2018 Andrew Murray Syrah, Alisos Vineyard
Divvy-Up
80 Points
Tasting Notes
-92 Points, Vinous-
"Andrew Murray turned out a striking set of 2018s that shows just how compelling this vintage is, especially for Rhône-variety wines. This is an impressive range of wines that offer tremendous pleasure. The 2018 Syrah Alisos Vineyard is one of the more gracious wines in this range. Floral accents perk up a core of ripe red fruit in a suave, silky Syrah that hits all the right notes. Medium in body and supremely expressive, the 2018 is inviting and ready to drink now. Hints of cedar, spice, mint and licorice linger on the close."
This is only the 5th release of this single vineyard Syrah from the Organically Farmed Alisos Vineyard along Alisos Canyon Road, just around the corner from the winery. It is across the road from Thompson Vineyard and down the road from Watch Hill Vineyard. This neighborhood is definitely a sweet spot for a cooler climate style Syrah. We employed nearly 25% whole clusters in the fermenters and a tiny of bit of Viognier as well just to add to the complexity of this Syrah. This ageworthy beauty certainly tastes delicious now, but it will hold in your cellar for a decade or more...that is if you can wait that long.
The Alisos vineyard lies along the Los Alamos Valley, about 5 miles east of the town of Los Alamos. The topography has steep south-facing hills in blocks 5 and 6 which are all farmed organically. We typically source from blocks 5 (clone 7) and 6 (Estrella clone) The soils are chert-laden (a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline silica), and very well-drained. Berries tend to be more delicate and fragile than any other Syrah we source (indicative of the Estrella clone). We forgo any sorting from this vineyard, and rather focus on whole cluster and some simple destemming. Despite the delicate nature of the fruit, the wines are always big in structure and benefit greatly from time in the bottle.
Comments
The Goldilocks Zone
And this one's just right! So said the proponents of Santa Barbara's newest AVA - Alisos Canyon. Nicknamed the "Goldilocks Zone for Rhone Varietals" this canyon combines a mix of soils, exposures and diural temperature swings that makes for amazing Rhone varietal fruit.
The Alisos canyon lies along the San Antonio Creek Valley which extends westward to the ocean some 20 miles, creating a channel for the cooling ocean winds and fog. The Canyon soils contain limestone which adds to the thickening of the grape skins, imparting deeper color and firm tannin.
Alisos Canyon joins 6 other AVAs in Santa Barbara County. Rhone lovers take not that in addition to Alisos Canyon, Foxen Canyon and Ballard Canyon also exhibit that perfect climate and soil blend for Goldilocks Zones for Rhone varietals.
Read more about Alisos Canyon from these two sources:
https://wineindustryadvisor.com/2020/08/27/alisos-canyon-in-santa-barbara-approved-as-ava
https://sbcountywines.com/portfolio_page/alisos-canyon/
Hello All
I am super stoked to have our 2018 Syrah Alisos Vineyard on this cools new site. Hopefully you all are taking advantage of my temporary insanity in offering this wine at such a low price...these are among the last bottles and cases left from this vintage. The grapes are 100% certified organic and we crafted them with absolute care - taking nothing away and adding as little as possible. This is a classic, cooler climate Syrah but with some nice ripeness as well. I am here if any of you have any questions. Thanks so much to those that take a chance and purchase some of our Syrah...
Thank you for chiming in and for the screaming deal.
Yay I'm so excited to see this deal. I have 1 bottle of the 2017 left in my cellar. Time to keep a case of this to myself and get some good cellaring on it just to see how it changes as it ages.
Any major differences I can expect on this 2018 vintage vs the 2017? As soon as I mentioned to my husband there was an Andrew Murray syrah offer he was immediately on board to buy a case. 😁
🙏 2018 was by all accounts a better vintage for us... I like both vintages, but I will leave the talking to Antonio Galloni who tasted both... though he rated them about the same, he was a bit more generous with his praise for the 2018 vintage. The 2018 is a bit riper, more exuberant style of the Alisos. Sadly the vineyard was taken out of farming rotation in 2020, so these are among our last wines from this great estate... Thanks so much for supporting our wines.
