By JOHN KLINE
THE GOSHEN NEWS
ELKHART — Traveling in style has taken on a whole new meaning with the recent announcement of a partnership between Elkhart’s Damon Motor Coach and the Napa Valley winery Continuum Estate.
Established in 2005 by Tim Mondavi and his sister Marcia, the single wine Continuum brand was birthed from a long line of quality wine producers and has quickly grown to be included among the finest wines in Napa Valley.
According to Burke Owens, media representative for Continuum, the winery is currently in the process of releasing its third vintage — 2007 Continuum — to the public, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot "which combines exotic aromas with generous color and depth," he said.
However, Owens noted that the traditional way of getting their product samples out into the marketplace — air travel — has recently fallen out of fashion due to the industry’s ever changing guidelines and increases in fees and restrictions.
"Flying has just become more trouble than it’s worth," Owens said.
Thus enters Damon Motor Coach and the introduction of its new 2010 Avanti 2806 motor home.
"Well the original idea for the partnership came from Tim’s eldest son, Carlo, who wanted to make use of another means of transportation to get into the market," Owens said. "At least once or twice a year we need to go out into different markets that require some traveling, and typically what you’d need to do is fly a lot.
"Carlo doesn’t like to fly, however, so he started thinking of alternate routes he might take, and he came up with the idea of working with a recreational vehicle company to create a movable wine salon."
And according to Owens, Damon’s Avanti was the perfect choice, and Carlo quickly made arrangements to have one of the new Avanti models retrofitted into a "wine tasting salon on wheels" that has since been christened the Continuum Grand Cru-zer.
"The upscale interior design of this new Avanti provides the perfect ambience to relax, unwind and enjoy a glass of Continuum," Carlo said in a recent press release. "Great wine is about all the elements coming together like this. It’s bringing a small piece of Napa Valley on the road."
Matt Thompson, Damon Motor Coach vice president and general manager, was quick to agree, noting that teaming up with a well established winery such as Continuum to help promote the new luxury RV seemed like a no-brainer.
"Teaming up with Continuum Wines to launch our new Avanti powered by Cummins is a perfect match," Thompson said in the release. "The beautiful styling and sleek design wraps around the all new Freightliner MC-L chassis powered by Cummins. The new power plant provides a much smoother and unbelievably quiet ride. At 28 feet, this new 2806 model provides as much counter space and interior storage as most 40-foot diesel pushers. It is pure luxury on wheels."
Since first venturing out on the road in late March of this year, Owens said the Continuum Grand Cru-zer has already generated so much interest and enthusiasm that the winery’s 2007 vintage is now completely sold out.
"Everyone is fascinated with the idea of the cru-zer," Owens said. "Sometimes we’d have 40 or 50 people in and around the cru-zer at any given time, so it was a huge success to be able to work with Damon on this project."
Not to worry, Owens said Carlo and his brother Dante are already hard at work promoting sales of the winery’s upcoming 2008 vintage to be released next spring.
Future stops for the Mondavi brothers will include a visit to Rancho Palas Verdes, Calif., for the upcoming Trump Golf Wine and Food Festival, while in August the pair will visit Portland, Seattle and the greater Northwest before hitting the Las Vegas strip in mid-September.
