WINEMAKING 

Our winemaking philosophy is fundamentally simple, and has been informed by thirty years of experience in France, Australia, and California. We have always believed that wines are grown in the vineyard, and that winemakers are simply stewards of the land. Truly remarkable wines are not “made”, rather, they are grown. It’s all about soil and climate, or as the French would say, ‘terroir’. The cool, coastal climate, uplifted, hilly topography, and ancient sea-bed soils converge to create the ideal terroir for Syrah, Chardonnay, and red blends. We farm our vineyards sustainably to ensure that we can harvest modest yields of impossibly high-quality fruit. 

I remain convinced that the hilly, coastal valleys of the Central Coast contain the perfect confluence of weather, soil, and topography to craft world class wines, without equal. We have a state-of-the-art winemaking facility and an experienced winemaking team that allows us to craft highly prized, celebrated, limited, and age worthy wines each vintage.

Our Chardonnay is sourced from prized sites in Santa Maria, Los Alamos, and the Sta. Rita Hills where the sandy and calcareous soils and cold climate yield a restrained style that is more akin to Burgundy than much of California. The grapes are harvest by hand, at night, to ensure cold grapes show up to the winery. They are immediately and gently pressed to tank to settle overnight. Fermentation starts in stainless stell and then finishes in French Oak Burgundy barrels - about 10% new each vintage.

The Syrah grapes are sourced from hilly sites in Arroyo Grande and the Santa Ynez Valley, where the cold nights and warm days allow for the full flavor profile of Syrah to come to life. We look for the cooler, retrained qualities of black olive, white pepper and sage, along with the bright fruit notes of raspberry, cherry, and blueberry. Much of the fruit is destemmed upon arrival and fermented in a mix of small open top and medium sized closed tanks. After 2-3 weeks of elevage, the wine is gentley pressed to stainless for an overnight settle before transferring to barrels for 12-18 months of barrel age in mostly neutral French Burgundy barrels.

SUSTAINABILITY

From the beginning, Andrew Murray Vineyards has been committed to sustainable farming and green business practices. ‘Green’ is not a fad for us; it’s a way of life. As a small, family-operated winery, our children have been with us amongst the vines since their birth. The last thing Kristen and I want is for our children to cavort in a chemical fog, or to work the land so hard that we eliminate the opportunity for them to have a future in this business.

Our vineyard manager, Coastal Vineyard Care, is committed to the principles of sustainable, organic, and biodynamic vineyard farming. Their low input viticulture methods ensure that the growing of our premium grapes has minimal impact on the environment and their workers. Practices include attention to soil structure and cover crops to reduce soil erosion, use of biodegradable oils, soaps, and plant extracts for controlling pests and mildew, and introducing microorganisms into the soil to encourage nutrient cycling.

Inside the winery, packaging and promotional materials are selected with careful consideration to environmental impact. Our boxes may not be the sexiest ones on the shelf, but they’re made of kraft, natural, recycled cardboard (no virgin pulp) with one color soy ink and no bleach for the printing process. Our letterhead is made from recycled paper, and we use only chemical-free cleaning products. We were early adopters of the Internet, and long ago went paper-free in terms of newsletters and communications with our customers.

There are a variety of bottle thicknesses and shapes available in the wine industry. Variation in these areas translates to variation in weight and raw materials. Though we understand the romantic nostalgia of a big, heavy wine bottle, its additional weight burns more fossil fuels in transportation, and its volume requires more raw materials and fossil fuel in its manufacture. Instead, we use a lighter bottle, thereby reducing use of these valuable resources. 

We are proud to be 100% S.I.P. CERTIFIED across all of our Estate and contracted vineyard sources. Learn more here... SIP Certified is a rigorous sustainable vineyard, winery, and wine certification with strict, non-negotiable standards based on science and expert input, independent verification, transparency, and absence of conflict of interest. Certification addresses the 3 P’s of Sustainability – People, Planet, Prosperity – ensuring that both natural and human resources are protected. The rules, called Standards, require a measurable, holistic set of practices addressing habitat, water, energy, soil, recycling, air quality, packaging, pest management, social equity, and business management. Participants document dozens of requirements and implement sustainable practices. Practices are verified through independent records and on-site inspections, and receive final approval from an independent advisory board.

We may not be flying a green flag, and we may not be the grooviest folks in the industry, but our concern for the environment has been marked by a steady dedication to sustainable farming and business practices – this is who we are, not something we’ve recently become!