Issue #198, December, 2011
The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon is totally striking. Layers of dark red fruit, plums, cherries and violets burst from this deep, textured Cabernet Sauvignon. In 2010 yields were down to 1.25 tons per acre, less than half the level of 2009. Those sacrifices in the vineyard have paid off big time. This is a stunning Yountville Cabernet Sauvignon that amply demonstrates the heights that are within reach here. I loved it. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2025.

Casa Piena is owned by the exuberant Carmen Policy and his wife Gail. Policy is best known for his work in the San Francisco 49ers front office during the golden era in which the team won four Super Bowls. Success breeds success, as the saying goes. These are two hugely polished, elegant wines from the Policy family and winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown.

   — Robert Parker