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92-Point "Détente"
Joey Tensley wasn't whistling Dixie. Over the last several months, we twice talked to you about his 2010 Colson Canyon Syrah. For seven years, Colson Canyon has ranked among the highest rated Syrahs in America in both The Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator -- even as it carried a price tag that's about 1/3 that of the honor roll competition.
So when Joey first offered us the 2010 in May -- intimating that 'the rating is already in the bag' -- we bit. As did many of you. Two weeks ago, if you recall, Tensley came back to us, singing much the same song for Redux. We dodged Joey's call as long as we could, hoping to delay our Redux missive until the August 31 release of the Wine Advocate review. But the one-time southern California farm boy, whose Colson Canyon Syrah catapulted him from rural Bakersfield to the cover of Wine Spectator, had other ideas.
"If you wait," Joey told us, "I can't guarantee anything. Once the review hits, all bets are off." Was Tensley bluffing? Could the big, rich, meaty, yet still marvelously high-toned 2010 Colson Canyon somehow fail to impress the Advocate? Joey was either holding a straight flush or a king high. Which way to play it? If there's one thing we learned from our grandfathers a long time back, it's that you never play poker with a farm boy. We went all in. Today, we're glad we did.
For those who pulled the trigger, counting on Parker to weigh in as Tensley suggested, take a deep breath. The Wine Advocate came in at a lofty 93 points, one of the highest Syrah ratings of the vintage. That was good. Far less so would be the report's reminder of what we'd missed out on last year.
You may recall that Joey was obliged to yank our allocation of the stellar 2009 Colson Canyon Syrah. The vintage was superb, but yields were low, demand far exceeding supply. Now, as if to rub salt in our still open wound, The Wine Advocate returned to the 2009, tacking on its highest score yet.
The 2009 would receive a whopping 95+ points. That one hurt. So, even if we knew we had no shot, we couldn't help ourselves. Joey's on speed dial. After the requisite small talk, we dropped the question he could already hear coming. The answer we got was a surprise -- not because Joey had secretly socked away pallets of the 95+ Colson Canyon Syrah for WineAccess. But because, Tensley said mischievously, "I still have the 2009 Colson Canyon. But only have half of it in each bottle." Huh?
Then, Joey Tensley told us one of the most improbable wine trail stories we'd heard in some time, introducing us to an equally improbable blend called "Détente" -- 50% of which was, indeed, the 2009 Colson Canyon Syrah.
In 2008, while soaking in the Provence summer sun and doing plenty of cellar hopping of his own, Tensley was introduced to Cecile Dusserre, the talented young winegrower at Domaine de Montvac in Gigondas. The two immediately hit it off. After hours trekking the bleached foothills of the Dentelles de Montmirail, and tasting luscious ancient vine Grenache in that spotless cellar, Tensley -- already knowing where he was headed -- pulled the cork on a bottle of Colson Canyon Syrah. The most talented vigneronne this side of Chateauneuf-du-Pape struck an unlikely chord with the winemaking farm boy from Los Olivos. By the time the poulet fermier aux olives nicoises hit the outdoor farm table, the new winemaking friends had settled on an eye-popping assemblage, one that would be memorialized by the handshake on the label of the 2009 Détente.
Half of this beautifully chiseled, rich red fruit assemblage is drawn from three barrels of 80 year old vine 2009 Grenache, each shipped via refrigerated container from Gigondas to Tensley's place in Los Olivos. In the torrid 2009 vintage, the Montvac component would be all red raspberry preserves, juicy and lithe, infused with fine, mineral vibrancy. The other half would be Parker's showstopper -- the big, impossibly rich, phenomenally dense 95+ point 2009 Colson Canyon Syrah, supplying Détente's broad shoulders, briary texture, and massive crushed red fruit concentration.
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Tasting Notes
2009 Tensley Détente Red Wine
"The 2009 Detente is pretty and silky. Layers of dark red cherries, licorice and cured meats are some of the nuances that emerge from this expressive red. Olives, savory herbs and smoke appear on the finish, adding further complexity. Tensley's Detente is an unusual wine made of 50% old-vine Grenache from Domaine de Montvac in Gigondas and 50% Colson Canyon Syrah. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2019."
92 points -- Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate
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