Continuum Estate

Light of the Vine

"Light of the Vine" is a painting by Chiara Mondavi, Tim's daughter, which she produced for Continuum. Feeling a deep affinity for the energy and expression from the vineyards, she turned to the vine as an expression of life, for inspiration with the Continuum label.

The painting is a shadow painting of an old Cabernet Franc vine, planted by her father Tim 25 years previously, whose silhouette she captured on canvas at sunset. The original, standing 12 feet wide and 6 feet tall, depicts the vine true to its size in life. Chiara Mondavi, a graduate from the California College of Arts, has worked in various aspects of the family wine business, especially in the vineyards. Chiara graduated with an associate’s degree in Viticulture and Enology in 2012.     

One purpose, one estate, one family. Continuum is an opportunity for our family to realize our ongoing passion for excellence in winegrowing by creating a singular wine recognized among the finest in the world. Continuum truly is the culmination of our family’s four generations in wine and Tim’s four decades as a winegrower. Tim's been very fortunate to work in some of the best wine regions and vineyard sites around the globe. We know that this property is a great estate. Our quest is to realize this potential and to create a new First Growth. 

•  2012 - First Continuum vintage 100% from our hillside estate vineyard.
• 2005 - Robert, Tim and Marcia Mondavi found Continuum to produce a single estate wine.
• 1966 - Robert Mondavi Winery is founded to produce world-class wines.
  Tim leads winegrowing for over 30 years while Marcia develops innovative sales and education programs.
• 1943 - Family purchase of Charles Krug Winery - The Mondavi's grow and bottle quality table wine
• 1933 - Cesare Mondavi produces quality Napa Valley bulk wine. Family purchases part of Sunny St. Helena Winery.
• 1919 - Cesare Mondavi ships California grapes to home winemakers.

We believe the great wines of the world faithfully reflect their sites. The first three vintages from Continuum emphasize our family’s historic roots in Oakville. Since 2008 we have sourced predominantly from our Pritchard Hill vineyards and as of 2012, Continuum is 100% estate grown and bottled. We emphasize the varieties our estate grows best; Cabernet Sauvignon for its rich, powerful base, Cabernet Franc's silk and length, Petit Verdot brings generous color and strength, all harmonized by a small amount of Merlot. This unique blend captures the essence of our wine growing. Continuum is an integrated and balanced wine; silky in texture, long and supple with both power and elegance.

Currently 41 acres are in production with new vineyard development under way bringing the total to 60 acres over time. Average yield is 1.8 tons per acre with vine age averaging 18 years. Cabernet Sauvignon makes up 55% of the plantings, Cabernet Franc 30%, Petit Verdot 11% and Merlot 4%. Vineyard spacing, row direction, rootstock and clonal choices are selected to match the specific needs of each 1-2 acre vineyard block. The combination of a longer high-elevation growing season, more even frost free temperatures and low vigor stony mineral soils combine to create an ideal setting to grow great red wine. At Continuum we are stewards of the land and farm accordingly. Our vineyard practices are organic though not certified

All fruit is selectively hand-harvested into small lug-boxes, sorted before and after de-stemming, then gravity fed into a combination of specially designed small French oak and cement tanks, with a small amount going to French oak barrels for fermentation. Each lot enjoys a lengthy maceration time, ranging from 21-43 days. During this time, pump overs and below the cap lees stirring are enacted daily. In addition, prior to pressing, rack and return is performed 3-4 times in each fermentation tank. Post-fermentation, all lots are drained, with pomace pressed separately, to 85% new small French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation. The lees are kept in barrel with the new wine for an extended period of stirring, to enrich the body, nourish the wine and polish the tannins. The wine is clarified slowly and naturally through the use of traditional settling and racking techniques and bottled without fining or filtration. In the end, 25-30% of potential lots are declassified as they do not meet Continuum’s standard of quality. On average, each vintage will spend 19-20 months in barrel. 

At Continuum, each of our 36 vineyard blocks are harvested, sorted, crushed and fermented independently of the rest. The winery was designed to allow for that flexibility and to respect the individuality of each of our vineyard blocks. Of course this requires a more flexible use of winery space and additional tanks but respecting the inherent vineyard site variations requires that we evaluate and experiment with each separately throughout the winemaking cycle. This is an integral part of understanding our unique terroir as we strive to make a singular world class wine. Our fermentation vessels are a combination of Taransaud and Francois Fouderie oak, ranging from 2.5- 8 tons in size (70%), Sonoma Cast Stone and Nomblot concrete vessels 3- 6 tons sizes (20%) with a small amount (10%) of fermentation in oak barrels and ¾ ton open bins. All wood and concrete fermentation tanks are equipped with automated pump over air pumps and temperature control sensors to ensure a gentle and timely extraction. This capability allows each lot to be handled independently, and achieve the desired temperatures on a timely basis.