Tensley
Colson Canyon Vineyard Syrah
Santa Barbara County
2023
Vintage
Varietal
Syrah
ABV
Where it is, June 2026
Approaching Peak: drinkable, but best years are ahead.
In 2026, the Tensley Colson Canyon Vineyard Syrah has just opened its drinking window. This is a wine at the start of its early window, the most demanding stage of its life - the tannic frame is still firm and the fruit is primary, offering a preview of what this wine will become rather than its full expression. Colson Canyon is a high-elevation vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley, and the 2023 growing season gave it ideal conditions for structured Syrah. The wine in 2026 shows concentrated dark berry fruit, white pepper, and a savory olive tapenade character, all held within a tannic grip that has not yet softened. For collectors willing to wait, the peak window beginning in 2028 will deliver a wine with fully resolved structure and a complexity that the 2026 expression only hints at. If drinking now, decant aggressively - this wine needs time in the glass.
The ‘23 Colson Canyon Vineyard Syrah.
Tensley's Colson Canyon Vineyard Syrah opens its drinking window in 2026 - a Santa Barbara Syrah of Northern Rhone precision, built for a full decade of development ahead.
Drinking window
Tasting note
Opaque deep ruby-purple with a blue tinge at the rim - the classic visual signal of Syrah grown in a cool, high-elevation climate. The nose is complex from the first pour: wild blackberry, blueberry, and cassis at the core, surrounded by violet, smoked meat, cracked white pepper, and a Northern Rhone-like olive and olive tapenade character. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied with assertive tannins that reflect both the grape variety and the 2023 growing season. Acidity is firm and focused. The mid-palate delivers dark chocolate and dried purple fruit, while the finish lingers with graphite, black pepper, and an iron-mineral quality that speaks to the vineyard's rocky, decomposed granite soils.
The 2023 vintage
The 2023 growing season in Santa Barbara County followed a period of above-average winter precipitation that reset vine water stress and provided a strong foundation for the growing season. The county's position at the convergence of Pacific marine influence and inland warmth created a cool, extended growing season in 2023, with harvest dates for varieties like Syrah pushing into late September. Without published vintage rating data specific to the 2023 Santa Barbara vintage at time of writing, this description draws on regional weather records and the wine's current structural character. The Colson Canyon Vineyard's elevation - above 1,000 feet in the Santa Ynez Valley - amplified the vintage's structural tendencies.
About Tensley
Joey Tensley has been farming Colson Canyon in the Santa Ynez Valley since the early 2000s, focused on a single-vineyard Syrah program rooted in the Northern Rhone tradition. Tensley's approach centers on whole-cluster fermentation, native yeast, minimal intervention, and aging in a combination of new and neutral French barriques. The Colson Canyon Vineyard designation is the estate's most site-expressive bottling - high-elevation farming on decomposed granite and calcareous soils that produce wines with the graphite minerality and pepper character more commonly associated with Cote-Rotie or Crozes-Hermitage than California. Explore more [Central Coast wines](/wines/region/central-coast) or compare with [Sine Qua Non Dangerous Birds Syrah 2007](/wines/sine-qua-non/dangerous-birds-syrah/2007) for a Central Coast Syrah benchmark.
From the cellar: pair with
Grilled lamb rack with olive tapenade
The wine's high tannin level and savory olive character find natural resonance with lamb and tapenade, both Rhone-influenced elements that mirror the wine's Northern Rhone winemaking style.
Wild boar ragu with handmade pasta
The assertive tannin structure and full body of this Syrah are built for game meat - the richness of wild boar cuts through the tannic grip while the smoked meat notes in the wine create a savory harmony.
Aged Manchego with roasted beet and walnut
The wine's firm acidity and full body balance the fat in aged cheese, while the earthiness of roasted beet mirrors the graphite mineral quality in this high-elevation Syrah.
Service & cellaring
- Serving Temp
- 60-64F (16-18C)
- Decanting
- Decant aggressively in 2026 - at least 90 minutes to two hours. This wine just opened its window and needs maximum air exposure. By 2028-2030, a 45-minute decant will be sufficient.
- Cellar Storage
- 55F (13C), 60-70% humidity, stored horizontally.
The drinking window on this bottle is calculated with the Cellared Ageability Index (CAI) v1.0, a 10-factor model. Try the free drinking window calculator on any wine, or read when to drink wine for the practical signals.
More from Santa Barbara County, United States
Frequently Asked
Can I drink the Tensley Colson Canyon Syrah 2023 now?
The wine just opened its drinking window in 2026. It is drinkable now with aggressive decanting - plan for 90 minutes to two hours of air exposure. The tannic structure is firm and the fruit is still primary. For optimal expression, patience through 2028 will deliver a wine with resolved tannins and fully integrated secondary complexity.
How long will this wine age?
The Tensley Colson Canyon Syrah 2023 has a drinking window through approximately 2038, with peak from 2028 through 2038. This decade-long peak window reflects the vineyard's capacity for long aging. Hard decline approaches around 2042, giving this wine nearly two decades of productive development from vintage.
What makes Colson Canyon Vineyard unique for Syrah?
Colson Canyon sits above 1,000 feet in the Santa Ynez Valley on decomposed granite and calcareous soils. The elevation moderates afternoon heat and extends the growing season, giving Syrah the hang time to develop phenolic complexity without excessive sugar accumulation. The rocky soils stress the vine and produce the graphite mineral quality and iron-like finish that distinguish this site from lower-elevation Santa Barbara Syrah.
Is this more like a Northern Rhone or Southern Rhone Syrah?
Tensley's winemaking philosophy and Colson Canyon's terroir point clearly toward the Northern Rhone style. The whole-cluster fermentation, native yeast, and the vineyard's elevation and granite soils produce a wine with the pepper, olive, and iron-mineral character associated with Crozes-Hermitage or Saint-Joseph rather than the fruit-forward, warmer style of Southern Rhone Syrah blends.