There is a To Kalon Wine Company. They have a website. I forgot what is happening with Schrader.
Continuum vs Mondavi Reserve…I was supposed to go to Continuum around 19 March…For some reason that visit did not take place.
A tip: sometimes, esp during bad economic times, lots of wine from the To Kalon Vineyard end up in the Mondavi Oakville Cab…that can be a real bargain.
This is a pretty fair article. Any comments??
Interesting article and yeah, it didn’t really take sides in an obvious manner. This was interesting:
“Some of these trademarks were registered by the Vineyard House, and some by To Kalon Stock Farm, an equestrian center in Florida that Nickel owns.”
He named his horse farm To Kalon?
Seems hard to justify his assertions. If it is a place, then what it was originally shouldn’t really matter, should it? It should be what was purchased with that name, not what it may have been intended to be at one time. So if Mondavi owned it and they owned and trademarked the name, I always thought that should be the end of it. They came ot some agreement with Beckstoffer, so that’s OK but it seems pretty strange to me that everyone would care what Crabb may or may not have had at one time since that was not what was trademarked by Mondavi.
Oh yeah, and that Oakville used to be a pretty solid value.
I dunno.
Cellar Tracker seems to think that they are two distinct wines [although maybe it’s a bookkeeping error at Cellar Tracker?].
There is one hit at free Wine Searcher, for a 2007 “Premiere” at TCWC.
PS: Cellar Tracker also lists the Continuum Olive Oil.
rather than Reserve? Interesting.
Its got to be out of a Napa Valley Premiere lot. Ive been drinking Continuum for years as well as the more recent addition Novicuum . It has always been a great wine and Ive enjoyed everyone. Lately they have been upping the CF on it and upping the CS on the Novicuum. When I was up at the estate last year I preferred the Noviccum though they have upped the price in addition to the CS % too
I have found Mondavi to be pretty much immune to the Constellstion takeover in quality from Napa Cab and Fume, up thru Oakville and Reserve Cabernet, mainly due to consistency of winemaker Genevieve Janssens.
+1 on Oakville being a bargain. I buy it every year.
Larry,
If you and I hung out together would people say, There go Mel and Chmel???
Well if the Premiere is a blend, then it can’t have come from a single barrel.
Maybe they bleed off some juice from the best barrel of each varietal, and then blend those “best samples” for the auction?
It’s a small lot of a special bottling they make for the Napa Valley Premiere auction they make each year. It’s well past your budget, very limited and you can’t taste wine anyway. Don’t worry about. It’s not your problem
I got into wine in the mid-90s, and in those first few years my father opened several bottles of late 70s and early 80s PR from his cellar. The 1979 in particular was magnificent. In those early days, I was also a dedicated follower of RMP and while that had its good points, it proved rather a mistake when it came to Mondavi. I never even gave new vintages a chance based on reviews.
Then, by happy chance, I had a bottle of the 2015 at my birthday Cab tasting a couple of years ago right before the wine was generally released. It was utterly magnificent. Not a blockbuster, not the big oaky fruitbomb that is so popular now. But a classic beauty with an incredible up front appeal plus the stuffing to go long term.
And I put my money where my mouth is on this one, it is one of a very small number of wines where I own more than a case. Here is my TN which best tells the tale,
7/15/2018 - I like this wine: NR (Edit)
Double decanted 6 hours prior to serving
deep purple color, cassis and plums on the nose, classic and refined, lovely herbal notes, on the palate sheer magnificence, a pristine and elegant young Cabernet Sauvignon, rich with the ripeness of 2015 on the mid-palate in an array of pure red fruits, long mineral-laden finish, right on the edge of being too ripe but never does it cross that line, tannins evident and the structure continued to build over the course of two hours but never once did it lose its beautiful and forward primary presence that was all the more breathtaking for being classically restrained and in perfect harmony, this is California Cabernet at its greatest and a wine that seems as though it may be enjoyable for its entire life, though I plan to lock mine away for a few years since history clearly suggests what great things are yet to come.
(***), 2025-2045.
I confirm that 2001 is amazing, one of a top wines I have ever had.
I think Continuum has much higher price tag, probably twice, so it is not a peer
The comment was about what wine would better show a continuity of style with the old Mondavi Reserve wines. Gallo Hearty Burgundy is even cheaper, but I would not recommend it to a person who is a fan of old Mondavi Reserves.
Similarly, if someone told me they liked the Sterling Cabs from the early 1970s, I would not tell them to try a more modern Sterling Cab (although I admit I have not tasted one in years). My recommendation would be to try a Forman Cabernet.
I haven’t had any Continuum but I had 1995 and 2001 Mondavi Reserve and I found similiar style. Under Constelation at least the sources for blend of Reserve should be pretty the same ( To Kalon, Hyde in Carneros) like under Robert’s reign. Continuum has completly different terroir on Pritchard Hill than in the heart of Oakville so even grapes (raw material) should allow to produce wine with different characteristics.
Of course winemaking is another thing.
I have been working with Mondavi since 1980 when I first sold them barrels. I am retired now but I still do some consulting for one of the cooperages that supplies barrels for them.
In 2000 I oversaw a group of French coopers who built 56 oak tanks for the To Kalon Room.
2001 was the first year all the oak tanks were fully used and I am glad to hear the 2001 was such a great success. The oldest I have is 2003. Switching from stainless steel fermentation to oak tanks is probably one of the biggest changes they have made. Same fruit, somewhat the same barrels and winemaking philosophy for many many years.
As I recall,the first Continuum wines had some To Kalon fruit in them. It would make for good marketing if they kept selling grapes to Tim, but I don’t think that is happening.
Has anybody drunk the '98s lately??
For the reasons already mentioned, I haven’t had a Mondavi Reserve younger than 95 (which is awesome and currently drinking brilliantly). Ditto BV et al.
A question for the panel: Does anyone know something about the 1991 Silver Anniversary cab? I was offered it in large format recently, and am intrigued – such a great year! – but can’t find out anything about it.
Never tried the Continuum, thinking it was going to be as bad as Emblem. I guess not. Haven’t had the 98 but I do remember buying a few cases of various 98s with my father in law. It was widely disparaged as a bad vintage and some people couldn’t get rid of their wine so they discounted it. My guess is that the Mondavi was probably pretty decent.
Greg the continuum is nothing like emblem the latter being undrinkable in my opinion. As noted by others there really is no comparison between continuum which is basically a Cabernet sauv and Cab Franc blend of fruit from the top of Pritchard Hill and Mondavi Reserve which is mostly To Kalon. It is truly a wonderful wine made by Tim Mondavi in homage to his father. I’ve had dozens of bottles. As noted by Mel the 05 would be a special one to drink. I have not had it but from what I understand that first vintage was all To Kalon fruit.