Opus One is the realized dream of two men: Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Chateau Mouton Rothschild in Bordeaux and Napa Valley vintner Robert Mondavi. Together, our founders set out to create a single wine dedicated to the pursuit of uncompromising quality. This singular mission shapes every vintage, today and for generations to come.
Climate
After a warm and dry winter, generous rains returned in March just in time for bud-break and provided the water needed for the rest of the year. Mother Nature continued to favor the vintagenwith a superb growing season characterized by moderate temperatures and bountiful sunshine resulting in one of the valley’s most exceptional vintages. At harvest, the fruit exhibited the classic style of our Oakville estate vineyards with incredible depth of flavor, layers of complexity and excellent structure. Picking started on September 21st at the fresh fruit stage of ripeness to keep flavors bright and lively. Through careful and precise management of the incoming fruit, harvest continued evenly until it was completed on October 20th.
Winemaking
Manual harvest. 18 days of skin contact. Each vat is dedicated to a single batch of grapes. Run-off by gravity. Aged for 17.5 months in French oak barrels. 1.5 years of bottle ageing before release.
Tasting notes
The wine effuses dark fruit aromas accentuated by subtler notes of forest-floor and graphite. The wine’s round mouthfeel and satiny tannins wrap around classic flavors of cassis, blackberry and black cherry. This refined and age-worthy wine offers lively acidity and a sturdy structure with a long lingering finish.