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. — 15 days ago

Ray Roman

9.0

Really enjoyed this wine. Smooth and as others have said, fruit forward. — 23 days ago

Jonathan Wall

9.3

Very syrahy. Great with lamb biryani. — a month ago

"Odedi"

9.3

Dark ruby in color with a wide reddish rim.

Strong nose with a black currants, black plums, cooked cherries, dried fruits, chocolates, cedar, light vanilla, licorice, tobacco, light earth, herbs, light vegetables, indian spices and black tea.

Full-bodied and fruit forward with medium acidity and long legs.

Dry on the palate with blueberries, black currants, cooked cherries, plums, oak, licorice, light vanilla, tobacco leaf, herbs, peppercorn, earth and mediterranean spices.

Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cherries.

This 12 year old Single Vineyard Bordeaux blend from Chile is drinking beautifully now. Nicely balanced and complex.

I had this vintage 4 years ago, and it is still drinking beautifully. Rich and fruit forward with a nice mouthfeel.

Showing a very complex nose, at this point. Peaking now, and will continue to drink nicely in the next few years.

Wine Spectator 91 points. Wine Enthusiasts 94 points.

Showing good structure and needs a couple of hours to open up properly, but good right out of the bottle too. What a gorgeous sipping wine.

A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 5% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. Aged for 18 months in new French oak barrels.

14.5% alcohol by volume.

93 points.

$100 (current vintage). — a day ago

Tegan Marriott

8.9

Santa Barbara highlands radiance in a glass! Yo, I'll pretend I'm rolling through da Wine Ghetto! — 24 days ago

Andrew Belzer

9.5

Katamata olive brine, wet stone and game — 2 months ago

Graham

9.3

Lots of sediment but turned into lovely wine. Much better than my last one. These apparently need a lot of time. — 10 days ago

Austin Blackwell

9.3

A good Pisoni in my book as the alcohol is below 15 %AbV which I prefer. Showy fruit but good acidity to balance. — 6 days ago

with Angelina

Tholyer Sartoni

9.1

Yummy light pinot noir. Taste of dark, ripe berries — 23 days ago

Jack Petras

8.9

This 21 was better than expected. Was gifted to me and went perfectly with some casual carry out Chinese appetizers. Soft and spicy with gorgeous fruits not too tart and not flabby. — a month ago