~ 65% Grenache Blanc; 35% Roussanne ~

This is  Tensley’s second vintage of  Camp 4  Blanc, the only wine made by Joey and Jennifer Tensley as a team.  Like the Tensleys themselves, these two grapes complement one another perfectly.  The Grenache Blanc brings a steely, mineral quality to the wine which balances beautifully with the lush mouthfeel and rich fruit of the Roussanne.  This complex wine is enjoyable now but should age well over the next 3 to 4 years.

Price: $28.00       Cellar Club Price: $23.80        Cases Produced: 90
  

This marks the first vintage of Jennifer’s "Lea" brand Pinot Noir.  The grapes for this Pinot blend were sourced from two prime Santa Rita Hills vineyards, Zotovich and Turner.  After picking at 25.3 brix, the wine was made in true Tensley tradition;  70% of the grapes were destemmed by gravity and fed into open top fermenters and the remaining 30% were left as whole clusters.  The wine was punched down three times daily for 21
days and pressed straight to neutral French oak barrels.  It was then aged on the lees for one year before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.  This wine is brimming with bright strawberry and spice and shows a rounded, silky texture and long finish.  While
this Pinot is drinking beautifully now, it will continue to age intriguingly over the next 4 to 6 years.  

Price: $38           Cellar Club Price: $32.30         Cases Produced: 47

Planted to the renowned Pommard clone, the south-facing slopes and sandy soils of the Turner vineyard make it an ideal terroir for Pinot Noir.  This wine was gently basket pressed and hand bucketed to neutral French oak barrels.  Handling it with kid gloves definitely paid off as Jennifer was left with one of the darkest, most intense Pinot Noirs she or Joey had ever tasted.  This wine is big, round and lush in the mouth with notes of blackberry, blueberry and purple plums.   The spice is deep and the tannic structure solid though the tannins themselves are appealingly soft and grainy. While this wine is very appealing now, it will certainly develop beautifully over the next 6 to 8 years.

Price: $38          Cellar Club Price: $32.30            Cases Produced: 25

Located on Refugio Road near the Santa Ynez River, this vineyard has warm days but fog-influenced, cool nights.  With big red and black fruits, an inky-black color, and a touch
of sweet cocoa on the finish, this wine is unmistakably New World.  If you like a lot of flavor and texture this Syrah is definitely for you.  Because of its low acidity the Clover
Creek will not age as long as most Tensley Syrahs, but it will drink beautifully at a young age and should reach its peak in 3 to 5 years.

Price: $32.00      Cellar Club Price: $23.80       Cases Produced: 98

This two acre Santa Ynez Valley vineyard is steep - so steep that terraces had to be cut into the side of the hill just to make it farmable. Reeves Ranch is located in a warmer climate yet is still surprisingly peppery. This wine also shows warmer climate characteristics such as jammy blueberries, blackberries, and tar.  This very dark Syrah is
lifted by a tannic structure that comes from the Tensley tradition of 30% whole cluster fermentation.  If you plan to drink this wine young, it is best to give it an hour or two of
breathing time before serving.  Otherwise, we recommend aging it seven to ten years.

Price: $38.00           Cellar Club Price: $32.30           Cases Produced:74

Our Tierra Alta parcel comes from a steep hillside planted entirely to the 99 Syrah clone. This clone is known for its mineral and earthy nuances, and you can certainly taste them in this bottling.  While this vintage is very extracted, it is also very finessed and feminine. Careful farming and yield management have produced a wine that is driven by velvety flavors of plum, violet, and blueberry balanced by a strong backbone of structured acidity. Try this Syrah with duck and ratatouille.  (Seriously, Jennifer does a great rendition and we love it). This wine will last out the next ten years in style.

Price: $38.00            Cellar Club Price: $32.30            Cases Produced: 203

The Thompson Vineyard, established in 1990, has long been a Santa Barbara County favorite for Syrah. 2005 was our 8th vintage of this wine and is undoubtedly one of the best.  While this vineyard consistently produces low yields and high quality fruit, 2005 showed more extraction than, say, the 2003 vintage. Cool nights and great drainage seem to have something to do with the age ability of Thompson Vineyard. Collecting? Put a case away and open one a year for the next 12 years to watch it evolve.  We’re sure you’ll be impressed.

Price: $38.00     Cellar Club Price: $32.30      Cases Produced: 143

Located in the Happy Canyon area, this warm, rocky vineyard is meticulously farmed using strict organic practices. The result is a low yield and very pure, extracted fruit.  Look for full, round flavors of ripe currant, anise and lavender with an undercurrent of earth and crushed rocks. I’m sure you can hold this wine for 8 to 10 years, but if you like the weight and power you might want to start drinking it young and watch it evolve over time.  While this is our first vintage of this wine, we have been very impressed and look forward to a long and (pardon the pun) fruitful future together.

Price: $38.00       Cellar Club Price: $32.30     Cases produced:241

Colson Canyon Vineyard’s original, 8-acre planting of Clone 7 is the backbone of the Tensley Wines program. More than half of our 2005 production comes from this highly sought-after parcel. These grapes were picked over a period of six days for maximum complexity. The first couple of picks were for acid and bright raspberry nuances; later
picks showed increasingly smoky, meaty and chocolate nuances. The wine was then aged in 20% new French oak and 20% one-year-old French oak to add a bit of sweet vanilla and coffee to the finish. Being so big yet so balanced, this Syrah will age gracefully over the next 8 to 10 years yet is still quite approachable and appealing now.

Price:$38.00      Cellar Club Price:$32.30      Cases Produced:1168

50% Colson Canyon; 25% Thompson; 25% Tierra Alta

This is our third bottling of this very special offering, and while our son, Oliver Gunnar Tensley, has certainly changed during that time, his beautiful essence remains the same as does the essential blend of this wine.  Racked and blended into one-year-old French oak barrels as soon as fermentation is complete, each wine brings something special to the table: the Colson offers up a fruit-forward feast complemented by smoky, cocoa notes; the Thompson brings balance and acidity; and the Tierra Alta rounds it all out with an elegant, velvety finesse. Keeping with the tradition of only bottling OGT in magnums we only open this wine for special occasions.  Each time we are impressed by its sheer power and complexity and 2005 is no exception. This wine is a keeper that will evolve beautifully over the next 12 to 15 years.

Cellar Club Price: $72.25                                        Cases Produced: 117

50% Three Creek;  25% Colson Canyon; 25% Colson Canyon Grenache

While this is our third bottling of the BMT blend (named for our niece, Bailey Michelle Tensley,) this is the first time we have added Grenache to the equation. Bailey is 13 now and at age when young ladies are changing, so we decided to change things up a little as well. The Syrahs from Three Creek and Colson Canyon vineyards are very powerful, but the addition of the Grenache gives this wine a nuance of spice and femininity. This blend is deep in texture and color but also shows bright notes of red fruits and a crisp minerality on the finish.  Like Bailey, this wine will continue to develop character and complexity over the next 8 to 10 years.

Cellar Club Price: $72.25                                        Cases Produced: 98

John Belfy, who farms the Tierra Alta Vineyard, says this is the latest he has ever picked grapes in his 20 years as a grower - December 27th... (Can you say raisins?!).  The fruit was picked at a potential alcohol of 19.5%, but we thought that might be a little excessive, so we stopped fermentation at 16.9% leaving 5% residual sugar.   Look for nuances of chocolate and blackberries with a strong finish of dried prunes and sweetness.

Price: $20.00            Cellar Club: $17           Cases Produced: 170