2016 was a particularly giving vintage for Casa Piena Cabernet Sauvignon. It produced a wine defined by a wealth of riches: color, aroma, flavor and mouth feel are all recognizable to those who are intimately familiar with this wine year in and year out, but in 2016 all those authentic qualities are increasingly vivid. The wine displays a deep purple hue with a dark garnet halo. Rich aromas of hibiscus reduction, toasted cedar bark, raspberry compote, wild violet, and eucalyptus oil emerge in waves. The palate experience is noticeably darker suggesting notes of bittersweet dark chocolate, star anise, macerated blackberries, spearmint, flint, and baking spices. The trajectory of this wine is absolutely seamless, and the tannin so finely integrated it drinks more like a wine that has already been cellared for 5-7 years. And while immediately approachable today, there are many more layers yet to bloom if given time in the cellar.