The 2020 vintage comes from some of the best sites for Santa Barbara County Grenache - Santa Ynez Valley and Ballard Canyon. Warm days and cold nights helped to naturally limit yields while allowing our various Grenache sites to develop the full array of cool-climate Grenache notes: bright strawberry, blood orange, baking spices, and purple flowers. Though rich and concentrated, the palate is smooth, and the finish is as long and lingering.
Vineyard
Qupé has been crafting cool-climate Grenache from Santa Barbara County for over 40 years. We know where the best fruit comes from, and we leverage our long-term relationships to have our vineyard partners farm specific sites to our very strict requirements – low yield, clean, unblemished fruit, all certified sustainable. We want this wine to speak of its cool-climate origins, while showcasing the diversity of the Santa Barbara County. All the grapes came from select vineyards in the Santa Ynez Valley, where sunny days and very cold nights encourage a long, even ripening of Grenache and result in a diverse flavor profile with a rich, long finish. The final blend yields a quintessential Santa Barbara County Grenache.
Winemaking
As with all our red wines, this wine was crafted with traditional methods in our modern, state-of-the-art winery: hand harvesting at night to benefit from our cold evenings, small picks at a broad spectrum of ripeness to ensure maximum complexity, and flavor development. We employ a mix of quite small open-top tanks and medium-sized closed tanks for a short cold-soak before a rather quick fermentation that allows us to maximize color and medium-weight, balanced tannins, and a long, smooth finish. After fermentation, the must is gently pressed to stainless tanks to settle overnight before being racked to French Oak barrels for 18 months of aging on very fine lees.
Specs
Composition: 100% Grenache
Vineyards: Santa Barbara County
Alcohol: 14.5%
Case Production: 500
2023 Qupé Grenache, Santa Barbara County
Tasting Notes
The 2023 vintage was a classic vintage for the Santa Barbara County Grenache. Warm days and cold nights helped to naturally limit yields while allowing our various Grenache sites to develop the full array of cool-climate Grenache notes: bright strawberry, blood orange, baking spices, and purple flowers. Though rich and concentrated, the palate is smooth, and the finish is as long and fresh as the summer evenings that inspire this wine.
Vineyard
Qupé has been crafting cool-climate Grenache from Santa Barbara County for over 40 years. We know where the best fruit comes from, and we leverage our long-term relationships to have our vineyard partners farm specific sites to our very strict requirements – low yield, clean, unblemished fruit, all certified sustainable. We want this wine to speak of its cool-climate origins while showcasing the diversity of the Santa Barbara County. 90% of the wine comes from 20+ year old vines growing in the warmer soils of the Los Olivos district (not far from the winery) that yield a medium-dark color, with spicy red fruit notes and aromatic lift. The remaining 10% is grown in the sandy, gravelly hillside soils of Ballard Canyon, where we find slightly cooler days and even colder nights that reveal blood orange and baking spice notes. The final blend yields a quintessential Santa Barbara County Grenache.
Winemaking
As with all our red wines, this wine was crafted with traditional methods in our modern, state-of-the-art winery: hand harvesting at night to benefit from our cold evenings, small picks at a broad spectrum of ripeness to ensure maximum complexity, and flavor development. We employ a mix of quite small open-top tanks and medium-sized closed tanks for a short cold-soak before a rather quick fermentation that allows us to maximize color and medium-weight, balanced tannins, and a long, smooth finish. After fermentation, the must is gently pressed to stainless tanks to settle overnight before being racked to French Oak barrels for 18 months of aging on very fine lees. As bottling approaches, the wine is clean racked under nitrogen to tank for final blending and resting before bottling using our own bottling equipment.
