Wine Spectator's Wineries to Watch - Five rising stars in Napa Valley
by James Laube
CASA PIENA
A 49er Pans for Gold
When Carmen Policy left the NFL, he may have thought his toughest competition was behind him. Yet now he's competing on a whole new playing field: Napa Valley.
The former president of the San Francisco 49ers presided over that team's rise to greatness-starting in 1977, Policy helped build five championship teams from 1981 through 1995-as well as its unraveling, when then-owner Eddie DeBartolo lost control of the team. Policy still proudly displays his Super Bowl rings in his home office in Yountville.
"When it worked [with the 49ers], there was nothing better," he says of his tenure in San Francisco.
The last ring came in 1995. When ownership of the 49ers changed hands, Policy departed for his home state of Ohio to run the Cleveland Browns. No rings there.
In 2003, he and his wife, Gail, purchased their property in Napa, where they hired Jim Barbour to plant 10 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon. The winemaker is Thomas Brown, who also owns his own label, Rivers-Marie, and makes Schrader's stunning Cabernets.
"It's a business and it's not a business," Policy says of Casa Piena, the Italian cardplaying term for "full house." The debut bottling from 2006 (93, $125) is a terrific wine-rich, intense, vibrant and full-bodied, with well-defined loamy currant, berry, herb and toasty oak flavors, yet made in a more elegant style than many Napa Cabernets. Production is projected to expand from about 250 cases to 800.
"What's the goal?" he asks. "The goal is to make something great. It's part of your credibility. [The wine] needs to stand up to value and quality. We didn't want a big, strong, dominant style, but something more like Bordeaux."
"I used the 49er model [for organization]," Policy says. "Putting the right people in the right positions and let them make the decisions. I oversee, but don't supervise."