Pretty classic Tensley; dense, fruit forward and very extracted wine. Even in intense light, this is closer to an opaque black with garnet hues. Bursting with fruit on both the nose and palate. An almost candied blackberry is the dominant note, but you get accompanying blueberry, plum and tart red fruit. This is all complimented with notes of dried meat, smoke, pepper, espresso and a violet presence, that is mostly on the nose, but make no mistake about it, this is fruit forward, new-world, syrah. Nicely integrated tannin, full bodied and surprisingly medium++ to high acidity. The alcohol is very well handled and, while technically on the high side, the '10 is lower by typical Tensley standards. For my palate, Tensly, in general, seems to do better in cooler years. This is a big wine, to the point that it won't be to everyone's taste, but successful within the style. With all the concentration, I think this has several good years left in it, although I don't see it adding many tertiary notes. This drank better at something closer to "cellar temperature" and got a little rough as it heated up.
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PnP. May have waited too long to open this wine. Although the nose gave us some red fruits, the palate did not measure up as we found the fruit fading and the acidity becoming prominent. The wine was rather light bodied for a syrah, with a bit of spice, and some (mostly resolved) tannins. Based on this, we decided to use this bottle for the sauce on our braised short ribs, and to drink a different bottle when we eat the ribs in a couple of days.
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If you open this bottle and you know Tensley you know what to expect. Although there is not a lot of complexity going on with this wine it is still a good wine. I prefer the Colson Canyon or BMT or OGT to go to the next level. But still a nice wine with spice, licorice, berries and just a kiss of vanilla. A fine wine indeed
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Rich, full bodied wine in the Tensley style. Fruit goes from deep cherry to blueberry, and there is enough tar, smoke and acidity to keep things from going to syrup. I certainly know what I am getting with Tensley - big fruit flavors, viscous mouth feel, and a long sweet finish. Yum
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Great, full bodied syrah with great earthiness and minerality. Nice spicy nose with a touch of eucalyptus. Great body with fresh acidity and great syrah mineral notes. Smooth, long finish.
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Huge nose and intro on the palate, but it seems to fall apart at the end, disjointed. Wood and tannins awkwardly introduce themselves. Quirky bottle? The 2009 was absolutely sublime.
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11/22/2023 - alpha_ori Likes this wine: 92 Points
Doing really well 13 years on. Delicious tertiary flavors. This is California Syrah. Amazing QPR.
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8/30/2018 - Seafoam Manor wrote: 92 Points
Pretty classic Tensley; dense, fruit forward and very extracted wine. Even in intense light, this is closer to an opaque black with garnet hues. Bursting with fruit on both the nose and palate. An almost candied blackberry is the dominant note, but you get accompanying blueberry, plum and tart red fruit. This is all complimented with notes of dried meat, smoke, pepper, espresso and a violet presence, that is mostly on the nose, but make no mistake about it, this is fruit forward, new-world, syrah. Nicely integrated tannin, full bodied and surprisingly medium++ to high acidity. The alcohol is very well handled and, while technically on the high side, the '10 is lower by typical Tensley standards. For my palate, Tensly, in general, seems to do better in cooler years. This is a big wine, to the point that it won't be to everyone's taste, but successful within the style. With all the concentration, I think this has several good years left in it, although I don't see it adding many tertiary notes. This drank better at something closer to "cellar temperature" and got a little rough as it heated up.
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3/4/2018 - VlgJeff wrote: 88 Points
PnP. May have waited too long to open this wine. Although the nose gave us some red fruits, the palate did not measure up as we found the fruit fading and the acidity becoming prominent. The wine was rather light bodied for a syrah, with a bit of spice, and some (mostly resolved) tannins.
Based on this, we decided to use this bottle for the sauce on our braised short ribs, and to drink a different bottle when we eat the ribs in a couple of days.
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11/16/2016 - SICILIAN-SOLE Likes this wine: 91 Points
Medium bodied, dark berry, cranberry, tangy acidity and a slight touch of funk. Nice wine.
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2/17/2015 - pmk wrote: 89 Points
nice ripe fruit, very soft tannins, not very layered or complex. Does not match some of the wonderful Tensley syrah's I am used to drinking
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1/4/2015 - Griffeyfan04 Likes this wine: 90 Points
If you open this bottle and you know Tensley you know what to expect. Although there is not a lot of complexity going on with this wine it is still a good wine. I prefer the Colson Canyon or BMT or OGT to go to the next level. But still a nice wine with spice, licorice, berries and just a kiss of vanilla. A fine wine indeed
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8/15/2014 - danielbleier Likes this wine: 91 Points
Rich, full bodied wine in the Tensley style. Fruit goes from deep cherry to blueberry, and there is enough tar, smoke and acidity to keep things from going to syrup. I certainly know what I am getting with Tensley - big fruit flavors, viscous mouth feel, and a long sweet finish. Yum
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7/25/2014 - ebert Likes this wine: 92 Points
Great, full bodied syrah with great earthiness and minerality. Nice spicy nose with a touch of eucalyptus. Great body with fresh acidity and great syrah mineral notes. Smooth, long finish.
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12/14/2013 - BobMilton Likes this wine: 87 Points
Part of a Thompson Vineyard tasting. For some reason, this did not come across as well as the 2009 - a bit more acidic to my taste.
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4/30/2013 - samiamx_1999 wrote: 87 Points
Huge nose and intro on the palate, but it seems to fall apart at the end, disjointed. Wood and tannins awkwardly introduce themselves. Quirky bottle? The 2009 was absolutely sublime.
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