We’ve got ourselves a case file worth cracking (by the case, if you’re a Pinot lover) here at Wine Spies HQ. The scene: fog-kissed vineyards of the Sonoma Coast.

The suspect? a dangerously delicious Pinot Noir known only as Oxlee Graham’s 2023 ‘Dayle’s.’

The evidence? All right there in the taste buds. Streaks of raspberry sorbet, fingerprints of orange zest, and trace elements of sea salt lingering on the finish. Add in a dash of clove and graham cracker spice, and you’ve got a complex profile that points unmistakably to Pinot that is killing it in the first degree!

The mastermind behind the operation? Winemaker Jennie Murphy. Once destined for a career in forensics, she swapped microscopes for barrels, sharpening her skills at Paul Hobbs, where she worked on wines that regularly scored 100 points from the heavy-hitting critics. In 2022, she founded Oxlee Graham - her passion project, she jokingly calls “Pinot and her weirdos.” Instead of dusting for prints, Jennie’s now dusting her boots in Gap’s View Vineyard (near Gap’s Crown in Petaluma Gap) and Tanuda Ridge (Russian River Valley), 2 cool-climate ‘crime scenes’ leaving their mark on every sip.

The method of vinification? METICULOUS. 18% whole cluster ferments in open-top tanks to add tension and structure. A barrel lineup that reads like a French cooper hall of fame - Cadus, Leroi, Louis Latour, Taransaud, Vicard Generation 7 - with just 30% new oak to frame the aromatics. After 10 months in barrel, the wine is polished, layered, and alibied to perfection.

Case notes confirm: 93 points from Decanter and only a dozen or so barrels were made, making it a bona fide boutique rarity that’s as scarce as an unsmudged fingerprint at a crime scene. Normally, these go for the upper $60s, but today we’re offering it for about half that, which is almost a highway robbery level crime scene in and of itself.

Our discovery of these criminally good wines goes back to the Garagiste festival in Sonoma this year, so when Jennie called about further investigating, we jumped on the opportunity. Later to realize that they were named by Food & Wine (along with Read Holland, of course, another killer discovery we owe to attending Garagiste!) as one of their “New California Wineries You Need to Know in 2025: To drink better wine, start with these” picks in 2024. And, they highlighted THIS wine; “Founded in 2022 by Jennie Murphy, Oxlee Graham has swiftly garnered acclaim for its trio of terrific single-vineyard Pinot Noirs. Perhaps the interest isn’t surprising. Most recently, Murphy was the director of winemaking for Paul Hobbs Vineyards, where she started as an enologist 12 or so years ago. She left to start Oxlee Graham, an homage to her grandmothers, Elinor “Oxley” Hannah and Mabel “Graham” Murphy. Her Pinot Noirs are first-rate… If you see the 2023 Dayle’s, from Murphy’s second vintage, don’t hesitate. It’s a supple, shimmering red, all wild berries and gossamer tannins, impossible to resist.”

Final verdict? Guilty… of being utterly irresistible! Better move fast, friends, because this one’s about to be booked solid.

93 Points – Decanter (to be published in October) “With fruit sourced from Gap’s View Vineyard in Sonoma’s Petaluma Gap and the Tanuda Ridge Vineyard in the RRV, Fermented in open top tanks with 18% whole clusters and aged 10 months in a mix of barrels from coopers Cadus, Leroi, Louis Latour, Taransaud, and Vicard Generation 7 (with roughly one-third of the barrels brand new). It’s a wonderfully fragrant Sonoma Pinot, offering up red berry fruits, tangerine and grapefruit character, a touch of clove, and perhaps some graham cracker spice. The fruit is silky, and an undercurrent of zesty acidity is balanced by crisp tannins.”