Tensley Wines Tasting Room

I will admit that I am a club member of Tensley so maybe I was a little biased but of all the tasting rooms we visited, Tensley was head and shoulders above the rest. These are flat out great wines and the gentleman pouring the wines was very accommodating and helped make it a great experience.

Got turned away with a small group of close friends. The reason we were given? A woman told us they were understaffed and had to close at 2:00. It was 2:07. Also, I’m across the street and they are still open. Bad business. Go to J. Ludlow for warmer, more personal and friendly service.

Tucked away on the side street and sharing a shop with another winery… you might almost miss it. This is a cool little tastiing spot to stop by and visit. All of the red wines were great and the service was super friendlly.

Tensley was recommended by a winery we went to up in Paso Robles. We tasted and thought the wines were pretty good! We walked away with a bottle of the pinot noir which is actually a Lea wine. The tasting fee is comp’d with purchase too.

High quality wines under the Tensley and Lea label and well worth checking out. Four pours for a $ 5 tasting fee is very reasonable. However, they rotate the wines so the tasting menu is bit a lottery. The tasting experience is very casual and unpretentious which suits me as I don’t want to subsidize a fancy tasting room. Try to visit midweek or early on a WE if possible. The tasting area is small, and six to eight makes a crowd.

After hitting a few of the tasting rooms nearby, my wife and I went into Tensley yesterday. At the small bar in the corner (maybe six people max can fit around it), there was a group of three people having a tasting. There were two ladies working, one was on the phone, and the other attending to the group.
My wife and I made our way to the empty side of the bar and waited for a few minutes. Neither of the workers even acknowledged our presence. The lady behind the bar wouldn’t even look at us though we were standing only a few feet away. She wasn’t engaging with the group already present either, (she was standing silently while they tasted) so it certainly wasn’t like she was preoccupied. She did however look directly past us a few times. Since I’m fairly certain I’m not invisible, I can safely assume she saw us both. The second lady was happily continuing her conversation on the phone.
We stood there awkwardly for a little over five minutes, were never acknowledged, and eventually left. I have no idea what was going on with the tasting room that day, but I’ve never felt so shunned or intentionally ignored in a business before. It really was the one bad spot in an otherwise awesome day.
One of the reasons we like Los Olivos is because the wineries are all so friendly and inviting. So many of them are family run, and really seem to care about their customers and the business. This was the exact opposite of what we experienced at Tensley — the atmosphere and staff seemed cold and snobby.
With so many other awesome tasting rooms in the area (Saarloos & Sons, Stolpman, and Daniel Gehrs to name a few of our favorites) there really is no reason to waste your time or money on an establishment like this.

Love me some fine local syrahs. Tensley’s Colson Cyn rates right up there with me. Others in the immediate vicinity I also love: Stolpman and Blair Fox. You won’t go wrong with any of these.
There are so many wine tasting rooms to visit in Los Olivos… you can romantically wander willy-​nilly and see what fun the day brings, or you can focus on the great ones. I’ve just named three of the best choices, which also happen to be a few steps from each other. Now don’t go mobbing my tasting rooms, ya hear?

Wonderful Pinot under the Lea label. Just love these wines!

Not sure what’s going on with their business but they are not keeping their promises in terms of sending out the wines or sending refunds when appropriate. Either that aspect of the winery is poorly run or they are suffering cash flow issues but… caveat emptor!

Good Syrahs

Love this place.
I’ll freely admit I am not a big wine snob or even very knowledgeable… I am one of those, If I like it, its good people… and all I know is, I love Tensley Wines!
I had actually been in here 5 yrs ago or so and I remembered it was my favorite of that trip… here I was, 5 yrs later and having several people tell me to check them out… once I was in the tasting room I remembered being there before.
I believe we hit 7 – 8 wineries this trip… seriously, both the girl and I were a little underwhelmed on the whole trip, until we got to Tensley… we both just looked at each other and broke out in huge smiles as we tried the selections… seriously, this was the only place that really excited both of us… SO good!
Let me put it like this… I have never signed up for a wine club… until now…

Came down to Los Olivos with a friend of mine who is in the industry, I was so excited to taste at Tesnley as I had been told it was one of the best in town. I was so excited that it was open on a Monday but when we went in we were CRUSHED. The lady behind the tasting table said that because they were not open the next day at it was already 2 o’clock that she didn’t want to open any wine. they were going to be open for three more hours. I felt disrespected because I’m a younger guy but between my friend and I we were already planning on buying a case together. But I guess not …

LOVE Tensley wine! And now I am a proud member of their wine club — Guaranteed continual presents that I know I will fully enjoy :-)
Chris (?) was wonderful to explain each wine, the background on the grapes and vineyards, and about the winemaker himself — Joey Tensley and (Lea with her own label). Their quaint corner spot in the same building as Carina Cellars is a great spot to try a few of their phenomenal wines, and learn about the creative and caring process that goes into the finished product.
Yes, they are a bit on the pricier side, but trust me (as a careful spender myself), these wines are 100% worth it.
Just waiting for an excuse — is it Tuesday yet?! — to visit these good folks again soon!

