Tensley Wines

Getting back to my place and wine theme, I decided that I need to write about Tensley wines.  It’s been a pretty weird path for me in getting to know Tensley wines, and partially because of that, they’re one of my favorite producers.  Here’s how I came to love their Syrah.

Several years ago, I was reading Wine Spectator and got into their featured story for the month, California Syrah.  To this point, I’d had some experience with Syrah, but mostly it was just cheap stuff and wasn’t all that good.  But, I liked the idea of a big hearty wine that could be spicy and rich or that could be smooth and fruity, or all of the above.  So, in reading the article, I noticed that there was a little profile and bio on a Syrah winemaker from Santa Barbara.  So, I got to know a little bit about Joey Tensley from that article, and after looking at his wines and their reviews from the article, I decided that I needed to try a good California Syrah and that this seemed like a good place to start.

Wine Spectator was especially impressed with Tensely’s Colson Canyon Syrah that year, and with a 95 point rating and just a $35 dollar price tag, I set out to find a place where I could pick up a bottle.  That’s when Wade’s Wines came into the picture.  After a quick search around the internet, I learned that a local wine store had exactly what I was looking for.

Wade’s is a funny place.  It’s nestled in the back of a little parking lot and surrounded by small businesses and warehouse space.  Wade’s itself is really just a wine store in a warehouse.  It has a great selection of everything California and it just so happens that it has one of the largest supplies of Tensley wines anywhere.  I later learned that Wade and Joey Tensley are pretty good friends and that Tensley actually produces Wade’s label of wine. 

On my first trip to Wade’s I was a little overwhelmed, but I knew what I wanted, had a look around, picked up 2 bottles of the Colson Canyon Syrah and decided that I needed to start doing more of my wine shopping here.  Since that first trip, I’ve been back many times and Wade’s actually opened up a tasting room that has some great local Southern California wine and some microbrews.  Anyone in the LA area should check it out.

But, back to Tensley.  I had bought 2 bottles of the highly rated wine.  My plan was to have one to drink immediately and one to hold onto for a while (I was hoping it would be named Wine Spectator’s wine of the year, but it lost out to another Syrah from the same area).  My first experience in tasting Tensley wines is what sold me.  That Colson Canyon Syrah was delicious.  It was a big wine but it was complex.  It was peppery, smoky, spicy, fruity, and smooth all at the same time.  It smelled a little like raspberries and vanilla and had one of the longest finishes in a wine that I can remember.  Simply put, it was delicious and I decided that needed to start trying more Syrah.

On my next trip to Wade’s, I picked up some more Tensley wine, this time just their basic Santa Barbara County Syrah (just $22, a little more in my price range), and I decided to try Wade’s label wine, which as I already noted is made by Tensley.  Again, everything was delicious.

Tensley kinda fell off the map for a little bit with me, but when I made a trip with some friends up to Los Olivos to do some wine tasting, it came back into the picture.  In planning this trip, I didn’t realize that Tensley’s tasting room was in Los Olivos, so it was a pleasant surprise to see it and once we did, it became a must go to for the trip.  We went, we tasted, I bought some more of their wine, and they were back on the map again.  After that trip to Los Olivos, I got in the habit of buying a bottle of Tensley every few months and definitely got in the habit of giving Syrah a larger part in my wine drinking experiences. 

After a few months of getting Tensley wines from Wades and consistently loving them, I decided that I needed to join their wine club.  It is surprisingly affordable and I only commit to buy 5 bottles a year so it’s pretty low key as far as wine clubs go.  I went to their website to sign up, only to find out that there were no more spots available for their club but that I could join a waiting list.  I was a little shocked by this, but joined the waiting list and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  I had forgotten about the wine club entirely by the time I got the email saying they finally had an opening for me some ten months later.

It’s a little bit crazy to think that I had to wait ten months just to be in a wine club so that I could buy someone’s wine.  And, what’s even crazier, is that I signed up for a mailing list at the same time with Saxum vineyards (another Syrah producer), just to get their emails and have the option to buy their wine, and still 18 months later they don’t have room for me. 

So, I’ve been a member at Tensley for about 8 months now.  I’ve gotten two shipments, and I thoroughly enjoyed the first and am waiting for an opportunity to open a bottle from the second (they’re magnums).  Everyone ought to try a good Syrah at some point.  It’s become one of my favorite varietals and if you need my recommendation for a good Syrah to try, it’s got to be Tensley.  From reading about them in a magazine to discovering their wine in a local store to their tasting room to their wait list and finally their wine club, it’s been an interesting road that’s introduced me to their wine. 

Season of Wine

So while my next post will get back to my travels and how place has positively influenced my memories of certain locations and how those locations have helped me form my opinions of the wine I’ve had, but I wanted to look a little bit at my wine drinking cycles first (that and I don’t have anything exciting to drink at the moment). 

