All great wines begin with a great site. From our early days in St. Helena to our father Roberts’s establishment of his winery in Oakville, our family has recognized the importance of this; Continuum takes the next step. Continuum had to be a hillside site, on the east side of the valley with a westerly aspect. Continuum also needed the right soil; volcanic, iron rich soils to grow wines with great structure, focus and agebility. Four generations and a lifetime of experience brought us to this estate on Pritchard Hill. Our estate has the perfect combination of soils, exposure and climate to grow wine in the company of the world's finest.

Continuum Estate is located on the east side of Napa Valley high on Pritchard Hill, overlooking Oakville to the west. Low vigor red, rocky, volcanic and loam soils make this a truly magnificent hillside vineyard. The estate has two distinct soils types-Rock-Hambright loam & Sobrante loam. Both sets of soil are a mix of clay loam, fractured volcanic material and immense quantities of andesite rock. These shallow soils drain well with low to moderate fertility. Elevations range from 1325 to 1600 feet with southwest and west facing slopes. This location is the perfect site to grow rich, concentrated Cabernet family fruit.

Our estate winery was specially designed by architect Howard Backen and his team to work in harmony with this magnificent site. The winery design enables us to both protect the integrity of the fruit coming in from the vineyard and meticulously care for each individual lot, so as to further enhance the purity of the fruit and each block’s unique character.O

ll fruit is selectively hand-harvested into small lug-boxes, sorted before and after de-stemming, then gravity fed into a combination of specially designed small French oak and cement tanks, with a small amount going to French oak barrels for fermentation. Each lot enjoys a lengthy maceration time, ranging from 21-43 days. During this time, pump overs and below the cap lees stirring are enacted daily. In addition, prior to pressing, rack and return is performed 3-4 times in each fermentation tank. Post-fermentation, all lots are drained, with pomace pressed separately, to 85% new small French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation. The lees are kept in barrel with the new wine for an extended period of stirring, to enrich the body, nourish the wine and polish the tannins. The wine is clarified slowly and naturally through the use of traditional settling and racking techniques and bottled without fining or filtration. In the end, 25-30% of potential lots are declassified as they do not meet Continuum’s standard of quality. On average, each vintage will spend 19-20 months in barrel.A