One of the good things about paso that it has so much diversity. I’ve always said. Find your grape. Find your champagne and here in Paso. You can.
What ever you drink where ever you try it. Have one thing in mind and one thing only
Choose your grape !
Do I like this wine. This grape type. If it’s not for me that’s fine but move on. You do not have to like every grape varietal on the planet – but you will dislike some for whatever reason.
The adventure of finding out is the fun bit…….
Or just ask me jason@thegrapewizard.com
So recently I went to Paso and visited a host of producers. Almost off the map for me for discovery but what a find. Look on the website and you’ll find my other visits but this time I went to Andrew Murray Vineyards
Situated in Santa Ynez Valley (north of Los Angeles) where mountain ranges, shaped like 1/2 pipe ski-boarding runs, funnel cool climate winds through the terrain – west to east. This helps produce Rhone varieties – so you’ll see Viognier, Rousanne and Syrah to name but a few. What your left with is concentrated character grapes that are allowed to age – if only you’ve got the patience to wait for these dangerously delicious wines !
Area 150 acres
Area 60 Hectares
or 60 🏉🏟️
3 vineyard sites and two Appellations.
Curtis Vineyard
Watch Hill Vineyard
Slide Hill Vineyard
100 acres
4 acres
1 acre
Grapes grown:
Chenin Blanc, Syrah, Grenache Rousanne and Grenache Blanc
Syrah
Syrah
The workhorse !
Elegant, refined with great acidity
Leave me alone to produce the speacial stuff !
you will often here that winemakers are lucky individuals and wine is grown in the land its planted in and that is where the magic happens but the winemakers are just custodians of responsibility. Preserve and enhance for the future. This is the case here
They even have a Tasting room, away from the vineyards in Downtown Los Olivos – Home of the Sideways movie – dedicated to limited production wines and super cool rock tunes
Syrah and Petite Sirah. Darker fruits, violets, tapenade, exotic spices
Enchanté – Roussanne and Grenache Blanc. Orchard fruit, jasmine, mint and lime. chalky minerality and white flower notes
fresh plum, blackberries, crushed gravel, and lilac
Just a snapshot of some of the fabulous wines they do….
SUSTAINABILITY
Andrew Murray Vineyards does not want to over exert the use of the land – and that makes prudent sense. They use the following :
- minimal intervention on vineyards
- paying attention to soil structure and minimising soil erosion
- use of biodegradable oils, soaps and plant extracts for controlling pests and mildew
encouraging nutrients into the soils
- Winery : packaging and promotional materials are carefully selected in regards to environmental impact.
- 100% S.I.P. CERTIFIED – mean they address practices such as habitat, water, energy, soil, recycling, air quality, packaging, pest management, social equity, and business management.
So for this reason i would give the winery 25/30 for SUSTAINABILITY
They are doing more than most and thats a good thing . Ever changing and evolving into better researched practices. 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!
So when all is taken into acccount what you have here is a winery that not only makes very good rhone varietals ( because that what the Paso Robles terrior/ climate lends itself to ) but also it produced limited batch funky uber cool wines that appeal to the younger market. You can have elegant and restrained but you can also have a rosé made from the Graciano grape something ive never seen before. If your ever in Paso you have to visit this place.
Just in case your thinking he will say that to all wineries. I did visit a few that i wouldnt recommend and wouldnt make a second visit to !!!!
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