Sipping Fine Wine

8.9

Pale lemon color with stone and tropical fruit aromas and citrus floral notes adding an earthy spice from 10 months surlie aging. On the palate flavors of apple, pineapple and lemon citrus with floral and baking spice. Lively acidity, medium finish ending with fruit, citrus and earthy spice. — a month ago

Ted

9.1

Herbs, cinnamon and hints of incense. Light color. Pretty damn good. — 4 months ago

with Jeni

Freddy R. Troya

9.2

Tensley – Syrah – 2023
Colson Canyon Vineyard – Santa Barbara County – USA 🇺🇸

Overview
100% Syrah from the high-elevation Colson Canyon Vineyard, a benchmark site that consistently delivers powerful yet balanced fruit. This vintage shows tension between ripeness, structure, and freshness.

Aromas & Flavors
Black cherry, blackberry, cracked pepper, violet, licorice, and a subtle smoky undertone. Dark, spicy, and focused.

Mouthfeel
Medium-plus body with sleek acidity and fine, integrated tannins. Concentrated but not heavy, with a long, peppery finish that lingers.

Food Pairings
Grilled lamb, beef skewers, duck confit, pepper-crusted steak, or roasted mushrooms.

Verdict
A balanced, expressive Syrah with depth, spice, and length – a great example of why Santa Barbara continues to challenge the top Rhône-style regions.

Did You Know?
Colson Canyon sits at nearly 1,500 ft elevation, producing small berries with thick skins, a key reason these Syrahs show intense color, aromatics, and age-worthy structure. — 5 months ago

JKT

9.1

Nicely balanced as noted except with more age, beautiful ripe floral grapefruit nose and lovely lively palate and texture — a month ago

Jeremiah Diaz

9.4

Clear, pale ruby in color; on the nose, it's clean with medium intensity primary and secondary aromas of raspberries, pomegranates, and cloves; on the palate, it's dry with high acidity, low tannins, medium alcohol, medium body, and pronounced intensity primary and secondary flavors of cherries, cranberries, dried leaves, and hibiscus with a long finish. This wine is complex and balanced. Overall, I rate this wine as very good. Nellie likes it too. — 3 months ago

with Nellie

Tegan Marriott

8.9

Santa Barbara highlands radiance in a glass! Yo, I'll pretend I'm rolling through da Wine Ghetto! — 6 months ago

Pinotman /// Andreas

9.3

Super tropical, mangos, touch pineapple and grass, no pyrazine grapefruit. Well done! — 2 months ago

Matthew Cohen

9.4

N: white flowers. Hint gooseberry. Very elegant. So floral. Very distinctive

P: very interesting. Balanced. Juicy. Long. Amazing acidic balance.

*

Garber 25 16 btg. — 2 months ago

Stuart Pollack

9.0

Too strong and astringent. It gets better with air but not enough. — 4 months ago

Chris MacLean

9.1

Another good bottle of this $25 favorite — 8 months ago

with Sarah