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The Mondavis formed the Napa we all know immediately – however now Tim Mondavi is constructing a brand new future for his household with Continuum. Because the 2021 classic is launched, Sophie Thorpe spoke to Tim concerning the undertaking – and the way it’s about way more than wine
“I used to be broken-hearted,” says Tim Mondavi, his eyes glistening on the reminiscence of how his household was compelled out of their enterprise, Robert Mondavi Vineyard, 20 years in the past. Wine runs by the Mondavi household’s veins. Cesare Mondavi – Tim’s grandfather – made his first classic in 1919, and the household bought Charles Krug Vineyard in 1943, earlier than Robert broke away to ascertain Robert Mondavi Vineyard in 1966. Fortunately, when Constellation took over the enterprise, the Mondavis left with “a bag of cash” – one thing, Tim says smiling, that’s higher than being heartbroken and broke. He went searching for “a brand new love”, and so he constructed Continuum.
The idea was easy: to “shoot for the celebs”, Tim tells me, and craft a wine that might rival Bordeaux’s First Growths – in addition to proceed his household’s legacy in Napa. Having seen how their household enterprise had grown, shifted and finally fallen into company palms, he and his sister Marcia wished to maintain issues easy. The primary few vintages have been made with fruit sourced from Robert Mondavi, largely To Kalon – vineyards that Mondavi had labored for 30 years and knew inside-out. However he knew that web site was every part, and considering of Burgundy’s greatest wines, he appeared to the hills – eager to search out his personal slice of “Grand Cru” terroir. So he “kicked a number of filth” – and in 2008, he discovered one thing.
Tim Mondavi and sister Marcia, who collectively created Continuum
Up-slope from Dalla Valle, above the fog line and neighbouring Colgin, a marine biologist known as Leighton Taylor had planted vines on Pritchard Hill within the Nineties. He was a wine-lover and noticed the roots he put down in these rocky, volcanic soils as his retirement plan. His youngsters didn’t share his ardour, and he determined to promote: enter the Mondavis. Tim Mondavi immediately realised the potential of the location and purchased the 173-acre property. Southwest-facing, with sparse top-soil and the extraordinary daylight that this altitude provides, he named it Sage Mountain Winery, after the ample wild sage discovered throughout the property.
The world had been conventionally farmed and wanted work, and Mondavi introduced two of his previous staff onto the undertaking. Collectively they labored to grasp the potential of those rocky 70 acres of vines, regrafting, replanting and refining the farming – drawing on natural and biodynamic practices. Steadily, they began utilizing fruit from the location for Continuum, and from the 2012 classic the undertaking was completely estate-grown, all coming from Sage Mountain Winery. In 2013, they accomplished work on a vineyard on-site – that means every part was completed in-house by their very own staff – a primary for the household. For Tim, it was an enormous second. The classic occurred to coincide together with his fortieth harvest, in addition to the one hundredth anniversary of his father Robert’s beginning – and the label bears a dove in tribute to him, flying over the vines.
Wanting throughout the vines at Continuum, towards Mount Saint Helena
Robert was not simply the patriarch of the household however of your entire valley. He handed away in 2008, only a month after Tim had proven him Sage Mountain Winery. He was a power of nature, who not solely constructed the household empire however put Napa on the map, preventing relentlessly for the area on the world stage. It’s exhausting to think about that he was a simple man to have as a father. “There was no such factor as an excessive amount of,” says Tim. “However there was no such factor as sufficient.”
Robert was, Tim tells me, “go, go, go” – and it’s clear Tim desires one thing completely different for his household. With Continuum, he wished a undertaking that might present a balanced life – smaller than the smallest undertaking at Robert Mondavi. Tim’s youngsters haven’t run away from their destiny or the household enterprise. They’ve all labored at Continuum at one level or one other: sons Carlo and Dante have gone on to ascertain Raen, their very own Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir undertaking in 2013, whereas Chiara has joined her father and is firmly in situ as winemaker at Continuum.
The Mondavis could be Napa royalty, however they’re additionally farmers – and so they’re extra conscious of the challenges that local weather change brings than anybody else. “Mom Nature has so some ways to remind us we haven’t been taking excellent care of her,” Tim says ruefully. The wildfires of 2017 introduced that nearer to house than they’d have appreciated. The Continuum staff was two-thirds of the way in which by the harvest when Tim noticed the glow on the horizon from his home. He immediately known as to cancel the harvest, and guarantee everybody stayed far-off from the vineyard and vineyards – however his winery supervisor ignored him and drove straight up the property, to verify that not one of the crew have been already on-site forward of their early choose. Fortunately the staff was all effective – however these fires stuffed Tim with worry.
They didn’t make a 2020 classic, so the newest launch – the 2021 – is the primary for 2 years. They’ve been progressively growing the proportion of Cabernet Franc within the mix, and the 2021 has the best share up to now (representing over a 3rd of the mix). It’s, Tim says, “our best effort” – one thing he attributes not simply to the yr’s situations, however over a decade spent attending to know every of Sage Mountain Winery’s 44 blocks. “To be actually nice, it’s important to perceive the location,” he says. The wine is elegant and pure, with a saline, earthy minerality that’s an imprint of the property – one thing that runs by each classic.
Tim’s been making wine for 50 years now, however is aware of that he’s in a generational enterprise. Continuum could be his new love, however he didn’t construct it for himself – it’s for his youngsters. “Our aspirations are massive sufficient to comprise the pursuit of excellence,” he says. Ambition’s by no means run quick within the Mondavi bloodline – however, as Continuum proves, it’s backed up by not simply good instincts however the drive, grit and exhausting graft to make these desires a actuality.
The newest launch of Continuum is accessible now
– Written by Sophie Thorpe
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