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: 2016 Tenshen Central Coast White Blend

2016 Tenshen Central Coast White Blend

SKU #1303613 92 points Jeb Dunnuck

Outer quote mark The 2016 White Wine from Tenshen is made from a blend of Viognier, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Chardonnay sourced from sites throughout the Central Coast. Brought up mostly in neutral barrels, with a small part in stainless, it offers rich, full-bodied aromas and flavors of buttered peach, tangerine, honeysuckle and flowers. Richly textured, balanced and with a clean, dry finish, it’s a terrific white Rhône blend readers should check out. Inner quote mark (8/2017)

Wine Spectator

Outer quote mark Rich and spicy, delivering peach, pineapple and melon flavors that mingle with toasted cumin notes on a full body. Crisp finish. (MW, Web-2017) Inner quote mark

K&L Notes

The Tenshen White is a Rhône style white blend of Viognier, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, and Chardonnay. The fruit is sourced from California's central coast and is aged in a combination of 80% neutral oak, and 20% stainless steel and was included on the Wine Spectator Top 100 list in 2014-2015. Tenshen is the brainchild of esteemed wine importer Alex Guarachi. With 30 years of experience in the industry his understanding of the wine world and his contacts are unparalleled. Alex tapped famed winemaker Julian Gonzalez to supervise the winemaking. Julian was formerly lead winemaker for all Paul Hobbs consulting programs from 2007 to 2016. Prior to that, Julian has worked at Stag's Leap, Dominus, and Louis M. Martini.

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2016 Tenshen Central Coast White Blend

Price: $15.95

Quantity:

JD: 92

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Redwood City:	20
San Francisco:	32

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Product Reviews:

By: Diana Turk | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 7/28/2018 | Send Email

Tenshen is not just a clever name for this California Rhone-style white blend: there's great lift and yes, tension in this 2016 Central Coast white. But while there's good acidity, it doesn't overpower the friendly fruitiness. This wine is a beautiful balance of heavier textured Roussane, floral Viognier, rounded Grenache Blanc, and the unusual but welcome addition of bright Chardonnay. And it's priced under twenty bucks! This is a great summertime white to impress both Francophiles and domestic wine lovers.

By: Greg St. Clair | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 7/17/2018 | Send Email

The nose is full of ripe, melony fruit with more behind it than simple fruit, it has complexity there’s depth to the aromatics. On the palate the wine is broad, supple and for fans of rich California Chardonnay you’ll be thrilled, but for folks like me who want more balance and freshness the wine has that as well, it’s really well done and there’s no obvious remaining oak signature. The Viognier, Roussane and Grenache Blanc is not your everyday blend and for me and I had trouble at first categorizing the wine so that I could professionally think about it. The key to this wine is not to think about it, it will come to you after a while and it is just a real pleasure to drink. Easy enough to cocktail or if you have a fish dish that has a spicy vegetable medley to go with it this is your wine.

Drink from 2018 to 2020

By: Stefanie Juelsgaard | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 7/17/2018 | Send Email

This is a great alternative to most of the wines you currently find coming out of California. I haven't seen an over abundance of white Rhone blends coming out of the Central Coast, so it's fun to encounter something with unique notes and flavors. Fans of a richer, softer style aromatic white will find something to like here.

By: Kaj Stromer | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 7/12/2018 | Send Email

I’ve been a fan of this wine for the last couple of years. It’s an excellent alternative to Chardonnay for when you want something a little different but still slightly familiar. Lovers of Rhone-style white wines appreciate how this mélange of grapes come together to create something much bigger than the sum of its parts. The Viognier brings the wild aromatics, the Roussanne a touch of nutty earthiness, the Grenache Blanc with its bright melon fruit flavors, and finally the Chardonnay ties it all together. The wine is complex, balanced, and lively. It is amazingly food friendly but will serve as an aperitif just as well.

Additional Information:

Varietal:

Other White Wines

Country:

United States

- When people consider domestic wine, they normally think about the state of California. The fine viticultural Region within California, including the Napa Valley, Sonoma, Santa Cruz Mountains, Mendocino and Santa Barbara, are capable of growing grapes of world-class quality. But there's plenty of fabulous wine coming from other states, too. Oregon, Washington and New York are also causing eyebrows (and glassware) to be raised around the world.

Sub-Region:

California

- With the explosive growth that California's wine industry has seen the past several years, it's easy to view winemaking and grape growing in the Golden State as a recent phenomenon. And while it's true that California's viticultural history is brief compared to several European countries, this state's roots date back well over 200 years. Due to the enormous response to California wine within the United States and worldwide, there are thousands of excellent and diverse wines being produced within the state each year.

Specific Appellation:

Santa Maria/Santa Barbara

- Santa Maria and Santa Ynez make up the two AVAs of Santa Barbara County, an area known for its natural beauty and temperate climate. The best grape-growing areas, however, are located on the very coastal reaches of these two appellations, and are cooled by ever-present fog and ocean breezes (it is even cooler and foggier here than Carneros!). As expected, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir thrive while the more inland zones lay claim to Bordeaux varietals and some Rhône blends.

Alcohol Content (%):

14.7