Situated on the Dry River terraces, the Murdoch James Estate Vineyard enjoys premium grape growing soil conditions with a mixture of calciferous lime, clay and river silts with a high mineral content. The action of the Australian tectonic plate, scraping the bed of the Pacific plate millions of years ago, gave rise to the limestone rich hills of Blue Rock.

This unique site combined with Martinborough’s warm days and cool nights, forms the character or ‘place’ that is reflected in all of Murdoch James Estate wines.

In 1986 the first Pinot Noir and Syrah vines on the historic Saleyard’s Block located on the Martinborough Terraces. Early competition success established the winery’s reputation.

In 1998, the area of vines under cultivation was expanded with the purchase of the old Blue Rock Vineyard, located 8 kilometer’s south of Martinborough Village on the Dry River terraces, a vineyard also first planted in the mid-1980’s, with mainly Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling vines. More recent plantings of Syrah, Pinot Gris and new Pinot clones have increased the area under vines to 25 hectares.

The vineyard operates on a bio-sustainable basis with the objective of capturing the true ‘terroir’.