Tensley Fundamental Red Blend 2021

One of my top 3 all-time favorite Syrah producers is a winery whose wines are a whole lot more accessible than some of the top bottles in the Northern Rhone, especially considering Joey and I go back a ways, having met him a few times and even staying at his guest house on a Santa Barbara trip a lifetime ago.

Very quietly, Joey Tensley makes some of the absolute best Syrahs each year. I call him the Tim Duncan of winemaking. Though some of the others might get the majority of the fanfare, Joey’s Syrahs manage to rack up big scores from the world’s toughest critics every single vintage. Don’t believe me? Check this out.

In the early 2000’s, Tensley became one of the first wineries ever to see two of his wines scored in Wine Spectator’s Top 10 wines of the year in the same year. Since then, it’s been nothing but dominance from Joey Tensley highlighted by multiple 99-point scores and Robert Parker, Jr. declaring him a “Santa Barbara superstar” with a “sensational portfolio of wines”.