A vintage set apart for its perseverance and resilience, 2021 Continuum is one of refined concentration – a resounding expression of both measured intensity and enduring vibrancy. This is a multi-layered magnificent vintage that reveals floral notes, with black cherry and wild foraged mixed berries throughout. One can perceive the chemise, sage, and bay giving a gorgeous savory expression, reflective of the natural environment that surrounds our Sage Mountain Vineyard. 2021 is a wine of incredible complexity and nuance – a wine for the ages.
98/100 POINTS WINE INDEPENDENT
99 POINTS JAMES SUCKLING
96 POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
95 POINTS WINE SPECTATOR
Continuum is built upon a dynamic and pioneering family history. Over more than a century, four generations of Mondavis have produced wines that continually raised the bar for quality and prestige, propelling the family name to become synonymous with the shimmering promise of California wine. Wine has an affinity for family—and our family, for wine. Both are long term endeavors, requiring a unified vision, consistent care, and the passing down of knowledge, wisdom, and devotion. Without family, Continuum cannot be its true self, and at the same time, Continuum becomes our family’s vessel to carry the past into the future.
Early in his winemaking career, Tim Mondavi had come to deeply know his father’s vineyards on the valley floor in Oakville. For Continuum, he literally had higher aspirations. After the sale of Robert Mondavi winery, Tim and his sister Marcia began to devise Continuum as a winery that would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the world’s best.
Such an ambition required a remarkable site. Decades of experience taught Tim that the world’s most renowned wines are grown on slopes—some gentle, some steep—and so Tim knew that Continuum must be grown on hillsides and at elevation, where drainage, temperature gradients, and sun exposure all favor fine wine production.
After several years of searching, Tim found a gorgeous, undulating stretch of land high on the slopes of Pritchard Hill on Napa’s east side. Tim could sense that rare spark of exceptional terroir and knew that with refinement and direction, the property could produce the wine he and his sister envisioned.
A far cry from the fertile valley floor soils in which our family’s identity had long been rooted, this rugged, mountainous site represents a very real break from our past. Poetically, the sweeping vistas from the estate trace our family’s history from our distant past in Saint Helena, to our recent past in Oakville, and up to our present and future at Sage Mountain Vineyard.
Maturation: 60% new French oak (the balance was second-use barrels)
