99% Sauvignon Blanc, 1% Semillon, No one did more for the Sauvignon Blanc grape in California than the Mondavi family. It was Robert who, after tasting a delightful steely version of Sauvignon in Pouilly-sur-Loire who rearranged the local term Blanc Fume by calling his version Fume Blanc. The rest is, as they say, marketing history and the Fume Blanc started a trend towards making dry Sauvignon Blancs and we’ve never gone back! So it figures, I guess, that since it was really Robert’s son Tim who most authentically carried on the Mondavi legacy at his Continuum winery on Pritchard Hill, it would be Tim’s eldest daughter Chiara who would carry Fume Blanc towards its next iteration. Chiara, the talented artist behind the wonderful Continuum label, is a real chip off the Mondavi block sharing dad Tim’s incredible passion and intensity for whatever they do. Having known her since she was a child (back in my own Mondavi days) I knew that whatever she turned her attention to would be done well. She has kept her business a Mondavi affair, partnering with several of her siblings to create Sentium, a next-next-next-generation Mendocino County-based Sauvignon Blanc project that truly captures the potential elegance of this grape in that diverse, very Sauvignon-friendly climate. Made as sort of hybrid of the Graves Blanc style and traditional California, the grapes, sourced from several like-minded sites in Mendo, are fermented in small lots in concrete, neutral French oak and stainless. The lees is gently stirred during the fermentation to add weight and depth to the finished wine which ages ten months on those lees before bottling. We’ve always had a soft spot for Mendocino Sauv Blancs like Navarro’s and Husch’s but this is a wine with much more gravitas and elegance than either of those. Enormously complex and nuanced, there’s a coastal sort of salinity to its vibrant citrus and floral notes with peach pit, lemon verbena, lantana and other fresh green notes. The wood only serves to add texture to a wine that carries itself with remarkable elegance and finesse. This special wine deserves to be paired with your most elegant fish and poultry dishes, a Coquilles Saint Jacques or a smoked trout-herb salad. Drink now or keep.