Specs
Composition: 96% Grenache, 4% Syrah
Vineyards: 90% Los Olivos District, 10% Ballard Canyon
Alcohol: 14.5%
Case Production: 350
What’s Included
6-bottles:
3x 2020 Qupé Grenache, Santa Barbara County
3x 2023 Qupé Grenache, Santa Barbara County Case:
6x 2023 Qupé Grenache, Santa Barbara County
6x 2020 Qupé Grenache, Santa Barbara County
Price Comparison
Not all wines for sale on winery website, $396/case MSRP
About The Winery
Winery: Andrew Murray Vineyards
Owners: Andrew Murray
Location: Los Olivos, CA
Andrew Murray fell in love with the emerging Rhône varieties, Syrah and Viognier, in the late 1980s 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, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI, WY
Good evening CaseMateys! Lab Rat reporting for duty!
2020 Qupe Grenache, Santa Barbara County
My notes will be a bit more scant than usual as I am super tired and a bit under the weather…
Pop (unscrew) and Pour
Nose: Bright strawberry and something a bit richer (plum?) are front and center. There’s a hint of earthiness and something in the licorice/anise range along with a slight floral note I’m going to call violet. The licorice faded out leading to a slight peppery note.
Palate: Definitely fruit leading the charge. Nice acidity lending to a “juicy” feel. Tannins are pretty smooth/well integrated. There’s a bit of earthiness. In early tasting, I’m not getting any of the licorice I sensed on the nose. Mouthfeel is very nice. Not overly drying. Finish is smooth and medium-long.
A few hours later and no real change.
So far, this seems like the kind of wine that would be a crowd pleaser. It’s probably not going to blow your mind or knock your socks off, but it is definitely an easy drinker that would likely pair well with a range of cuisines. I think it would pair nicely with Thanksgiving/holiday fare!
I have some remaining to taste tomorrow and will report back.
Thanks, as always, to WineDavid and the WCC/Casemates crew for the opportunity to contribute to the community!
A quick follow-up note.
Largely unchanged from yesterday. Nose is a bit more muted. Flavors are about the same, but I am drinking it a bit cooler than it was yesterday (less time to ponder with a late-evening start), so everything may be a bit muted. Honestly, I preferred it yesterday with the brighter, fruity nose. It’s still likely to be a crowd pleaser and would pair well with lots of food options but, at this point, I have so much wine on-hand that I would really have to be wowed to make a purchase. It could definitely make for a nice daily drinker or cellar defender (or as I like to call them, blocker bottles) for those of you who aren’t tripping over boxes in your hallway and spare room.
Also, in an attempt to quell my wine buying, I have a new “rule” that I am trying to follow: If I don’t have notable personal experience with a wine/winery/winemaker and if there’s no winery participation…no sale. (I have to do something to rein in my buying!)
Cheers!
Will try to pop back in tomorrow evening with a final taste/note!
@karenhynes
Thanks so much foe taking the time to sharw your thoughts. We didnt make the 2020, but we inherited it from our recent purchase of Quoe brand. We really enjoyed this wine so we are still selling some at wholesale, as we finally release our 2023 Qupe Grenache, a newly reimagined version of the same wine. Bottom line, we liked rhe esy drinking fruity, Grenache forward qaikity of the 2020! Thanks again for your thoughts!
@AndrewMurray Thanks for joining the party!
This is definitely a juicy, fruit forward, fun/food friendly wine! I do like that the offer also includes the 2023, which could be a fun comparison!..also nice to have some “drink now” and some “hold for a few years”. Speaking of years, how long would you think either could be held?
We were lucky enough to receive the Lab Rat email last week and eagerly awaited delivery. We received the 2023 Qupé Grenache Santa Barbara County
Upon PnP it was astringent and medicinal. Light rhubarb smell. First sip showed that it was going to need time.
We then decanted for an hour and upon the next sip the wine had transformed wonderfully. The astringent smell/taste had gone. What was left was some strawberry and rhubarb, along with a little earth. Nice tannins and smooth mouthfeel.
