Spring 2020 Wine Club Newsletter

A year ago, I wrote my whole newsletter about the power of wine to bring people together. By May 1st of 2019 I had already completed 4 different sales trips and participated in countless wine dinners and charity auctions. This year I was scheduled to do more and to be busier than ever. Wow, how the world changed by the middle of March, as the entire global economy ground to a halt. I have lived through fires, floods, long term road closures, the loss of loved ones, but I was not quite prepared for a pandemic. None of us were. Most of us still are not prepared. My wife, Kristen, and I as wife and husband, daughter and son, parents, employers and business owners found ourselves in uncharted territory. Even before our doors were shut, we found ourselves navigating the uncomfortable reality that we needed to get our son home from his semester abroad in Germany. He had been looking forward to this experience since the day he applied to college. He loves Europe and travel, a passion we both share, and he certainly loved the freedom to explore Europe while attending school. His home college ordered him home, but he resisted. Then his abroad school shuttered and left us with a 24 hour window to get him on a train to a city with an international airport and then on a plane home. It was stressful for all of us, but devastating to him. We quarantined him in our little guest house and didn’t even hug him for 2 weeks, which was hard on us a family. Our daughter was in her first semester at USC, only a couple of months in and loving her life in the big city. Kristen and I were officially empty nesters and diving into our business like we never had before. Her school was also shuttered and she was forced to come home, leaving new friends and experiences and teachers and college-life behind. Being closed and unable to serve you all, our friends and Club Members has been devastating, both financially and emotionally. We love seeing you all, we love being able to share our wine with you and the stories behind them. We appreciate your support and energy that you bring with your visits. We miss you more than you will ever know. We cannot wait to see you again to share our beautiful place with you all. We have kept ourselves busy repainting and redecorating and planting and improving, all while taking immaculate care of our wines – including topping, blending, racking, and bottling. Our vines have burst to life, blessed with the good amount of winter rains that fell since we saw you last and we feel fortunate to have the daily rhythm of tending to our vineyards. Though it has been hard on us, we know that we are also really lucky to live in such an amazing place with wide open spaces that allow us to safely navigate work and life. We know that we have had it easier than most. We are also lucky to have our amazing children (young adults) home with us. This has been among the biggest “gifts” of the pandemic. We are once again enjoying family dinners and hikes and conversations etc. Our home is once again buzzing with their energy and vitality, which I promise never to take for granted again. I want you all to know that we do not take you all for granted either. Kristen and I were really worried about this shipment and whether or not it was the right time to be sending wine to you all. But, we have literally been overwhelmed with your enthusiastic support of Andrew Murray Vineyards during these times. So many of you have opted to add bottles to your shipment, citing the need for something real, honest, authentic, and delicious delivered to your door. These 2018 vintage wines are truly among the most remarkable bottles that we have ever released. We hope they bring joy to your homes and that you enjoy them in good health around your table. Thank you more than ever and certainly more than words can say for being such amazing Members. You all are truly our daily inspiration to grow and craft and deliver the best wine possible each and every year. Thank you for being there for us. We look forward to being there for you when we are once again allowed to open. We cannot wait to see you and to catch up… Until then,

Andrew