Living in California is nice.  We get beautiful weather 330+ days per year.  Our summers aren’t too hot and the winters are like most people’s falls/springs.  That’s why it costs so much to live here.  But, even with our mild conditions, I’ve seen a pattern in my wine consumption over the past several years.  I rarely drink wine when it’s warm outside.  Part of this stems from the fact that I like big, powerful wines, and a heavy cabernet sauvignon really doesn’t sound all that good when it’s 80+ degrees outside.  If I liked white wine and could stomach it on more than just an occasional basis, I think that my wine drinking might be more balanced from season to season.  But, as it stands now, fall and winter are my go-to wine drinking seasons.  So, now that we are getting into these optimal seasons, I’m excited that I finally began to post on this blog again.  I hope that the season and my renewed interest in writing on my favorite topics will push me into a posting mood that might push me through the dry summer months where wine rarely on my mind. 

I think that at least 90% of my posts are on red wine, and while the percentage of red wine vs. white that I consume is likely greater than 90%, I hope that my curiosity on the topic as a whole will provide me with enough to write about consistently for quite some time.

For instance, my curiosity of wine extends further than just drinking wine, I am fascinated by the laws that govern wine across the world, the science that goes into the process of making wine, and how people turn wine into careers.  One of my good friends just became a CSW (certified specialist of wine).  I knew the sommelier certification existed, but I might have to look into becoming a CSW myself.  Wine is something that is both a pleasure and a lesson.  Each time you drink a wine, you are drinking history, drinking politics, local culture, and so much more.  Recently (and I’ll have to post about this soon), I went to a tasting with the Wine Economist (he’s a blogger and author far more famous than I am), but not only did we get a tasting, we got some interesting insight into the economics behind wine.  But that’s for another post.

For now, I’m just content that we are back in prime wine drinking season.  So, for all of those people out there like me, we can finally open those big red wines that have been staring at us all summer.  Salute!

Montefalco Wines

It’s been a little over 7 months since my last post so I figured it was about time to get back on it.  I enjoy writing and while I write quite a bit at work, my topics aren’t all that exciting.  As you guys can probably tell (those of you that actually read this blog), I enjoy writing about my travels as much as (if not more so) I like writing about wine.  So, to get back into writing about topics that I enjoy, I figured that I’d start writing some posts about wine that I’m currently drinking while adding some commentary/memories/insights about the regions they’re from based on my own experiences.  I know that I’ve done this quite a bit already (see all of my trip logs), but I don’t think that I’ve ever paired my trips with a wine that I’m currently drinking.

This idea came up because I just happened to open up a bottle of wine from one of my favorite areas of the world today- Umbria.  I tend to think of Chianti as my favorite wine and it is because it’s so readily available all over the world.  Wines from Umbria are much harder to find, especially my favorite “unknown” wine: Rosso and Sagrantino di Montefalco.  The best way I can describe these wines are like a rustic version of the Rosso and Brunello di Montalcino wines that are much better known.  The Montefalco wines, made from the Sagrantino grape are just as big and complex as the Montalcino wines made from the Sangiovese Grosso grape, but the raw power and in your face taste makes me prefer them (when I can find them).  I’m not sure that a Montefalco wine would ever get scores like the Montalcino wines consistently do, but the rustic nature of them gives them a special appeal to me.

As is the case with almost anything, fond memories had while drinking wine can give the drinker an especially positive (or negative) view of the wine they’re drinking.  Part of my love for the Montefalco wines comes from the way I discovered them.  A few years back, I made a trip to Italy to visit my parents for the holidays (they were living in Florence for the year).  It was to be a quick trip considering the distance I traveled (and all that I wanted to see and do in Italy), but my girlfriend and I still found some time to explore new places when we rented a car for a few days.

We ended up with a little red Fiat 500 (the ones they now sell stateside), and while the car was fun to drive, it felt a little too Italian for me, especially since I’m used to driving a Jeep.  Anyway, on our last full day with the car, we decided to take a trip into Umbria.  I had been to Perugia and wanted to show her the cute little city that is famous for its chocolate, so after taking a look around and having some sweets, we drove further into Umbria.  She had discovered a small town in the middle of nowhere that was supposedly famous for its truffles.  I don’t think she really cared for Perugia, mostly because she had truffles on her mind.  After a nauseating drive that took us deep into the mountains and valleys of Umbria, we arrived at our destination, Norcia.  As it was the middle of winter, it was already beginning to get dark outside, but it was still relatively early so we parked the car and headed into the little town on foot.  Norcia is a lot like other medieval Italian towns, it’s kind of placed on a hill and there seems to be just one main street running from one side to the other.  We perused at all of the different touristy looking shops and quickly discovered that these touristy shops weren’t like the ones we came to know well from our time in Florence, these were tourist traps constructed for Italians, not Americans.  They didn’t sell cheap t-shirts and postcards, but the delicacies of the region- truffles and wine.  Looking at all of the boar salami made with black truffle, looking at the whole truffles, the truffle oil, truffle pasta, truffle cookies (sense a theme yet), we finally noticed that all the stores we visited had the same two types of wine.