Overall, once this wine opened up it showed as a nice easy drinker and I agree that this would pair very well with Thanksgiving dinner.
great thoughts here. Though the wine aged for 18 months in fancy French oak, the wine still feels quite young to us. Def benefit from some aeration or decanting. Glad you noticed the wine opening up after more slow ox. Also, you all are seeing this wine well before its official release which will come in another month or so. We liked the older vintage with the newer vintage idea to be able to purchase bottles ready to go and bottles that will improve with age. Cheers…
All of the Andrew Murray chatter in the notes a little disingenuous in that he didn’t purchase the winery until late 2024. It’s been discussed before, but these are not Andrew Murray wines or Bob Lindquist wines, but Vintage wines.
we are sometimes fast and loose with the royal we…we are incredibly transparent and I’m al open book. We (nor Bob) had anything to do with the 2020. We liked it enough to keep selling (it was the current release when we took over in Oct 2024). And we actually had a little to do with this wine since we grew some of the grapes in this wine. The 2023 is the next release as Vintage didn’t make/release a 2021 or 2022 - no idea why? We didn’t make this wine. We inherited the barrels as numerous separate lots. We worked quite hard to reveal our fave barrels and then set about to blend them to a wine that we were proud to call our own. We left out more than 1/2 the barrels as either too oaky from too much new wood or overripe or etc etc. Some of the grapes in this wine again came from our estate, but we favored wine from Ballard Canyon and Los Olivos to make sure this was not a look alike of Andrew Murray Grenache. We love the juicy fruity character of this wine. It has tremendous typicity as well - unmistakably Grenache. Yeah, we didn’t exactly make it, but we finished and blended and bottled it as our own. We are super proud of this very limited release.
I understand the risks of making assumptions (Ass U Me) but Im assuming Mr. Murray tasted these wines and they met his standards even if he did not produce them.
From my personal POV, AM has credibility based on both his (AMV, E11ven) and Qupe offerings here.
Anyway, my opinion which I also know is like a belly button…
Plz make all the assumptions. It’s your hard earned money at stake. You are correct. We didn’t make the 2020 but we loved it. We didn’t make the 2023, but we finished it and bottled it. We have consumed countless bottles of 2020 and we like it a lot. Very drinkable with just a bit of bottle age making it more immediately accessible. We love the 2023 for its youthfulness. We think it will continue to improve with age. Thanks for your interest and thanks more for weighing in here and sort of having my back! Please send me an email Andrew at AndrewMurrayVineyards with your address (if you don’t mind). I want to send you something special from Qupe. No purchase necessary. Seriously. Thank you!
@losthighwayz Hi, I’m Andrew and I bought this winery and generic inventory. Please get rid of this overpriced overstock. Honestly this is a better offer at $129/case than $199. Lots of discounted juice out there … he showed up previously
@kaolis@losthighwayz
With the label change on the '23, I wonder if it wasn’t bottled/released after AM bought the winery. Might have still been in barrel when he took over. Not that it makes much of a difference. I agree that $199 is probably too high. $159 seems about right to me.
Hello. I’m here. I had to wash the sticky grapes off my hands before I could engage. Harvest is a grind. We still have over 1/2 our grapes still hanging. Been an interesting ride this year.
I think I already answered elsewhere, we didn’t make or bottle the 2020. It arrived with the purchase. We received a lot of wine with the purchase. We have thrown much of the bottled wine away. I didn’t want my name associated with sub par wines. We loved the Syrah and Chardonnay bottling and the older Roussanne wines as well. But we took many many pallets of wine to the dump. And we also legally disposed of over 11,000 gallons of bulk wine (about 4.500 case equivalents - yikes) I am trying to hammer home the point that we were and continue to be very selective. I believe that everyone is entitled their opinion of me or this offering or any “deal” for that matter. I don’t blame you. I read way too many offers that really are too good to be true. This might feel that way to some. And that’s fine. But we were proud of it. And we remain proud of the wines. They are solid. We made our first vintage from scratch with the 2024 vintage. These wines (other than the Chardonnay) are a ways away from coming to market. Thanks to you all for asking good, probing questions. It’s your money. Spend it wisely. It’s what I do every time I buy wine (which like you all) is more often than I likely should.
