This is sensational with blackberries, blueberries and mineral. Extremely floral, too. Full-bodied but so seamless and refined with polished tannins that just melts into the wine. Goes on for minutes. A subtle and glorious wine that will be a new classic for Napa Valley. An emotional red that touches your soul. Energy. 46% cabernet sauvignon, 31% cabernet franc, 17% petit verdot, and 6% merlot. Very approachable now but better in 2022.
Bottled just a few months ago, the 2015 Continuum is shaping up to be a real gem. The flavors are dark, bold and incisive. In 2015, poor weather during flowering took with it 50% of the production in Continuum's prime Cabernet Sauvignon blocks. As a result, the 2015 has a high percentage (31%) of Cabernet Franc. Today, the Franc is keeping the wine a bit clenched, but that should be less of an issue as time passes.
After the Mondavi family lost their namesake winery to Constellation Brands in a takeover buyout for $1.03 billion in 2004, brother and sister Tim and Marcia Mondavi founded Continuum in the stunning beautiful mountainous area known as Pritchard Hill. The wine possesses an exquisite, almost primordial aroma of dark berries, sun baked rock, botanical herbs, and mountain sage brush. It has an enormous tannin structure and yet nearly melts in the mouth. (The small amount of Merlot in the wine undoubtedly contributes). Great precision and hedonism.
Showing well, the 2015 Continuum is still youthfully purple-hued with an opulent, full-bodied style in its darker black and blue fruits, leafy herbs, garrigue, and spice-driven aromas and flavors. Coming from a hot, low-yielding year, this nevertheless has flawless balance, a pure, layered mouthfeel, and ripe tannins. It's absolutely singing today, yet it has another 2+ decades of life ahead of it.
TWI
97pts
The Wine Independent
The 2015 Continuum is a blend of 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Cabernet Franc, 17% Petit Verdot, and 6% Merlot, with all the fruit estate grown from Sage Mountain Vineyard on Pritchard Hill. "There was cold snap during flowering and we ended up with half a crop in 2015," said Tim Mondavi. "This also affected the 2016 crop, lowering volumes that year by 20%." It is deep garnet-purple in color and bursts with notes of exotic spices, blackberry preserves, crème de cassis, Jasmine tea, and incense, followed by an undercurrent of currants. Medium to full-bodied, the generous black and red fruit flavors are well-framed by firm, grainy tannins and compelling freshness, finishing long and spicy.
From estate-wide average yields of just 1.3 tons per acre, the 2015 Proprietary Red is a blend of 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Cabernet Franc, 17% Petit Verdot and 6% Merlot. It's a full-bodied, lush and velvety effort, with classic scents of ripe cherries and dark chocolate accented by sage, bay and floral nuances and with a long, complex and still gently tannic finish.
This deeply flavored and silky-textured wine is surprising in the way that rather mild aromas of cigar box and pencil shavings lead to very rich and concentrated fruit flavors and a mouthfilling firmly tannic but certainly not heavy texture. It layers blueberry, black cherry, mocha and mint notes that seem to build and expand with each sip and linger on the finish. Best after 2024. (Cellar Selection)
Pure, rich currant and dark berry flavors form the core of this red, with spicy floral scents and a long, persistent aftertaste that keeps delivering caressing fruit and tannins. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Merlot. Drink now through 2030. 2,900 cases made.