This place is great. The Tensleys could charge so much more for their wine considering the scores they get from the critics like Bob from Maryland. The wine is exceptional and I can’t think of much to not compliment.
I think they could give their corner of the tasting room a little more attention. A little dark back there and harder to get to than Carina. Great juice though.

I saw the great reviews for Tensley on my recent trip to Los Olivos, so suggested to my group of friends that we stop by.
The lady there wasn’t actually working that day, but had an appointment for a tasting, so had come in for that and to grab some wine for a party that day. She had definitely been tasting the wine already, but was also a fun, friendly lady :)
But after the stellar reviews, I was a little disappointed. The tasting list only had about 3 wines on it, and I remember only really liking one… and they were all pretty expensive for wines that I only thought were good, not amazing.
I’d go back and give it another chance, and none of the wines were bad, but definitely not my favorite stop in Los Olivos where there are so many great places to choose from.

Joey Tensley’s wines are delicious. While most of the better reds are sold out for this year you can still pick up some from the tasting room. The Tensley Syrah’s, Colson Canyon and others, are delicious… and range from the big, high octane (15.4%) to other colder climate options. If you are lucky enough to snag a few bottles of Colson Canyon on your trip, you won’t be disappointed. Certainly one of the most consistently delicious wines in California for the price. The wine room is stripped down, no-frills…just great wines and great people.

Tensley is one of my favorite wines. As others have noted he also makes the Carina wine sold in the same tasting room.
Tasting room is not as elegant as some of the others but the location next to the gourmet sandwich shop (Panino) is great.
They put a lot of effort into watching over the growing and harvesting of their grapes (I believe they contract for the production of certain blocks of grapes and then co manage farming). The result is probably less tonnage, but better quality grapes and it shows in their wines.
They normally have a number of wines available for tasting.
It’s a very comfortable tasting environment. None of the cattle drive feeling.
Do not overlook the wines from his wife.
Highly recommended
Updated ⁸⁄₁₂ another three years of great wines. One of the great things is that they offer 1.5 L bottles of a number of their wines..

Yum… DO I need to say more? Best Syrah we tasted on a recent trip to this region. I know what you’re thinking… «How many tasting rooms did you hit before Tensley?» That’s normally a good question, BUT, in this case it was our first tasting room and on a day when wine tasting was not our top priority (Due to a late night with much wine and amazing food at the Ballard Inn you can see that review too:). Sooooo our palate wasn’t destroyed, we were on the top of our tasting game and this place is YUM!

If you’re not watching for it, you’ll probably walk straight by Tensley and continue your life in ignorant bliss. But why not stop by and take your life one notch higher to enlightenment?
It’s located on Alamo Pintado just off Grand, about 15 feet beyond Panino. It looks small on the outside, but is spacious inside with two counters at opposite ends to distribute eager Syrah tasters throughout the room.
I came here with two members, so my tastings were gratis, I cannot tell you how much a session costs. But I do know you do not get to keep the glass because the pouring chickadee had to give that piece of bad news to some crestfallen British tourists next to us.
The selection is simple: four wines consisting of a rose and three syrahs. Now, we all know that everyone is crazy for the pinot in this area. It’s all pinot pinot pinot. Tensley is breaking free of this with syrahs to convert you in two sips. I happen to like wine on the sweeter side, I don’t care what people say about the drier stuff being better or that oak aged is the proper way to do it. Whatev.
My top pick was the 2006 Santa Barbara County Syrah, priced at $ 25 or $ 21.25 for members. And only 200 cases produced.
I need to also mention that this was my first day out after the Gap Fire had started and I was getting cabin fever from sitting around all day, wondering if this was going to be another Painted Cave, stressing about what to pack if I was evacuated and reading edhat for fire updates every freaking 5 minutes. What a *treat* it was to come up here with a good friend, meet some nice folks and try something new. Thanks for the memories, Tensley!

We discovered Tensley Wines while tasting at Carina Cellars Tasting room. Tensley is the winemaker for Carina, and has setup wine tasting bar inside their shop at Grand and Alamo Pintado.
The wines I tasted were each amazing. Four reds, and three of them very unique and special Syrahs. Each was so good, and unlike any other Syrahs I have had.
His wines are under $ 40 and well worth it.