I changed the label because I thought the old label was hideous (hard to read and a different shape size etc). I also wanted to give the wine a more serious treatment wit a cork and foil treatment. Yes, this wine was finished and blended and bottled by Andrew Murray Vineyards. We are biased, but we think this is a delicious Grenache. I was honestly a bit jealous of some of the lots made by the Laetitia team. We blended our fave barrels and got rid of the rest. We were only able to keep and bottle about 350 cases - less than half of what we purchased. Our careful (and sometimes expensive) decisions we made now will pay long term dividends. We are thoughtful careful and we do everything with lots of intent. We are in this for the long haul. I sincerely hope that we are able to earn people’s trust and win new fans and old fans back. I’m learning on the job here, so please continue to hold us accountable. Thanks to you all!
@AndrewMurray@kaolis@losthighwayz
Appreciate your presence, especially during harvest! Also appreciate the explanation pertaining to perceived value. I am now convinced that this is a good deal at $199, having been vetted as described. Cheers!
This made me laugh out loud. Only because there are lots and lots of crap being offered every day. It’s not funny, but some offers are just laughable. Hard to differentiate good offers from bad. I get it. I know in my heart this is a good and fair deal. I also know that not everyone will agree with me. Yeah, the Casemates overlords are relentless for good wine at fair deals to offer this winederful community. We were excited about this one to show off a well made wine with some age and our current (almost released) version. Thanks all!
And seriously, I hope I don’t sound as shallow as the Andrew that you describe above. I’m truly just a family winery winegrower and winemaker. And I’m proud to offer a fair deal to this community. No pressure sales here. At least not from me.
@AndrewMurray thanks for jumping on board. Longtime former wine club member (we stuck with AM after Curtis was no more) and e joy both your AM and Eleven wines. Miss the Fruit salad on tap though! My question is about the Grenache style. Is it on the bold or bright spectrum? We prefer cool climate light n bright Grenache with no new oak . Any insight would be appreciated.
@losthighwayz thanks so much for the great question. I think these are bolder oakier styles. It’s how Vintage was making these wines. We disincluded many newer barrels from the final bled, but it still comes across with some sexy French oak notes. In all honesty, I don’t think these wines will meet your expectations. I personally prefer heartier Grenache bottlings, not the versions that lean towards Pinot or Burgundy. I’d sooner enjoy a gamay or red burg if I was in that mood. But I suspect I may be in the minority these days. We make a red Cinsault at barely 13% alc that sounds like your brighter red. I also love that Grenache can shape shift fluidly between lighter brighter crunchier and heavier richer darker wines. Plenty of examples out there for everyone’s preferences. Thanks for your support. Email me. Seriously. Love to send you something as thanks!
@AndrewMurray thanks for your honest feedback. Larry at Tercero makes a killer Cinsault that’s bright, racy , and no new oak. Would you say your cinsault is along those lines? We like Ernst Storm and Jessica Gasca winemaking style
Is Bob Lindquist involved with the reimagined Qupe brand? If so, in what capacity? My wife and I are big fans of Verdad wines (his wife’s label) and biodynamic practices. Cheers!
2020 Qupé Grenache, Santa Barbara County
Tasting Notes
Vineyard
Winemaking
Specs
2023 Qupé Grenache, Santa Barbara County
Tasting Notes
Vineyard
Winemaking
Specs
What’s Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not all wines for sale on winery website, $396/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, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Nov 17 - Tuesday, Nov 18
Qupé Grenache
6 bottles for $119.99 $20/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $199.99 $16.67/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2020 Qupé Grenache
2023 Qupé Grenache
Good evening CaseMateys! Lab Rat reporting for duty!
