February 7, 2024 - Opened as part of a massive Macdonald tasting with Alex Macdonald in town. This was the first vintage Continuum was all estate (Sage Mountain/Pritchard Hill), and not include any sourced To-Kalon fruit.
Oddly enough, I can’t give this a score. It seemed a little muted at times (maybe low trace of TCA?), although the one time I got aromatics from it, it was as expected. I think I may have one more…I hope I do.
Gave this a two-hour bottle decant before diving in. Great color…red, purple, black tinges. Muted nose. Palate was better…spiced dark fruits, sweet espresso, graphite. Tannic. This came across one dimensional (which is not something I ever get with Continuum). Chalking this up as a one-off and expecting the next bottle to be its normal tasty profile.
November 18, 2023 - PnP. Very thick, deep wine. More CDP like with olives, maple syrup, and chocolate. Massive finish. Not at all like I was expecting. Not my style.
November 11, 2023 - Excellent with our steak dinner. Bold but not harsh. Drink now or hold.
September 29, 2023 - Pnp. Nice wine. Elegant. Improved with air but didn't really need much. In a good place but definitely no hurry
September 22, 2023 - Drank over 3 days.
Deep purple-ruby color.
On open showing red fruit, oak, licorice, baking spice, cassis, and tobacco. Very powerful, big bodied wine on first opening and definitely needed time to mellow out. By day 3 the wine was drinking very nicely. Grippy tannins with medium to high acidity. Alcohol was pretty noticeable at first open but became well integrated over time like everything else.
Overall very enjoyable wine once it had time to settle down.
August 6, 2023 - Drank with simple Italian antipasti. Incredibly balanced and smooth with a hint of vanilla. Excellent wine. Will be good for many years
January 20, 2023 - Developing nicely. I’ve always loved these wines, feels so well made and quality. On this 2012, Might have been a touch too much sweetness and vanilla/oak showing for my liking but a delicious wine nonetheless.
October 28, 2022 - Wonderful smooth and fully developed cab. More finesse than power a great wine with a meal.
July 1, 2022 - First of my ‘12’s to open. Decanted for one hour. First sip was a light and muted taste profile . Over the next two hours the depth of this wine emerged. Black and blue fruit with some notes of prune, cocoa and violet played with mushroom & forest floor, surrounded by cigar box and held together with nice tannin. I can see this wine still evolving over the next decade.
May 22, 2022 - Quick decant and consumed over 2 hours. First sip had a bit of hot alcohol which quickly dissipated. Sweet plum and blackberry followed by creosote notes. Very fine grained and smooth tannins. Long finish.