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TECHNICAL REVIEW 2 0 1 4E M N I FI IN G WIN U AK ED Mondavis Start Over at Continuum Estate Siblings Tim Mondavi and Marcia Mondavi Borger use new hilltop winery for 2013 crush By Paul Franson Architect Howard Backen designed Continuum Estate, which is finished in earth tones with olive and Manzanita trees framing the entrance. T he paint is hardly dry at Continuum Estate winery, the latest chapter in the continuing saga of the Mondavi winemaking family. The new Napa Valley facility built by siblings Tim Mondavi and Marcia Mondavi Borger maintains a thread that goes back through their father's Robert Mondavi Winery, founded in 1966, to Charles Krug Winery, owned by their grandparents Cesare and Rosa, before that to grape and wine businesses in Lodi and Fresno, Calif., and eventually back to La Marche, Italy. Tim and Marcia started the Continuum business in 2005 using proceeds from the sale of the Robert Mondavi Winery to Constellation Brands. They made wine with grapes from the Mondavi To Kalon Vineyard in leased space until this year. With all that tradition and 40 harvests behind him, it's not surprising that Tim had 58 W in e s & V i ne s january 20 14 strong ideas about the striking new winery, which combines traditional concepts (some newly rediscovered like large oak and concrete fermentation vats and a basket press) with the latest in technology for monitoring and control. Perhaps even more significantly, the Continuum winery also implements advanced ideas in sustainable winemaking just now being researched and perfected at the University of California, Davis, by professor Roger Boulton, department head David Block and many others. Visitors hardly notice the winery surrounded by vineyards having southern and western exposures when they first arrive on the crest of Pritchard Hill overlooking Napa Valley. "We're sitting on top of the world," Tim Mondavi told Wines & Vines. Conditions vary widely on the mountain site, however. The 62 acres of vines on the 173-acre property are divided into 37 blocks. The vines are 55% Cabernet Highlights • he new Continuum Estate winery T facility in Napa Valley reflects its surrounding vineyard. • t combines a hilltop vineyard, I Tim Mondavi's 40 years of experience with state-of-the-art technology and sustainable practices. • he winery incorporates many ideas T from the enology department at the University of California, Davis, and its research into sustainability.