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.

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.

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.

As the result of ongoing drought as well as a cold spring, there was a big shift in the viticultural approach with the 2015 vintage. It became clear that the focus should turn from the devigorating practices that were common in the valley at the time to practices that best supported the overall health of the vines. Some of this recognition also came from realising that mountain conditions naturally provide as much devigorating effect as needed. 100% estate grown and made. 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Cabernet Franc, 17% Petit Verdot, 6% Merlot. The 2015 vintage brings a distinctive aromatic presentation with a mix of both orange and grapefruit notes on the nose as well as a light jasmine perfume. Dark-chocolate notes emerge with air, while the palate is both mouth-watering and elegant. There is a stronger focus on aromas here and aromatic complexity as well compared with the richer, fuller palates of 2012, 2013 and 2014. The aromas are quite pleasing and bring an overall sense of elegance while still offering mountain-desert character. The tannin is fine-grained and persistent, the acidity impressively mouth-watering while balanced. Very lengthy. (ECB)