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. — 10 days ago

Doug Powers

9.2

Blackberry, rich and quite thick on palate, but with some very nice underlying acidity that provides some nice tension on the palate and into the lingering finish, very fine Central Coast Syrah! — 2 months ago

with Jim

Mike Obley

8.9

Seemed a bit tainted — 3 months ago

Craig Becraft

9.2

Still rocking at 14 black cherry cinnamon nicely tart great with roasted chicken — 4 days ago

Conrad Green

9.3

Dark peppery fruit. Lush with black cherry. Good balance. Delicious — 2 months ago

with Peter, Gregg and 1 other

Mark Mannebach

9.2

Complex SB from NZ. Cucumber veggie notes with minerality such as flint etc — 3 months ago

Paul J

10

Wow! This is what Rose is supposed be! Bold yet refined. Fruit yet subtle acidity. Lovely salmon color. Strawberries dominate with watermelon and raspberry tones. The best!

Never had a Rose where I could smell the empty glass all night long! — 4 months ago

with Brooke

Raul Puga

9.4

Very smooth good fruit with notes of pepper. Really enjoyed it — a month ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.0

Quite light garnet wide terracotta , garnet rim. Quite a lot of dry spice , nutmeg , star anis , red cherry, raspberry , red currant , earthy hints . After a while a bit more leafy , smoky on the nose. On the palate this is quite light and direct in style , raspberry , red cherry and those earthy , granite touches . This has fresh acidity and fine , light tannins . Reasonable earthy , spiced finish . Certainly ready and on this showing will probably last ok another 5 or so years. Not the most complex , overall I found it a little pedestrian, but still showing ok , but no need to wait any longer , I don’t see this improving . — 2 months ago

Anna Sangiacomo

9.5

So yummy 😋 — 3 months ago