Continuum Estate estate spotlight
Vinous Icons NYC 2025: Tim Mondavi on camera presenting Continuum and Sage Mountain Vineyard, the family line that ends in this 2023 bottle.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2023 Continuum Proprietary Red Oakville across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $310.35 and the average is $336.76. Our slash is $310.00.
2023 Continuum Proprietary Red Oakville, USA
Tim Mondavi's 50th harvest from Sage Mountain, two 99s, a 2023 you can actually open at three hundred ten dollars.
The 2023 Continuum is 46 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 41 percent Cabernet Franc from Sage Mountain above Oakville, James Suckling 99 and Jeb Dunnuck 99, now $310.
One hillside, forty-one percent Franc, no second label
Forty-one percent Cabernet Franc from volcanic rock at 1,300 feet is why this 2023 walks lighter than its concentration. Continuum is one wine from Sage Mountain, not a leftover hiding behind a flagship. Night-picked, gravity-fed, twenty-one months sur lie, bottled without fining. The hillside is the argument.
The house
After Robert Mondavi Winery sold, Tim and Marcia Mondavi took the family up the eastern ridge. Continuum is one wine from that ground.
The wine
46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Cabernet Franc, 7% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot. 21 months sur lie. 56% new French oak, 1% concrete amphora.
The scores
James Suckling 99. Jeb Dunnuck 99. Vinous, Decanter, and Wine Spectator 97.
The drinker
Rose petal and bergamot first. Decant 45 minutes. Lamb or duck. Drink now through 2065.
Rose petal, bergamot, then the mountain
The estate writes 2023 as lifted and ethereal, held against volcanic graphite and tender tannin. James Suckling: red currants, terra-cotta, rose petals, violets. Jeb Dunnuck: purity and finesse with a Lafite-like elegance.
Abundant early rain, then a cool late season with long, even ripening. Budbreak ran 20 days late. Harvest ran October 3 to 19 at about 2.5 tons per acre. The estate calls it a 1974 kind of year.
Crushed rose petal and bergamot over deep ruby and blue fruit. Bing cherry, cacao, violet, and black pepper with savory wild herb.
Lifted and ethereal on the palate, tannin still tender, set against volcanic and graphitic mineral precision from the hillside.
Freshness and concentration together. Decant 45 minutes. Serve near 62 F.
Night fruit, gravity, twenty-one months sur lie
On the Continuum page, the 2023 is one wine from Sage Mountain Vineyard: night-harvested by hand, sorted, then gravity-fed to French oak and concrete. A three-day cold soak, then ferment with pumpovers and delestage. Skins for 17 to 27 days, then basket press. Twenty-one months sur lie. 56 percent new French oak, 43 percent neutral oak, 1 percent concrete amphora. Racked sparingly. Bottled without fining or filtration. That is the cellar in this glass: the hill talking, not a recipe talking.
The 2023 blend is 46 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 41 percent Cabernet Franc, 7 percent Merlot, 6 percent Petit Verdot. That Franc share is why the wine walks lighter than its concentration. Serve near 62 F. Decant 45 minutes. Air is for perfume, not rescue.
From the valley floor to Sage Mountain
After Robert Mondavi Winery sold, Tim and Marcia Mondavi took the family up the eastern ridge.
Tim grew up on the Oakville floor. For Continuum he wanted altitude, volcanic rock, and a site that would still speak in a hard year. Sage Mountain on Pritchard Hill became that place.
Four generations now tend 71 planted acres inside 173 of hillside, with wild sage and bay laurel at the edges. Continuum is one wine from that ground, not a portfolio with a flagship buried in it.
The 2023 label carries Chiara Mondavi's vine painting and the line My 50th Vintage. The bottle is the family harvest count, written in Cabernet Franc and volcanic dust.
Lamb on the bone, duck with cherry
Tender tannin, wild herb, and bing cherry want rosemary, garlic, and a gloss of fruit, not a heavy crust that buries the wine.
Two plates. One rack of lamb. One duck breast with Bing cherry sauce. Both leave room for the wine.
Decant 45 minutes. Serve near 62 F in a Bordeaux glass. The tannins are already polite. Air is for perfume, not rescue.
Rosemary garlic rack of lamb
Nagi's rosemary garlic marinade, roasted until the rib is pink. Fat, herb, and char meet the wine's Franc and wild sage.
Why it works: Rosemary and garlic echo Sage Mountain garrigue, while lamb fat softens the still-tender tannin.
View Recipe for Rosemary Garlic Marinated Rack of Lamb (opens in a new tab)
Duck breast with Bing cherry sauce
Serious Eats sweet-tart duck, crispy skin, halved Bing cherries in the pan. The wine already smells like that fruit.
Why it works: Bing cherry is in the estate tasting note. Duck fat and balsamic give the mineral finish a savory place to land.
View Recipe for Sweet-Tart Duck Breasts With Fresh Cherry Sauce (opens in a new tab)Put Tim's 50th vintage in the cart
You already know the names. Sage Mountain. Two 99s. Tim Mondavi's fiftieth harvest. The 2023 is in the glass at three hundred ten dollars.
Put it in the cart. Drink it this week with a decant, or lay a few down through the Palate window. Either way, this is the bottle that closes the proof.
