone, Spain, Italy, South Africa, Australia, Wa State, Cali, etc...I adore them all...and they continue to inspire me over 2 decades later...

neilfindswine wrote:...an Andrew Murray Syrah opened my eyes to the beauty of California-grown Rhone varietals many moons ago... Very happy to see Mr. Murray on Woot again.

AndrewMurray wrote:Right on...thanks so VERY much. We only "saved" 6 Watch Hill magnums for the wooters...so I am glad that you got in on one. BTW, the 2010 is a bit more like the 2008...cool vintage, lower alcohol (only 14.1%), impossibly dark, yet balanced and nervy...I have been out on the road quite a bit and it seems that all kinds of folks appreciate the Watch Hill...I feel like a proud father when I pour this wine...

Andrew

Thanks Andrew! Sounds awesome, can't wait to try it. I'm tentatively planning on coming down to Los Olivos after the Sonoma/Napa wooters tour in July, so I'm going to try to stop by your tasting room this time around.

AndrewMurray wrote:I get a bit defensive when folks accuse our wines of being "over priced"...I work so darn hard to grow and craft and bottle wonderful, distinctive and unique Syrah bottlings (heck all of our varieties).

Fair enough. My problem with paying $50+ for a Paso Syrah is that I can buy a N. Rhone for less. It may be unfair for me to "be ok" with paying $50 for a St. Joseph and not for a Paso Syrah but I am more "ok" with it.

No apologies needed...Thanks for being here in the forum today...I was sort of worried that I would be typing to myself...I just had a feeling that you may have been speaking about the 2006. As I said, sweetness is confounding. I bet that I have been wrong about sugar levels nearly as often as I have been right. I bottled a Zinfandel for a customer recently...I swore that it had to have 1-2% RS by taste...I sent the sample off to the lab prior to bottling...it was 16% alcohol, etc... The RS came back from the lab as "unreadable" < 0.01%

BTW, I neglected to add the stats on the Unplugged (white blend). It is 13.5 alc, 0.01% RS, 3.38 pH, 6.3 g/L TA...

kylemittskus wrote:Andrew: it was the 2006. Sorry for the confusion.

I actually could not agree more...I don't have any of those fancy, high scoring, high alcohol $50+ wines in my cellar (though I taste them at every opportunity I can get because I want to know what they taste like, hedonistically, I like many of them)...the label needs to say Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, Cote-Rotie, Saint Joseph, Hermitage, etc...for me to pay $50+. We have only one wine that is even near that price...our Reserve Syrah is that price...we craft only 100-125 cases per year and we spend a bit of extra money on that wine, so we feel the price is justified...Thankfully we sell out of it each vintage as quickly as we release it...we are currently sold out... Thanks for your comments and keeping this fun for me!

Andrew

kylemittskus wrote:Fair enough. My problem with paying $50+ for a Paso Syrah is that I can buy a N. Rhone for less. It may be unfair for me to "be ok" with paying $50 for a St. Joseph and not for a Paso Syrah but I am more "ok" with it.

Please reach out to me at Andrew@AMVwine if you would like to arrange a tour and tasting at the winery. I will do my best to accommodate y'all! Thanks

Andrew

redwinefan wrote:Thanks Andrew! Sounds awesome, can't wait to try it. I'm tentatively planning on coming down to Los Olivos after the Sonoma/Napa wooters tour in July, so I'm going to try to stop by your tasting room this time around.

Sorry if I said 5...thinking I allocated 6...I am pretty sure that
the woot! censors might get mad at me/us for disclosing this...guess we look pretty shocking, unbelivable... different even if they don't sell out? Oh well...I strive for transparency and honesty...I am just glad that someone listened to the Voice-mail...

Cheers

Andrew

redwinefan wrote:Not sure if I should give away the secret on this thread since I'm contemplating buying one, but in his vinter's voicemail, Andrew says there are only 5 Syrah Magnums allocated to Woot!

bright, floral, tropical, and honey...no butter, oaky or caramel notes. Crisp, yet somehow smooth is how many describe it...I know sounds a bit contradictory. The smooth Chardonnay helps to "soften" the super crisp/honeyed Chenin...

Andrew

kylemittskus wrote:No butter because of the no MLF. I can't answer the other questions, though.

