My baby! Come to papa. — 11 days ago
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. — 2 months ago
#AgedWineTuesday
Dark ruby in color with a wide reddish/ brick rim.
Complex on the nose, and medium plus in body with medium acidity.
Dry on the palate and soft.
Showing cherries, plums, currants, light oak, tobacco leaf, herbs, black pepper, chocolates, light vegetables, Indian spices, licorice and black tea.
Long finish with soft tannins and tangy raspberries.
This is a delicious 13 year old Pinot Noir from Santa Cruz Mountains in California. Drinking beautifully now, elegant and fruit forward. Nicely balanced and soft. Complex with a nice mouthfeel.
This Single Vineyard Pinot Noir, from the great 2013 vintage, is drinking at its peak now, and will continue to drink nicely in the next few years.
A good sipping wine that will pair nicely with food too. Loved the low alcohol level too.
12.8% alcohol by volume.
92 points.
$80. — 21 hours ago
Yes—exactly that kind of wine: timeless, composed, and quietly authoritative.
It smells so good on first pour. Damp pine forest floor and clean mountain air register immediately. Everything else unravels from there; but that initial pop-and-pour sniff is pure magic.
On the palate, blackcurrant, cedar, graphite, and dried herbs unfold with control, carried by freshness and finely etched tannins in a medium body.
So classic, so intellectual, and deeply mesmerizing. Drink now or age. — a month ago
My FAVORITE. I have no helpful review. I just know what I like. — 2 days ago
Cherry red. Black currant, blueberry black cherry. Needle leaves tree. Clove nutmeg.
Fruitiness M+ Sweetness M Acidity M Tannin M Smooth. Bitterness M Body M++ Finish M+ % Elegant Balanced Concentrated Robust, ready to drink, aging potential. Domaine Eden Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon 18 @2100, Fred - Laz, 260120-260121 — 14 days ago
Last had 4 years ago and was excited to check in - this didn’t disappoint. That perfect ridge mix of old world sensibility and composition with new world fruit and character. 13.8%. Finish is long with nice acid. Great pairing with steaks. Nice wine.
Happy New Year! — a month ago
Ted
Herbs, cinnamon and hints of incense. Light color. Pretty damn good. — 4 days ago