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Harmonious and elegant, with cassis, black raspberry and red plum, cherry blossom, dried violet and vanilla, then graphite, tobacco and forest floor. Silky, fine-grained tannins, black pepper and chocolate-covered orange peel on a long finish.
Available in store
Close81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot, 1% Malbec
Food pairings: Filet mignon or a grilled entrecôte, herb-crusted rack of lamb or lamb chops with rosemary, slow-braised beef, game ragout, and earthy mushroom dishes such as a portobello or black truffle risotto.
Scores:
Winemaking: Every step at Opus One is held to an exacting standard, from tasting the berries in the vineyard to meticulous sorting at harvest. The 2023 was picked from September 14th to October 16th, at an even pace that kept the fruit fresh and balanced. After 22 days on the skins, the wine aged for 19 months in French oak barrels and then rested in bottle at the winery before its release, which by tradition falls on October 1st. It balances a serious structure with youthful brightness and is built for long aging.
Vineyards and terroir: The estate vineyards lie in the western part of the Oakville appellation, in the heart of the Napa Valley: two parcels within the renowned To Kalon Vineyard, plus the Ballestra and River parcels that surround the winery. They are farmed to California Certified Organic Farming standards, with regenerative practices such as cover crops, no-till methods and precise, limited irrigation, while bird boxes for songbirds, kestrels, owls and bats encourage natural pest control. Opus One was the first winery to earn both Napa Green Winery and Napa Green Vineyard certification. The 2023 season opened with abundant early rain, including a big storm just before budbreak; budbreak, bloom and veraison then followed the estate's usual timetable, and the summer stayed cool, without notable heat events.
Family and history: Opus One is the realized dream of Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Château Mouton Rothschild in Bordeaux and Napa Valley vintner Robert Mondavi. Meeting at Mouton in 1978, they settled their plan in a single hour: one exceptional Bordeaux-style blend from Napa Valley grapes, made by their French and American winemakers side by side. Lovers of the arts, they named it Opus One, since in music an opus is a masterpiece and "opus one" a composer's first work. The first vintage was 1979. Baroness Philippine de Rothschild and Robert Mondavi broke ground on the winery in 1989, and the limestone building by architect Scott Johnson of Johnson Fain, with arcades and peristyles that recall the châteaux of the Médoc, opened for the 1991 harvest. Michael Silacci, who joined in 2001 and has been the sole winemaker since 2003, made the 2023; he retires after the 2026 harvest.
In the pictures: The Opus One winery in Oakville, its limestone façade rising gently from the surrounding lawn (photo: Don Ramey Logan, 2010, CC BY-SA 3.0). The view from the winery over the estate vineyards (photo: daita saru, 2015, CC BY 2.0).