AndrewMurray wrote:Please reach out to me at Andrew@AMVwine if you would like to arrange a tour and tasting at the winery. I will do my best to accommodate y'all! Thanks

Andrew

What a lovely offer! Thanks for extending it to the community here!

Alright gang...I have to go radio silent for a bit... I need to load a waiting truck with wine (1,000 cases of different yummy treats) for ageing in the warehouse and then I am rushing to my daughter's graduation. I promise to circle back, so please keep up the great dialogue!

Talk to you all again soon...

Andrew

Sorry...almost missed this one. The higher alc is from wonderfully ripe Cab and Cab Franc...they were both picked at a potential alc of about 15.5%, which gives them wonderful fruit flavors (as opposed to grassy bell peppery flavors) and smooth/ripe tannins. These two varieties represent about 67% of the blend...just over 10% each of the Temp, Sangio, and Grenache Noir. These last 3 had lower alcs and higher acids to use as blending components. It keeps this wine big, yet fresh.

The Unplugged is comprised of 44% Chenin Blanc, 33% Sauvignon Blanc, and 22% Chardonnay...

The Eleven Red is tasting great now, but should age gracefully for 5-7 years and the Unplugged should age for 1-2 years...I think that it is best enjoyed in the near term because it is so darned tasty right now...

My two cents...

Andrew

North316 wrote:I saw the 14.5% and had to scroll back up to see if this was Paso juice, and it looks like only the Grenache was. Does the high alcohol in this case just come from the ripeness of the fruit and the fact that you fermented it to dry?

Also, what is the proportions of the varietals in the red blend (and the white for that matter), I don't see either listed anywhere?

And what would you suggest as the drinking window?

I would like to recant my previous statement of over-priced and apologize to Andrew. In my head I was confusing the winery prices of Andrew Murray and Stolpman (a tasting room we really did not enjoy, BTW). Stolpman has many $48+ bottles.

Andrew's prices are not unreasonable and at the woot prices, I think are quite fair.

Sorry woot friends for lying to you and Andrew, sorry for sullying your name! I do still think that the 06 Eleven was perceptively sweet (even if there wasn't RS). That comment, I am standing by!

I can honestly say that there is no one in our neck of the woods that I respect more as a winemaker and winery owner as Andrew. He tells it like it is - no candy coating, no BS. He makes wonderfully balanced wines and is meticulous in his craft. He bends over backwards to help other winemakers in need and expects nothing in return.

When I was getting my Masters in Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis, I was enamored with the rhones from the Santa Barbara County area, and I put Andrew up on a pedestal because of his reputation and the quality of his wines. After moving here and getting to know him both professionally and personally (my son will be graduating along with Andrew's daughter this afternoon!), I came to realize that he's a pretty straightforward guy who is committed to winemaking, to family, and to community . . . not a bad trio if you ask me.

Sorry for the rambling - just thought I'd pipe in here.

Cheers!

Any way to get a sampler?
One each of the four different 750's?

That I'd pounce on.

Awesome to see these wines here.
The entry-level AM syrah (tous les jours) completely blew me away the first time I had it, and has become my go-to "inexpensive" (~$15) california red. Unfortunately, my favorite wine store in Virginia sells out of it shortly after getting it, so it's hard to come by!

Perhaps the first ever Chenin offer on Woot?
These look fantastic, but it's the white blend that's getting me excited.

beefytaco wrote:Perhaps the first ever Chenin offer on Woot?
These look fantastic, but it's the white blend that's getting me excited.

There's been some other offers with Chenin Blanc blends, but not recently. That being said, I am excited about this white blend.

redwinefan wrote:There's been some other offers with Chenin Blanc blends, but not recently. That being said, I am excited about this white blend.

Great to see a bit of enthusiasm over Chenin Blanc...it is such a GREAT variety, but often overlooked in favor of Chard or SB. This wine definitely speaks of Chenin Blanc...hope you all take a chance on this yummy white!

Cheers

Andrew

dah7m wrote:Awesome to see these wines here.
The entry-level AM syrah (tous les jours) completely blew me away the first time I had it, and has become my go-to "inexpensive" (~$15) california red. Unfortunately, my favorite wine store in Virginia sells out of it shortly after getting it, so it's hard to come by!

Nice to read your comments! So glad that you appreciate our TLJ. Thanks much for sharing! We work so hard not that wine to be yummy and affordable. Mixed emotions about it selling out so quickly...

Cheers

Andrew