This spring, alcohol beverage conglomerate Constellation Brands, which owns Napa’s famed Robert Mondavi Winery, unveiled an ambitious, $200 million transformation of the 50-year-old winery.
Just ten miles away, the Mondavi family was quietly putting the finishing touches on its own, albeit more humble, reveal.
The new Estate House at Continuum Estate, the Napa winery founded in 2005 by Robert Mondavi and several of his children and grandchildren, opened this summer. (Though without the pageantry of Robert Mondavi Winery, which hired John Legend to perform at its grand opening party.) Continuum is the Mondavi family’s first endeavor for which it grows, produces and bottles everything from its estate, which Tim Mondavi, Continuum’s co-founder and Robert Mondavi’s son, called the “the highest pursuit.” Set steps from Continuum’s vines on Napa’s illustrious Pritchard Hill, widely considered the region’s crown jewel of Cabernet Sauvignon production, the 5,000-square-foot tasting space represents the final step in the family’s two-decade journey of reinstating its place in the fine wine world.
“The vines are right there,” Tim Mondavi, 75, said. “We want people to feel the vineyard. Feel the land. See the Bay, the key to our climate, to the freshness and vibrancy (in our wines).”…