Even back then, I thought myself pretty well versed in wine so I was surprised when I did not recognize the bottles that seemed to be sold at every corner.  Finally, I asked a butcher about the wine he was selling and asked him what it was.  That was when I learned about Rosso di Montefalco and Sagrantino di Montelfalco.  Since no one spoke English and since I was out of practice (and don’t know much wine vocabulary) with my Italian, I just picked up that it was the local wine, that it was very good, strong in taste (eat with steak, he said), and that I had to try it.  So, we asked him for a good restaurant in the town and he gave us a few options. 

We walked out of the store with some food souvenirs and went out in search of one of the restaurants that he had recommended to us.  It was still early for dinner by Italian standards so the first one on our list was still closed, but the second one was open.  At 6:30ish, we were the first customers for the evening and walked in while being warmly welcomed by the owner, head chef, and waiter.  He sat us and handed us the wine list.  With the butcher’s recommendations fresh in my mind, I asked him to bring us a good bottle of Sagrantino di Montefalco.  He brought it out and let me try it and I was shocked.  I had been having wine with almost every dinner on my trip, and had even had a Brunello a few days before, but I was floored by the intensity of the wine I was trying.  I loved it.  It was big.  It was bold.  It made my mouth water and I immediately knew why our butcher recommended that we have it with steak. 

We looked over the menu and I looked for the bistecca.  I was a bit disappointed when I saw that the only steak on the menu was a massive cut of meat meant for two.  This being a date, I didn’t know how I’d be able to sell this to the gf, but once she learned that it was topped with truffle oil and shaved truffles, we were sold.  We ordered our appetizer, our obligatory truffle pasta, and our steak.  The appetizer and pasta were delicious, but I was trying to save room for the steak.  When it finally came out, I immediately realized why it was meant for 2.  Only one other time had I ever been served a bigger steak, and that was when I was eating a bistecca al fiorentina with my Italian professor and roommate (ie. meant for 3).  The steak, easily an inch and a half think was as big as hubcap.  It wasn’t just topped with truffle shavings; it was piled high with the delicacy.  We were both intimidated by the steak at first, we took pictures just to prove its size and its impressive toppings, and then I finally got to cut into it for the first bite.  Much like the bistecca al fiorentina, it was rawer than any American restaurant would dream serving a steak.  It was delicious.  So juicy.  I had never had truffle on a steak so the combination was a bit of a surprise to me, but I liked it.   By the time it was less than 1/4^th gone, the girl friend had had her fill and it was up to me to work on the remainder.  I didn’t eat it all, and I quickly realized that much of its size and great taste came from all the fat on the cut of meat (it wasn’t just a giant t-bone type cut, it was the t-bone plus everything else in the vicinity of the cow).  So, I was able to eat most of the best parts of the meat.  At the end of the meal, saying that we were full was an understatement.  Saying that the food was delicious didn’t do it justice.  The wine went perfectly with our meal.  The giant steak and its decadent toppings were barely able to tame the powerful wine that turned out to be the perfect complement to the food.

The two hour drive home was rough.  All I wanted to do was go to sleep, but luckily the drive through the mountains kept me entertained and let me enjoy the moment while thinking about the meal that was still I was still digesting.  I need to look up the name of that restaurant.  For how much I remember about that evening, the name of the restaurant still escapes me.  I still remember the wine: Rocca di Fabri Sagrantino di Montelfalco 2006.  It was the best bottle of wine that I’ve ever had at a restaurant and it only cost us about $30.  It was the best meal I’ve had at a restaurant and it was very cheap considering what we had to eat. 

And, now, almost four years later, I still think about that day often, but especially on nights like tonight when I open a bottle of wine from that tiny part of the world.  Tonight, I’m drinking a 2009 Rosso di Montefalco.  I don’t often find a Montefalco wine stateside, but when I do, I always pick it up.  It’s not a wine for everyone.  It’s not a wine for everyday drinking (like Chianti), but it is an experience.  Keep an eye out for it.  If I were a better known author and had a larger following, I’d be tempted not to write about a wine like this because I like the fact that because no one knows about it keeps it relatively cheap, but I don’t think I’m in a position to really change that by myself (yet).  Try this wine.  If you have a day in Italy, seek out Norcia.  It’ll be the best little town that you’ve ever been to.  You’ll likely be the only one you know that will have ever been there.  Or, a simpler solution, serve this wine next time you have steak and it’ll be a hit and you’ll look like a genius for introducing your friends to a delicious wine that none of them have ever heard of.