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Tensley Wines A young winemaker with an old-school touch Joey Tensley went to France as a young man to experience his first love in a country that appreciated it far more than the US. If you’re thinking Joey’s first love was wine you’re way off – we're talking about soccer. Lucky for California wine enthusiasts, this trip to France launched Joey's interest in wine and his focus has now shifted away from the soccer field and into the cellar.
Joey’s
current line-up at includes 3 single vineyard Syrahs from an all-star list of Santa
Barbara County vineyards – Colson Canyon, Purisima Mountain, and Thompson.
The Colson Canyon vineyard was carved out of a hillside east of Santa
Maria and it produces the most flamboyant wine in Joey’s line-up - it jumps
out the glass with dark fruit and spice notes that are unmistakably new world
Syrah. The Colson Canyon is the
only Tensley wine that touches new oak, but Joey even keeps that to a minimum
(less than 25%).
Joey’s Purisima Mountain offering comes from Steve Beckman’s impeccably farmed property at the north end of Ballard Canyon in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley AVA. Ballard Canyon produces some of Santa Barbara’s most-prized Syrah (the Stolpman and Larner vineyards share the canyon with Purisima Mountain) and Joey believes that his Purisima Mountain offering is the most complex wine in his line-up. Joey's Thompson rounds out his line-up and provides a benchmark for Syrah from the Los Alamos Valley that lies smack in between the Santa Maria and Santa Ynez AVAs.
Joey’s approach to making all of these wines is simple, he makes the best possible Syrah he can in a way that lets the vineyard – not the winemaking – do all the talking. Joey makes sure to work with dedicated vineyard managers and then “pays his bills and stays out of their way.” While a lot of producers talk about “non-intervention”, Joey lives it. Joey doesn’t like new oak, he doesn’t like to fine or filter, and he doesn’t try to fit his wines into any specific profile. All of Joey’s wines go through the exact same regiment so that the only difference you taste is the vineyard. Joey’s respect for the old-world also extends far beyond his minimalist winemaking, as he is careful not to let the price of his wines creep up to the level of some of their French cousins. Joey believes that a wine’s value is anchored on its ability to age and his wines haven’t had the chance to show they can age like their counterparts born in the ancient vineyards of the Rhone valley. Joey also knows that Syrah consumers have high-quality options flooding in from Australia and South America and is mindful of that in his marketing. In a world where the price of fine wine can surge up faster than the price of Texas tea, Joey’s conservative outlook is a breath of fresh air. While Tensley wines are getting harder and harder to find these days, they are well worth the hunt for any fan of California Syrah. In addition to his Tensley label, Joey has also taken over as winemaker at Syrah-focused Carina Cellars in Santa Barbara - a label to watch out for. Tensley and Carina will be opening a joint tasting room in Los Olivos this summer, so if you're in town you might want to stop by. For the first couple of months Joey will be offering some great library wines that can't be found anywhere but his tasting
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Current Line-up
Colson Canyon Vineyard Syrah - SB County
Purisima Mountain Vineyard Syrah -SB County
Thompson Vineyard Syrah - SB County
"OGT" Syrah - SB County
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Contact Website coming soon Tasting room in Los Olivos (Summer 2004)
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Not long after Joey
returned from his trip to France he began working at a restaurant in his home
town and quickly
took over wine-buying duties.
While Joey’s single
vineyard offerings showcase individuality, his three vineyard blend called
“OGT” reveals nuances that can only come from marrying different lots of
some of Santa Barbara’s best Syrah.