MAKE WINE A TREBLE; Gers owner's vineyard joy.

Byline: By Ben Spencer

RANGERS chief David Murray has ended the season celebrating a treble - after his vineyard won three prestigious awards.

Murray scooped two silver medal awards this week in the Decanter World Wine Awards for wines produced in his Chateau Routas vineyard.

In February, the Rangers boss was I handed a gold medal for his Agrippa wine, a I cabernet-syrah blend, at I the Concours Agricole competition in Paris.

Murray, 54, learned he had won his most recent awards at this week's London International Wine and Spirits Fair.

The medals were awarded for his Wild Boar RosA and Coqueli-cot Viognier wines. They equal the highest award given to any wine from the Provence region.

The Record exclusively revealed last year how Murray fulfilled a lifelong dream when he bought the 800-acre Chateau Routas estate, in the south of France for pounds 6million.

Now he's hoping to celebrate his treble success by snapping up another four vineyards.

He said: "I am delighted with these awards which confirm the quality and expertise of the staff at Chateau Routas. We are trying to make better wines and in the short period of time with the team at the vineyard we have been able to make a difference.

"I've been to Rhone and Burgundy in the last month myself and I would like to have three or four more niche type vineyards."

He added: "We hoped we could win something but we didn't expect it to happen so quickly.

"It's been a good team effort from the vineyard. They are great winemakers.

"A lot of people in Scotland have bought the wines and they are in a lot of restaurants.

"I don't want to be in the vin ordinaire business. I want to be making something a bit better."

The vines at Chateau Routas produce around 145,000 bottles each year.

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WINNER: David Murray and, inset, his French vineyard