2020 Qupe Grenache, Santa Barbara County
My notes will be a bit more scant than usual as I am super tired and a bit under the weather…
Pop (unscrew) and Pour
Nose: Bright strawberry and something a bit richer (plum?) are front and center. There’s a hint of earthiness and something in the licorice/anise range along with a slight floral note I’m going to call violet. The licorice faded out leading to a slight peppery note.
Palate: Definitely fruit leading the charge. Nice acidity lending to a “juicy” feel. Tannins are pretty smooth/well integrated. There’s a bit of earthiness. In early tasting, I’m not getting any of the licorice I sensed on the nose. Mouthfeel is very nice. Not overly drying. Finish is smooth and medium-long.
A few hours later and no real change.
So far, this seems like the kind of wine that would be a crowd pleaser. It’s probably not going to blow your mind or knock your socks off, but it is definitely an easy drinker that would likely pair well with a range of cuisines. I think it would pair nicely with Thanksgiving/holiday fare!
I have some remaining to taste tomorrow and will report back.
Thanks, as always, to WineDavid and the WCC/Casemates crew for the opportunity to contribute to the community!
Cheers!
A quick follow-up note.
Largely unchanged from yesterday. Nose is a bit more muted. Flavors are about the same, but I am drinking it a bit cooler than it was yesterday (less time to ponder with a late-evening start), so everything may be a bit muted. Honestly, I preferred it yesterday with the brighter, fruity nose. It’s still likely to be a crowd pleaser and would pair well with lots of food options but, at this point, I have so much wine on-hand that I would really have to be wowed to make a purchase. It could definitely make for a nice daily drinker or cellar defender (or as I like to call them, blocker bottles) for those of you who aren’t tripping over boxes in your hallway and spare room.
Also, in an attempt to quell my wine buying, I have a new “rule” that I am trying to follow: If I don’t have notable personal experience with a wine/winery/winemaker and if there’s no winery participation…no sale. (I have to do something to rein in my buying!)
Cheers!
Will try to pop back in tomorrow evening with a final taste/note!
@karenhynes
WD should know and it seems more actively try to remedy this.
@karenhynes
Thanks so much foe taking the time to sharw your thoughts. We didnt make the 2020, but we inherited it from our recent purchase of Quoe brand. We really enjoyed this wine so we are still selling some at wholesale, as we finally release our 2023 Qupe Grenache, a newly reimagined version of the same wine. Bottom line, we liked rhe esy drinking fruity, Grenache forward qaikity of the 2020! Thanks again for your thoughts!
@AndrewMurray Thanks for joining the party!
This is definitely a juicy, fruit forward, fun/food friendly wine! I do like that the offer also includes the 2023, which could be a fun comparison!..also nice to have some “drink now” and some “hold for a few years”. Speaking of years, how long would you think either could be held?
@karenhynes @rjquillin sorry all, been a few crazy long harvest days (weeks and weeks actually).
We were lucky enough to receive the Lab Rat email last week and eagerly awaited delivery. We received the
2023 Qupé Grenache Santa Barbara County
Upon PnP it was astringent and medicinal. Light rhubarb smell. First sip showed that it was going to need time.
We then decanted for an hour and upon the next sip the wine had transformed wonderfully. The astringent smell/taste had gone. What was left was some strawberry and rhubarb, along with a little earth. Nice tannins and smooth mouthfeel.
Overall, once this wine opened up it showed as a nice easy drinker and I agree that this would pair very well with Thanksgiving dinner.
@getinthemix
great thoughts here. Though the wine aged for 18 months in fancy French oak, the wine still feels quite young to us. Def benefit from some aeration or decanting. Glad you noticed the wine opening up after more slow ox. Also, you all are seeing this wine well before its official release which will come in another month or so. We liked the older vintage with the newer vintage idea to be able to purchase bottles ready to go and bottles that will improve with age. Cheers…
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
Qupé Grenache - $40 = 16.66%
All of the Andrew Murray chatter in the notes a little disingenuous in that he didn’t purchase the winery until late 2024. It’s been discussed before, but these are not Andrew Murray wines or Bob Lindquist wines, but Vintage wines.
