2019 Tensley Syrah Colson Canyon Santa Barbara 750 ml

We have no doubt that if a spicy, concentrated, and complex red boasting this kind of pedigree and praise bore the words “Napa Cabernet” on the label, it would cost $200. But today, Joey Tensley’s Colson Canyon bottling is just $40, proving what hundreds of our members already know: This is one of the best red wine values in California, bar none. 

We recommend acting quickly to secure your share of this 94-96-point stunner.

Some of the greatest wineries in the world show their best through signature sites: Heitz Cellars has Martha’s Vineyard. Colgin has Tychson Hill. And Tensley has Colson Canyon. Unlike bottles from those icons, Tensley’s signature red can compete with the best bottles in your cellar for $40. 

After two decades of steadily rising scores, Colson Canyon Syrah is the standard-bearer of Joey Tensley’s unmatched style, and the 2019 shows why: Boasting intense dark berry aromas tinged with smoke and peppercorn, followed by a dense and concentrated palate framed by chewy tannins, it’s a nimble beast that shows the richness of sunny California and the savoriness of the Northern Rhône. No wonder it garnered a stellar 94- to 96-point score from Jeb Dunnuck, a critic who tastes the best of California and the Rhône Valley every year—and still manages to be wowed by Joey Tensley. 

Two decades ago, long before he had pulled in more 94- to 99-point scores from Robert Parker than any other American Syrah-maker, Joey Tensley was a Bakersfield farm boy who took a daring plunge into winemaking. Now, he’s the California legend whose reds Jeb Dunnuck calls “dollar for dollar” “some of the greatest wines out there.”

That’s in large part thanks to Colson Canyon, which Joey first laid eyes upon in 1997, the year before he launched his label. The site had just been planted to vine, but Tensley quickly saw its fantastic potential. He became the founder’s first client, and in 2001, he released his first vineyard-designate Syrah from the vineyard.

Joey and his wife Jennifer purchased Colson Canyon about five years ago, basically ensuring that he would always be able to tap his most distinctive site, which covers 115 acres but has only 16 acres of grapes. Because the elevation and rugged terrain make so much of the site untamable, Joey believes that only three more acres have the potential to be planted. 

But forbidding sites can also be the most blessed, and Colson Canyon proves it year in and year out—and the quality has climbed even higher since the Tensleys took over. They thin the canopy, they carefully monitor moisture, and they drop fruit when they need to. The reward of all this hands-on care is one of California’s greatest red wine values, bar none. 

We know it, Jeb Dunnuck knows it, and the happy Wine Access members who’ve become hardcore Tensley fans know it better than anyone. Deals don’t get better than this one for a red wine master’s signature Syrah, so don’t miss it.