Tensely Santa Barbara County Shiraz 2022
We enjoyed this with leftover ravioli and bolognese sauce, and the remains of my veal saltimbocca from our Wine & Dinner at Bruna’s in Chicago’s Little Italy, the other evening.
Tensely Santa Barbara County Shiraz 2022
Tensley Santa Maria Valley, Santa Barbara County Wines
We drove by the Tensley vineyards on Alisos Canyon Road, (shown left) which was closed, so we stopped in the Tensley Vineyards hospitality tasting room in downtown Los Olivos.
We first visited a central location serving as the confluence of many producers in Woodinville, Washington, during our Seattle/Woodinville Wine Experience, where over a hundred wineries have retail tasting facilities.
The town of Los Olivos is all about winery tasting rooms with forty different producers having public retail facilities there. It is the anchor for the Santa Ynez Valley wine appellation, situated on State Road 154 just off the major Route 101, about thirty five miles north, inland, from Santa Barbara.
We were delighted to find several producers featuring or even specializing in Syrah, Tensley included.
We taste a flight of their wines during our visit to the producer's hospitality tasting room downtown Los Olivos, where we were able to taste a flight of their Rhône varietals centered on their Syrahs.
Readers of these pages know we're huge fans of Syrah as one of our favorite varietals for big fruit filled every day sipping as well as serious wine pairing with robust foods such as BBQ.
The first release of Tensley totaled just 100 cases. By 2015, production had grown to 5,000 cases and included five single-vineyard Syrahs, the most in Santa Barbara County. Tensley Syrah’s have made the Wine Spectator’s Top 100, scored 99 points with Robert Parker, and won Food and Wine Magazine’s award for the “Top Syrah in America over $20.”
Joey’s first experience with wine took place when he was just twelve-years-old, when his soccer team toured a winery while taking part in a tournament in France. He vividly recalls the chill of the old caves and the aromas of wines fermenting in barrel. From that moment on he knew he wanted to be a winemaker. “Which pretty much made me the only kid in Bakersfield with that particular dream,” Joey says.
Joey got his start in the wine business working as a “cellar rat” for Fess Parker Winery in Santa Barbara County in 1993. Three years later, he became assistant winemaker at Babcock Vineyards. There, he came to appreciate the importance of the vineyard and the grower.
Over time, Tensley also came to appreciate the uniqueness of Santa Barbara County as a growing region. “We’re one of the only places in the world with a mountain range that runs east-west. That gives us many different, unique micro-climates, so a Syrah grown in one place is so different from a Syrah grown in another. It’s an exciting place to make wine.”
In 1998, Joey became assistant winemaker at Beckmen Vineyards where he was also offered the chance to produce his own label. There, he developed his love for Rhône varietals and decided Tensley would produce only Rhône varietal wines, sourced solely from Santa Barbara County.
Tensley wines gained the attention of the wine press in 2001 when Matt Kramer of Wine Spectator named two of Tensley’s 2001 Syrah’s to his list of the Top Ten Wines in the World, and, Robert Parker scored all the ‘01’s in the high 90’s, calling them “serious, hand-crafted efforts.”
In 2008 Food and Wine Magazine named the Tensley 2006 Colson Canyon Syrah “Top Syrah in America Over $20.” Two years later, Robert Parker gave the 2008 Anniversary Series Colson Canyon Syrah 99 points, and The Wine Spectator named the 2008 Colson Canyon Syrah #17 of its Top 100 Wines in the World. The 2007 Colson Canyon Syrah was ranked #22 the year beforeMore recently Tensley received high praise and high scores from wine critics Josh Raynolds, James Laube, and Jeb Dunnuck. Dunnuck gave Tensley’s 2008 Syrah Noir 99 points and named Joey, “one of the rising superstars in California.”
Our Tensley tasting flight in Los Olivos included:
- Laird Vineyard Marsanne 2021
- 'All Blocks' Estate Blend 2020
- Colson Canyon Syrah 2020, and,
- Santa Barbara County Syrah 2020 - the then current release of this just received, and tasted wine.
Tensley Santa Barbara County Syrah 2020
Winemaker Notes: "Every year the vineyard percentages change, yet the style remains the same. In 2020 we introduced Laird Vineyard to the blend. By adding this vineyard we continue to work with sandy cool sites to add freshness and savory notes to the final blend.'
"We add complexity and power by including all of our single vineyard Syrah sources. At the end of the day, this wine is both powerful and fresh. It beams with bright acidy and saline notes, rounding out with blue and black fruits to make it generous, juicy and easy to drink. It will age 7-10 years, but do not hesitate to open and enjoy its freshness today."
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4091582
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