Casa Piena - Policy Estate Vineyard, Yountville Appellation

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

A tight, vivid, juicy, concentrated yet graceful youngster, focused on dense mineral, dark berry, currant and blackberry fruit, ending with chewy tannins and notes of espresso and spice. Comes on the heels of a 2007 that seemed out of sync with the vintage. Best from 2012 through 2022. 450 cases made. –JL

A major milestone for California wine occurs tonight when the best and brightest of global technology gather in a private tasting at the Louvre Museum—the official home for French State events—where they’ll be tasting some of the Golden State’s finest wines.

This event marks the first time that non-French wines will be poured in this historic space—coincidentally falling on the exact 35th anniversary of the famed Paris Wine Tasting, a landmark competition which first opened the world’s eyes to the potential of California wines.

But tonight, amongst distinguished guests, the toast to wineries from Napa, Sonoma and Santa Barbara is a pure celebration of shared culture and agriculture between France and California. This once in a lifetime tasting demonstrates the open-minded nature of the e- G8.

Hosted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the 1,000 attendees of the e-G8 summit, were brought together as “leaders of the Internet” to make contributions that will be submitted for discussion at the G8 Forum itself, in Deauville. Three hundred of these tech industry leaders have been invited to the tasting hosted by Publicis, Intel, Yahoo! and Accel Partners.

“This global forum is a historic opportunity to showcase the wines of California, allowing some of the state’s most sought-after producers to share their best bottles, in France, in a non-competitive celebration of wine,” Matthew Wilson, founding partner of Soutirage, said.

The 13 wines being poured at the event, all of which were donated by the respective producers, were not revealed until today, and were selected by Greg Castells, wine director at Soutirage, Wilson and Joe Schoendorf of Accel Partners. Soutirage, located in Yountville, Calif., specializes in rare and fine wines from around the world and

works closely with individuals and corporations to build, develop and manage collections, along with hosting events in many countries. Last year, the wine company partnered with Accel to host a successful wine tasting at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

"Having seen the fantastic reception that California wines have received at our famous parties in Davos, we decided that both of California's famous valleys—Silicon and Napa/Sonoma—should be united in Paris," Schoendorf said.

For this tasting, Soutirage and Schoendorf focused on the noble French grape varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Some of the wines they selected are making their international debut, while wineries such as BOND, Screaming Eagle and Colgin Cellars, for example, export only tiny quantities of their wines: several shown here produce as little as 400 to 500 cases a year.

“It’s a real honor to curate this important tasting because we can demonstrate that California wines are among the best in the world,” Gregory Castells, Wine Director of Soutirage said. “There is an unprecedented interest in wine on a global scale, so it’s exciting to bring the finest examples from California before such a significant audience of tastemakers."

Given the tech savvy crowd, guests will be able to access tasting notes for each wine during the event— via iPhone, Blackberry and other smartphones—by snapping a photo of the quick response (QR) code on the bottle, taking the user to a website where they can learn more about the wine (www.soutirage.com/eg8).

Ten of the 13 vineyards represented at this groundbreaking event are located in Napa, and each winery donated two cases. Vintner owners Sir Peter Michael and Jim Bailey of Knights Bridge are attending tonight's celebration.

Three white wines were chosen: 2008 Hyde De Villaine Chardonnay, Carneros; 2008 Knights Bridge Chardonnay West Block, Knights Valley; and 2007 Peter Michael Chardonnay La Carrière, Knights Valley.

The selected red wines: 2008 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville; 2006 Casa Piena Cabernet Sauvignon, Yountville; 2006 Sloan Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford; 2005 Colgin Red Wine IX Estate, Napa Valley; 2005 Harlan Estate Proprietary Red Wine, Oakville; 2004 Sine Qua Non Syrah Ode to E, Santa Rita Hills; 2003 Staglin Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford; 2003 Favia Red Wine Cerro Sur, Napa Valley; 2001 BOND Proprietary Red Wine Vecina, Oakville; and 1997 Chappellet Cabernet Sauvignon Signature, Napa Valley.

California Governor Jerry Brown sent his support and best wishes via letter to Soutirage and event co-host, Accel Partners, the Palo Alto-based global venture and growth equity firm.

“For many years California has been producing wines that are world class. The tradition of excellence is reinforced with each passing vintage: there has never been a better time to enjoy the fruits of California vineyards than today,” Governor Brown said.

JancisRobinson.com
by Jancis Robinson

Yesterday 1,000 of the major players in Silicon Valley and the global media gathered at the Tuileries in Paris for eG8, President Sarkozy’s pre-Deauville online initiative. Attendees at the conference included Rupert Murdoch, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Eric Schmidt of Google and Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezoz. A small group of them were invited to the Elysée Palace for an informal lunch with the President who was attempting, not altogether successfully by the sound of it (see John Gapper's ft.com blog), to persuade the moguls of the need for regulation.

Last night 300 of the most influential attendees were invited to a private showing at the Louvre, not of art in the conventional sense but a selection of some of California’s most prized wines. The event was put together by Joe Schoendorf, famous in Davos for the extravagance of his wine selections when entertaining at the World Economic Forum. Schoendorf, a Napa Valley resident, explained, ‘I wanted to show off California’s other great valley.’

Apparently it took two weeks’ intense negotiation before the French accepted his literally outlandish proposal, that American wines be served at the Louvre for the first time, on condition that the honour of French wine was upheld by the Dom Pérignon champagne served beforehand.

The date could hardly have been more propitious. By complete coincidence, it was 35 years on to the day from the seminal Judgment of Paris tasting in which California wines trounced the finest of France in a much-discussed blind tasting with France’s most respected palates.

Co hosts with Schoendorf’s company, the Palo Alto-based global venture and growth equity firm Accel Partners, were Publicis, Intel and Yahoo! The 13 wines poured at the event were all donated by their respective producers – two cases apiece - and chosen by  Schoendorf together with Greg Castells and Matthew Wilson of Soutirage of the Napa Valley. Predictably, they focused on Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.

In keeping with the nature of the crowd, guests were able to access tasting notes for each wine by pointing their smartphones at the quick response (QR) code on the bottle which took the taster to a special section on Soutirage’s website designed to provide more details about each wine.

Just three white wines were chosen:

• Hyde de Villaine Chardonnay 2008 Carneros
• Knights Bridge Chardonnay West Block 2008 Knights Valley
• Peter Michael Chardonnay La Carrière 2007 Knights Valley.

The red wines were:

• Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 Oakville
• Casa Piena Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 Yountville
• Sloan Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 Rutherford
• Colgin Red Wine IX Estate 2005 Napa Valley
• Harlan Estate Proprietary Red Wine 2005 Oakville
• Sine Qua Non Syrah Ode to E 2004 Sta Rita Hills
• Staglin Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 Rutherford
• Favia Red Wine Cerro Sur 2003 Napa Valley
• BOND Proprietary Red Wine Vecina 2001 Oakville
• Chappellet Cabernet Sauvignon Signature 1997 Napa Valley. 

Winery owners Englishman Sir Peter Michael and Jim Bailey of Knights Bridge were at the tasting in person.

Let’s hope these gems were fully appreciated and not just thoughtlessly downed while gossiping about the future of the internet. At over a bottle a head, the servings could have been quite generous.