2015 Tensley Syrah Tensley Vineyard 750 ml

Tensley’s Northern Rhône Decadence in Santa Barbara

Three words on the Tensley website speak volumes about the 95-point 2015 Tensley Syrah Tensley Vineyard: Out of Stock. It’s disappointing, but far from surprising. Joey Tensley is a stalwart producer of Central Coast Rhône wines who has, through off-the-charts quality and rock-steady consistency, earned his critical darling status. He has placed wines in Wine Spectator’s Top 20, had one named a “Top Syrah in America over $20” by Food & Wine, and brushed against perfection with 99-point scores from Robert Parker and Rhône expert Jeb Dunnuck. Dunnuck, and Antonio Galloni of Vinous agreed on the 2015 Tensley Vineyard Syrah to the tune of twin 95-point scores: Dunnuck likens the “full-bodied, rich and concentrated red” to the Northern Rhône’s classic Cornas, and Galloni calls it “powerful” and “explosive.” Think this through: Production was tiny in 2015 — only 170-cases — and when we’re out, re-upping through the Tensley website will not be an option.

Joey Tensley’s Rhone-style wines have garnered the kind of praise from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate that make collectors brace for stratospheric prices: the winemaker has “flirted with perfection” with “high-end, super-duper wines” that commonly land mid-90s scores from the Advocate. Tensley has done it without rocketing through that three-digit price point that now seems run-of-the-mill for such overperforming California wines. It’s worth quoting Jeb Dunnuck in full: “Joey Tensley continues to make some of the most unctuous, decadent, yet balanced wines from Santa Barbara County. And if you factor price, you can’t beat them.”

There’s also a chance that you can’t get them. Tensley’s home vineyard is only two acres, and the low yields that produced such magnificent concentration in 2015 also resulted in limited production. The relationship we have enjoyed with Joey over the years landed us an allocation, but at 170 cases total production, ours will go quickly.