Just released- 2011 Tensley Syrah

A quick tasting stop this weekend in Los Olivos netted nice results, as a few of the newly released 2011 Tensley Syrah wines were available in their tasting room. These are low production and very well regarded – in other words you try them and buy them while you can.

Joey Tensley began producing his wines starting with the 1998 vintage. The original idea was to produce site-expressive Syrah from unique vineyard sights in Santa Barbara County. Most are made in a similar fashion with partial whole-cluster fermentation and using mostly seasoned French oak for about an 11 month elevage on lees. The single vineyard wines are generally released about a year after harvest. Production has grown to 4,000 cases with other Rhone varietals being produced as well as Pinot Noir from Jennifer Tensley under the Lea label.

The tasting featured the 2011 Santa Barbara County Syrah, the 2011 Thompson Vineyard Syrah and the 2011 Colson Canyon Vineyard Syrah. All show a common style of bold balanced fruit with secondary savory depth and hints of rusticity and old-world Syrah character.

The Santa Barbara County bottling comes from five sites from throughout the county, blending both warm and cool sites as well as a variety of soil types. It features nice forward brambly fruit with subtle spice and mineral accents, finely structured with good depth and length. It’s an attractive price point too at $25.

The 2011 Tensley Thompson Vineyard Syrah comes from the moderate climate Los Alamos Valley. The vineyard’s south-facing slopes ensure ripeness while the depleted soils keep yields low. I noted lots of blueberry, dried herb and peppercorn aromas and flavors that added rocky notes and brown spice through the palate. It was full and rich, yet balanced with gripping tannins and nice length and an underlying rusticity. Really nice but still so young, it’s a little unfocused at this point but should take shape nicely. 155 cases produced, $38.

 Lastly the 2011 Tensley Colson Canyon Vineyard Syrah comes from volcanic soils set high in the foothills above the Santa Maria Valley. It’s warmer than the valley floor due to its elevation above the fog line. The Colson Canyon is the only of Tensley’s single vineyard Syrahs to receive any new oak aging. Here I noted striking aromas- tea leaf, tobacco, spice, currant. It was layered and complex with subtle meaty notes through the palate. Round and polished throughout with firm structure and a full finish. It was the most distinctive at this point while still showing the potential to tie up the loose ends. Excellent. 1620 cases produced, $38.

I also tasted the 2011 Santa Barbara Grenache and the 2011 Lea Pinot Noir. Click here for the full lineup of notes. 

Checking in with Carmerère

In 2011 Argentina surpassed Chile as the fourth largest importer of wine to the US. This of course is due to the ongoing growth of Malbec, Argentina’s main varietal. Its trajectory reminds me of the growth of Australian Shiraz many years ago, both with easy-to-brand varietal names and full-flavored & palate-friendly wines at attractive price points.

While Australia makes a vast array of great wines in varying styles, it seemed to over-leverage Shiraz. Commodity brands such as Yellow Tail devalued its wines to consumers. On the flipside, some expensive & highly rated Australian Shirazes were not aging gracefully, creating a backlash among high-end consumers. These factors combined created a bit of a lost decade for Australian wine.

I sometimes wonder if a similar leveling and subsequent decline is coming for Argentina. Like Australia, Argentina makes plenty of interesting wines. But also like Australia, the brand of the country is based on one varietal. And with growth and demand and the development of new brands comes the potential tipping point where the wines become generic in the minds of the average consumer.

Meanwhile, Argentina’s neighbor to the west continues to pump out volumes of very solid wine (especially reds). If anything, Chile seems to display the opposite of Argentina. They do a lot of things very well but don’t really appear to have one “go-to” varietal from a sales perspective. The climate of Chile tends to lend itself to wines that bridge the gap between new world and old world. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Syrah all do very well. But it’s tough to stand out with these varietals against the more famous versions from around the world.

Carmenère seems to be the most natural varietal to lead the way for Chile. It’s unique to Chile and has a great story as the lost Bordeaux grape reappearing under the guise of Merlot. However the bell pepper and herbal notes it sometimes displays, especially in the lower-priced versions, can keep it from being as mainstream-friendly on the palate as Malbec. When at its best however, Carmenère can take those green tendencies and turn them into an exotic mix of black herbal & anise/licorice notes, framed with solid structure and bold dark fruit. Some of Chile’s best and most famous wines are Carmenère, such as Casa Lapastolle’s Clos Apalta and Montes’ Purple Angel.

You don’t have to break the bank though. Wines like the Terranoble 2010 Reserva Carmenere, Maule Valley, show bold fruit and streaks of savory herb and black pepper. This is a great little wine priced at around $12. Terranoble also ups the ante with its 2010 Gran Reserva Carmenere, Maule Valley. This comes from rocky and mineral-rich soil within the Maule Valley and is aged for a year in French and American oak. The profile features added depth and balanced structure with notes of black currant, anise, coffee & cocoa. Another great buy at around $18. Both of these wines add a dash of Cabernet Sauvignon.

