Andrew Murray fell in love with the emerging Rhone varieties, Syrah and Viognier, in the late 1980's while traveling through France's Rhone 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 bachelors degree in viticulture and enology from UC Davis' renowned wine program, then founded his eponymous Santa Ynez winery and vineyard. Andrew and his family were drawn to the natural beauty, climate, soils and topography of Santa Barbara County. It all reminded him of his travels through the Rhone Valley where he first fell in love with the notion of winegrowing while just a teenager.

With a dry and mild climate cooled significantly by moist ocean fog and breezes, Santa Barbara County is a grape-growers dream. Part of the larger Central Coast appellation, Santa Barbara is home to Santa Maria Valley and Santa Ynez Valley. The conditions here provide an opportunity for nearly effortless production of high-quality cool-climate Central Coast wines. This is also the site of the 2004 film Sideways, which caused Pinot Noirs popularity to skyrocket and brought new acclaim to the region.