Here is what he said about the 2017 Vintage... 90-93 points - tasted as a pre-bottle sample
"The 2017 Syrah Alisos Vineyard is one of the most perfumed, aromatic Syrahs in the range. A dollop of Viognier and some whole clusters, along with the natural cool-climate character of this site, yield a Syrah built on aromatics and grace. This is an especially linear, delineated style for Andrew Murray, whose wines tend to be much more overt in fruit. Lavender, spice and menthol add pretty shades of complexity to the dark Syrah fruit."
And, here is what he said about the 2018 vintage... 92 points
"The 2018 Syrah Alisos Vineyard is one of the more gracious wines in this range. Floral accents perk up a core of ripe red fruit in a suave, silky Syrah that hits all the right notes. Medium in body and supremely expressive, the 2018 is inviting and ready to drink now. Hints of cedar, spice, mint and licorice linger on the close."
I had the pleasure of enjoying Andrew Murray’s delicious 2018 Alisos Vineyard Syrah for Easter and it was perfectly paired with our grilled Leg of Lamb. As my husband says, it doesn’t just have a hint of leather… it has hints of fine Italian leather. We found it smooth and velvety with notes of cherry, blackberry, with a touch of pepper and cedar. It is definitely drinkable now and I noticed it got better after sitting for a half hour. Try this Syrah and you will want more, in fact get a couple of bottles to share with friends to make sure you have enough to go around. Do not let this one pass you by.
Thank you for PrevViewing this wine for us.
Thank you so very much! This is literally a BOGO pricing structure, so I agree that it makes sense to stock up on this one. :)
Yes and... this wine! We too enjoyed it on Easter, just some easy sipping around a backyard fire. Tasty at first and then even better as it had some time to open up. Will definitely stock up at this price, cannot wait to try it with a pork tenderloin!
THANK YOU! wishing you all the best!
Thank you for PrevViewing this wine for us. :)
Even the movie Sideways prefers some Andrew Murray. Check it out.....
Andrew told us a great story about that. Something about him letting an associate producer crash at his place for this "small" movie project. Then it blew up! cool stuff.
Oh no...you picked a new username! I guess you didn't want to wait until it was WineDavid59 to start this one? 🤣
@WineDavidover50
This shipping Brown?
UPS. yep.
This sounds like a great wine at a great price! Woot!
hscottk is inviting you to join their public Divvy-Up for 12.
Come on. Let’s close this Divvy-Up before the Wine Event expires.
Are you in the 08540 area?
Join the Divvy-Up;
https://divvy-up.com/2018-andrew-murray-syrah-alisos-vineyard/?group=49b560c8-71e9-5558-c298-556ba9e7b1e3
I found that pretty humorous as well.
You or Cortot interested?
He here yet?
I've been drinking Andrew Murray wines since the 1997 vintage, and IMO, he was one of the few producers that set the standard for what Rhone-style syrah should be in the USA. At that time, there were many syrahs from Napa and Sonoma, and they had too much new oak and seemed like the wine makers were trying to make cabernet with syrah.
So here we are 20 years later with Alisos, and what's in the bottle is proof that Andrew continues to be an innovator in syrah. It is a cool climate vineyard, and so not as fruit-opulent as Roasted Slope or Tours Les Jours, with the earthy and animal notes more profound. Alisos has flavor profile that is more like a modern St. Joseph. I really wish that more US producers would take on cool climate syrah because it an extremely exciting category to me. But the challenge is, it's a niche market and the wine is harder to get right.
I'm buying more Alisos than I should, because it's not clear if there will be another vintage ;-)
And that's my cue to purchase!
Great Prevview!
Ariana Kalff
Wine Country Connect
In for a case, even if it does ship via brown. To good a deal to pass on over carrier.