@kaolis also Cujo never had this wine, and I doubt Joe did either, maybe Donna.
@digerifoo2 you’re funny… ha!
@digerifoo2 forgot to add who shot the sheriff
@kaolis
we are sometimes fast and loose with the royal we…we are incredibly transparent and I’m al open book. We (nor Bob) had anything to do with the 2020. We liked it enough to keep selling (it was the current release when we took over in Oct 2024). And we actually had a little to do with this wine since we grew some of the grapes in this wine. The 2023 is the next release as Vintage didn’t make/release a 2021 or 2022 - no idea why? We didn’t make this wine. We inherited the barrels as numerous separate lots. We worked quite hard to reveal our fave barrels and then set about to blend them to a wine that we were proud to call our own. We left out more than 1/2 the barrels as either too oaky from too much new wood or overripe or etc etc. Some of the grapes in this wine again came from our estate, but we favored wine from Ballard Canyon and Los Olivos to make sure this was not a look alike of Andrew Murray Grenache. We love the juicy fruity character of this wine. It has tremendous typicity as well - unmistakably Grenache. Yeah, we didn’t exactly make it, but we finished and blended and bottled it as our own. We are super proud of this very limited release.
I understand the risks of making assumptions (Ass U Me) but Im assuming Mr. Murray tasted these wines and they met his standards even if he did not produce them.
From my personal POV, AM has credibility based on both his (AMV, E11ven) and Qupe offerings here.
Anyway, my opinion which I also know is like a belly button…
@forlich I’m making zero assumptions about the wine. Just a little info that I believe clears up a little fuzzy info the offer.
@forlich @kaolis using quintessential for both notes annoyed me too
@forlich @kaolis @losthighwayz
It’s such a great word!
@forlich
Plz make all the assumptions. It’s your hard earned money at stake. You are correct. We didn’t make the 2020 but we loved it. We didn’t make the 2023, but we finished it and bottled it. We have consumed countless bottles of 2020 and we like it a lot. Very drinkable with just a bit of bottle age making it more immediately accessible. We love the 2023 for its youthfulness. We think it will continue to improve with age. Thanks for your interest and thanks more for weighing in here and sort of having my back! Please send me an email Andrew at AndrewMurrayVineyards with your address (if you don’t mind). I want to send you something special from Qupe. No purchase necessary. Seriously. Thank you!
Will AM be making an appearance? Grenache is our favorite Rhône varietal and have a question or two
@losthighwayz Hi, I’m Andrew and I bought this winery and generic inventory. Please get rid of this overpriced overstock. Honestly this is a better offer at $129/case than $199. Lots of discounted juice out there … he showed up previously
@kaolis @losthighwayz
With the label change on the '23, I wonder if it wasn’t bottled/released after AM bought the winery. Might have still been in barrel when he took over. Not that it makes much of a difference. I agree that $199 is probably too high. $159 seems about right to me.
@losthighwayz
Hello. I’m here. I had to wash the sticky grapes off my hands before I could engage. Harvest is a grind. We still have over 1/2 our grapes still hanging. Been an interesting ride this year.
I think I already answered elsewhere, we didn’t make or bottle the 2020. It arrived with the purchase. We received a lot of wine with the purchase. We have thrown much of the bottled wine away. I didn’t want my name associated with sub par wines. We loved the Syrah and Chardonnay bottling and the older Roussanne wines as well. But we took many many pallets of wine to the dump. And we also legally disposed of over 11,000 gallons of bulk wine (about 4.500 case equivalents - yikes) I am trying to hammer home the point that we were and continue to be very selective. I believe that everyone is entitled their opinion of me or this offering or any “deal” for that matter. I don’t blame you. I read way too many offers that really are too good to be true. This might feel that way to some. And that’s fine. But we were proud of it. And we remain proud of the wines. They are solid. We made our first vintage from scratch with the 2024 vintage. These wines (other than the Chardonnay) are a ways away from coming to market. Thanks to you all for asking good, probing questions. It’s your money. Spend it wisely. It’s what I do every time I buy wine (which like you all) is more often than I likely should.
