Winemaker Notes
Blend: 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc,7% Petit Verdot, 5% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A remarkable effort, offering riveting, expressive aromas of mocha, currant, mineral, herb, black licorice, tar and pebble, this is intense, structured, balanced, nuanced and firm, finishing with a gutsy richness and sophistication. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Merlot. Best from 2013 through 2023.
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James Suckling
Sweet plums and raspberries. Forest floor character. Full body, with firm and silky tannins and a bright finish of dark fruits and citrus. Racy and refined. Dense and balanced. Closed still. Excellent potential from Tim Mondavi.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2008 Proprietary Red is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot and 5% Merlot, and 71% of the fruit this year came from the Continuum estate on Pritchard Hill. It has a deep garnet-brick color and reveals an earthy, spice box, bouquet garni and fruitcake-scented nose with wafts of balsamic, prunes and iron ore. Full-bodied with a good core of dried berries and mineral sparks in the mouth, it has a firm, chewy texture and finishes a little rustic.
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Wine Enthusiast
A Bordeaux blend, based on Cabernet Sauvignon. It's very rich and ripe, a wine that will appeal to fans of the modern California style for its voluptuous berry, cherry, cassis, spice and cedar flavors. The tannins are soft and gentle. Delicious and complex, if not quite up to the 2007. Give it a good, long decant
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.