For the crème de crème, I love the Montes Purple Angel. Montes was a pioneer in exporting ultra-premium Chilean wines, and along with Montes’ Alpha M (Bordeaux Blend) and Folly Syrah, Purple Angel is one of the country’s finest wines. It comes from the best blocks of Carmenere blended with 8% Petit Verdot and is sourced from Montes' two estates in the Colchagua Valley – 50% from warm and sunny Apalta and 50% from coastal and cool MarchigÜe. It's hand-picked and hand-sorted, aged 18 months in new French oak, and bottled unfined and unfiltered.

I recently opened a bottle of the 2008 Montes Purple Angel (around $50) and double decanted. It was dark, dense and full-bodied in the glass with notes of anise, cassis, black & blue berries, cocoa and espresso. Powerful juicy-ripe fruit was concentrated on the palate with integrated oak that was slightly bitter through the mid-palate. It was big and broad yet graceful throughout with polished creamy tannin and a long finish. Excellent now with decanting and should continue to hold and improve. The wine is an interesting dichotomy of hedonism and elegance, displaying alternating elements of both. 

At its best, Carmenere makes its mark as the signature red grape of Chile with interesting, powerful and endearing wines. Whether its profile can appeal to popular tastes enough to become the next hot import remains to be seen.

An exciting and inexpensive white from the Southern Rhone

The southern Rhone Valley is a great place to find exciting wine at affordable prices. I tend to think of reds more than I do whites – and among wines like Côtes Du Rhône in the $10-$15 range, Vacqueyras in the $20-$30 range, and Gigondas and lower-priced Chateauneuf-du-Pape in the $30-$40 range – you can find wines with a sense of place, structural integrity, and bold expressive fruit that far out-drink their price points.

While reds lead the pack throughout the Rhone Valley, it’s also fun and easy to find excitement among the Rhone’s whites. My most recent find was a simple white blend, classified outside of France’s AOP classification as a Vin de France (AOP is the replacement for AOC, and Vin de France is the replacement for Vin de Table in the recent reforms of France’s wine classifications). The lower classification is merely because the wine includes 30% Sauvignon Blanc in its blend, a varietal not permitted in any of the Rhone AOP’s.

Coming from the Costières de Nîmes region in the south of the Southern Rhône Valley – the wine in question is produced in a partnership of Costières de Nîmes producer Michel Gassier, oenologist Philippe Cambie, and US importer Eric Solomon. The Michel Gassier 2011 Cercius Blanc is named for the Latin term for the mistral winds of Provence that sweep through the region, preserving freshness and acidity in the wines. It’s made from 70% Grenache Blanc and 30% Sauvignon Blanc, from 25 year-old vines grown in organically-farmed rocky soils. Fermentation and aging on lees takes place in cement tanks.

Think fresh and bright. The wine is light gold in color with notes of tangerine, grapefruit, rose hips and slate. Medium-bodied and rich on the palate with nice brightness augmented with subtle honeyed and spice depth. It finishes with nice balance throughout as well as lingering crisp fruit. Inviting and alluring on its own; it’s well rounded to pair with any number of foods. My vote would be seafood paella, with the brightness and minerality of the wine matching the rich spice and garlicky savory seafood. This is excellent overall and even better when you consider the $12.99 price point. It would also be a perfect wine by-the-glass in restaurants as well. 

There’s also a Cercius Côtes du Rhône red that’s a blend of Grenache and Syrah, also reasonably priced and fermented and aged in concrete – I’ll definitely pick that up if I come across it.

Opening up a ray of sunshine- 2004 Querciabella Palafrena

I love to get excited about a wine. And a great Italian red is squarely in my wheelhouse when I need a wine to be excited about.

Delivering on this promise is a beautifully vibrant wine made from 100% Merlot, and grown in the biodynamically-farmed marlstone soils of Greve in Chianti Classico. Querciabella’s Palafreno was first made in 2000, and since then it’s become one of the estate’s top wines.

The production is intensive – low yields are harvested and destemmed into stainless steel and concrete tanks for long and slow fermentation. After 12 months of élevage in new and one-year old barriques from Allier, Tronçais and Vosges – top lots are assembled and put back into barrel for 6 additional months.

Mine was a bottle of Querciabella 2004 Palafrena, Toscana IGT; received as a gift from a friend and brought along to a great little Italian restaurant where I live for a special occasion dinner. With 2004 being a top recent Tuscan vintage, I hoped to find this coming into its own. What was readily apparent upon opening was the beautiful tension between rusticity and refinement.

Dark and dense in the glass – it featured aromas of cedar, black olive, black cherry and dried lavender. It quickly came to life with a palate of generous dark fruit of the Merlot along with the dusty earthy mineral and dried floral notes reminiscent of Chianti Classico. It had vivacious, rich, and rustic characteristics – finishing with sharp acid and leathery gritty tannin, along with good length and concentration.

This had great flavor, depth, nerve and structure. It showed the highlights and excitement of Bordeaux varietals in Tuscany along with that salt-of-the-earth realness that is so awesome in the great reds of Italy. I loved it – definitely one to get excited about. ($85, still some availability online, drink/hold).