2020 Colson Canyon Vineyard Syrah
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Tasting notes
Smoky black and blue fruits, peppered meat, leather, and exotic flower notes all emerge from the 2020 Syrah Colson Canyon Vineyard, another opulent, powerful, sweetly fruited effort that has a gorgeous mouthfeel, outstanding purity of fruit, and sweet tannins. If you like opulent, sexy, straight-up delicious Syrah, don't miss this. It’s also one of the larger production releases from Tensley, so you should be able to latch onto a few bottles. This was another brilliant lineup of wines from Joey Tensley. Looking at the 2020s reviewed here, these share plenty of similarities with his 2018s, and maybe the 2019s, and are rich, powerful wines that show the warmer style of the vintage. The 2021s on the other hand, clearly come from a cooler year and show more medium-bodied, fresher styles. Nevertheless, these are still classic Tensley wines that bring plenty of texture and opulence. In addition, Tensley has launched a new P2KV lineup of wines with a focus on old, pre-2000 vines in Santa Barbara County.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2020 Syrah Colson Canyon Vineyard is a dense, potent wine. The purity of the fruit is remarkable. Readers will have to be patient, as the 2020 is still incredibly primary. Inky red/purplish fruit, lavender, spice, menthol and rose petal open with a bit of coaxing. All this needs is time and a bit more polish. As always, the Colson Canyon Syrah is one of the most distinctive wines in Joey Tensley's range.
Deep ruby-purple, the 2020 Syrah Colson Canyon Vineyard offers very pretty aromas of cassis, aniseed and dried lavender with slowly emerging scents of orange peel, dried earth and potpourri. The medium-bodied palate is plush and inviting, with an appealing balance of savory fruit and bright spice, and it finishes with tremendous lift and length. This is super drinkable!
The 2020 Syrah Colson Canyon Vineyard is a showstopper. Super-ripe red cherry jam, spice, rose petal, mint and blood orange explode from the glass. Even with all of the opulence of the year, the Colson Canyon retains so much brightness and energy. The 2020 is dense, heady and exotic to the core.