the story is long...Like a great pinot noir

Pinot Noir Lover Becomes a winemaker…

PROJECT M could have begun on New Year's Eve 1999 when Jerry tasted a bottle of 1996 Domaine Drouhin Lauren Pinot Noir and decided to move to Oregon. Or it could have been on May 7, 2001, when he met David "Papa Pinot" Lett of The Eyrie Vineyards and decided he wanted to be a winemaker. Maybe it was that late night during his first harvest in 2001 at Erath Vineyards when, wet and cold, he realized that, unbeknownst to him, his whole life had been preparing himself to become a winemaker.

Though the above experiences are part of the origin story of Jerry D. Murray as a winemaker, they don't tell the whole story of PROJECT M. What would inspire someone with a successful and secure winemaking career to trade their "9 to 5" job for a "24-7" business? 

Over the years, Jerry's vision of what a wine should be became clearer, and he developed the skill to pursue that vision. However, something always kept him from that path: CEOs, Marketing Departments, and Eccentric Winery Owners.

Then he asked: Why Wine?

Not why does he make Wine, but why Wine at all? What was its purpose? Why was it the beverage of choice for philosophers, statesmen, painters, and poets? 

Then, one day, the answer appeared in, of all places, his Facebook feed. A six-minute and fifty-two-second video showed him the path forward.

Our labor can transcend craft. We can make art. Wine is beautiful. Beauty can inspire, stirring the soul.

PROJECT M was founded to eliminate the space between the business and creative objectives. Each PROJECT M Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Sparkling Rosé, and Pinot Noir is an attempt to make something beautiful.

INSPIRATION

LABEL & ART

PROJECT M was founded in 2016 by Meg & Jerry Murray. The Murrays wanted the labels to reflect flow, movement and intention, values that guide the wines. They chose Mexican artist Tania Zaldivar to bring the idea to life. She created Sand Studies, a series of images for each PROJECT M wine. Her art is parametric, built with processing, and the curves rely on trigonometry. The position of dots is random within limits, so even if the same shape is created again, the placement of dots is different. The Murrays like that the unique nature of the art mimics the individuality of a single vintage.

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