@chipgreen @kaolis @losthighwayz
I changed the label because I thought the old label was hideous (hard to read and a different shape size etc). I also wanted to give the wine a more serious treatment wit a cork and foil treatment. Yes, this wine was finished and blended and bottled by Andrew Murray Vineyards. We are biased, but we think this is a delicious Grenache. I was honestly a bit jealous of some of the lots made by the Laetitia team. We blended our fave barrels and got rid of the rest. We were only able to keep and bottle about 350 cases - less than half of what we purchased. Our careful (and sometimes expensive) decisions we made now will pay long term dividends. We are thoughtful careful and we do everything with lots of intent. We are in this for the long haul. I sincerely hope that we are able to earn people’s trust and win new fans and old fans back. I’m learning on the job here, so please continue to hold us accountable. Thanks to you all!
@AndrewMurray @kaolis @losthighwayz
Appreciate your presence, especially during harvest! Also appreciate the explanation pertaining to perceived value. I am now convinced that this is a good deal at $199, having been vetted as described. Cheers!
@kaolis @losthighwayz
This made me laugh out loud. Only because there are lots and lots of crap being offered every day. It’s not funny, but some offers are just laughable. Hard to differentiate good offers from bad. I get it. I know in my heart this is a good and fair deal. I also know that not everyone will agree with me. Yeah, the Casemates overlords are relentless for good wine at fair deals to offer this winederful community. We were excited about this one to show off a well made wine with some age and our current (almost released) version. Thanks all!
And seriously, I hope I don’t sound as shallow as the Andrew that you describe above. I’m truly just a family winery winegrower and winemaker. And I’m proud to offer a fair deal to this community. No pressure sales here. At least not from me.
Any way @winedavid59 can ping Andrew? He seems like a stand up guy and would appreciate his input
@losthighwayz
Looks like he did. Have to ask your question to get an answer!
@losthighwayz
I was pinged. Well done. I had to get done with my harvest day.
@AndrewMurray thanks for jumping on board. Longtime former wine club member (we stuck with AM after Curtis was no more) and e joy both your AM and Eleven wines. Miss the Fruit salad on tap though! My question is about the Grenache style. Is it on the bold or bright spectrum? We prefer cool climate light n bright Grenache with no new oak . Any insight would be appreciated.
@losthighwayz thanks so much for the great question. I think these are bolder oakier styles. It’s how Vintage was making these wines. We disincluded many newer barrels from the final bled, but it still comes across with some sexy French oak notes. In all honesty, I don’t think these wines will meet your expectations. I personally prefer heartier Grenache bottlings, not the versions that lean towards Pinot or Burgundy. I’d sooner enjoy a gamay or red burg if I was in that mood. But I suspect I may be in the minority these days. We make a red Cinsault at barely 13% alc that sounds like your brighter red. I also love that Grenache can shape shift fluidly between lighter brighter crunchier and heavier richer darker wines. Plenty of examples out there for everyone’s preferences. Thanks for your support. Email me. Seriously. Love to send you something as thanks!
@AndrewMurray thanks for your honest feedback. Larry at Tercero makes a killer Cinsault that’s bright, racy , and no new oak. Would you say your cinsault is along those lines? We like Ernst Storm and Jessica Gasca winemaking style
Is Bob Lindquist involved with the reimagined Qupe brand? If so, in what capacity? My wife and I are big fans of Verdad wines (his wife’s label) and biodynamic practices. Cheers!