2006 Continuum Proprietary Red

Continuum's 2006 Proprietary Red should continue to drink well for several more years, but it is fully mature at this point, boasting cigar box and tobacco accents to the cherry fruit. It's medium to full-bodied, rich and velvety in feel, then seems more open-knit and even woolly on the finish. Only the second vintage, it was sourced from selected blocks of Mondavi's To Kalon Vineyard, so it's very different from the later Pritchard Hill-grown wines.

Vintages 2005 through 2007 include some fruit from To Kalon, a vineyard which also supplied fruit to Robert Mondavi winery and Opus One. Tim Mondavi wanted to ensure he was doing something decidedly different to those wines. They both included Merlot, so for these vintages he chose not to use it in his Continuum wines. 100% To Kalon fruit. 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc, 16% Petit Verdot. The nose is more focused and precise than the 2005, offering a consistent backdrop of cassis sprinkled with graphite elements. Tobacco leaf appears as the wine continues to open, alongside notes of lightly cooked mushrooms. The 2005 has shown more evolution in the glass compared with the 2006, which carries abundant intensity and depth of character. A deeper-toned wine with greater concentration and density throughout the palate, as well as a lot of persistence. Abundant spice through a long finish. There is a touch of overripe fruit in the finish, as well as an abundance of spice that makes the wine feel comparatively higher in alcohol with a little heat in the finish , but there is also more consistent overall character and focus here. The tannin is fine-grained and supple, working nicely alongside persistent acidity and a pleasing texture. A lot of umami appears here throughout. (ECB)

Bright ruby-red. Very ripe but vibrant nose combines cassis, licorice pastille, violet, graphite and dark chocolate. Densely packed, sexy and sweet, with terrific depth but also a distinctly suave character to the flavors of cassis, blackberry, spicecake and sexy oak. Finishes with firm, broad, sweet tannins and excellent length and verve. This shapely, structured, harmonious wine, the new venture of Tim Mondavi, is packed with fruit.