For anyone who is willing and able to spend this sort of money on wine, the 2016 vintage of Opus One is a very smart buy. That doesn't just mean the packaging (although a wooden case of Opus One is a rather lovely thing), but the brand equity involved: the history and reputation of the estate, its status as one of the world's best vineyards – in a word, the all-important prestige.Īll things considered, a wine such as Opus One, which consistently represents one of the best examples of its type and costs a fraction of the price of qualitatively commensurate wines, must be worth buying. ![]() It would be disingenuous to ignore the role that the luxury experience plays for wine at this level. And even these prices are dwarfed by Liber Pater, whose 2015 vintage has been released at the laughable price of €30,000 per bottle.įurthermore, the £300 price tag for Opus One isn't just buying you the wine. Until 1982, the wine was previously named Napamedoc when it was renamed Opus One. Even so, that is nothing compared to Opus One's Napa neighbours Harlan and Screaming Eagle, whose Cabernet Sauvignons sell for around £1,200 and £2,000 per bottle respectively. About the Winery:Opus One Winery rests in the heart of Napa in Oakville. As Jancis mentioned in her article, Penfolds recently released a new, unproven Shiraz for £850 per bottle, in bare-faced defiance of the criticism it has faced over ever-increasing prices for its top wines (The 2015 of Grange has an RRP of £591). Secondly, let's consider value and relativity. Our database contains 39 tasting notes covering 24 vintages of Opus One with a mean score of 17.5, and a mode of 18. The difference may seem marginal, but it is real, and it remains true that experiencing the truly greatest wines of the world is never cheap. Scores are important here, because it is almost unheard of for inexpensive wines to score above 17.5. I scored it 18++, and I see that Jancis was half a point ahead of me when she tasted it earlier this year (see Opus goes wild, which also reveals more about their winemaking philosophy). There is an impeccability to the fruit that sets such wines apart. It was like Pauillac in seductive soft focus: all the sun-kissed richness of Napa with all the savoury formality of Bordeaux. I tasted the newly released 2016 in Singapore in September and the impression was instant. The first is the quality of the wine itself. But surely readers of the world's best wine website are at least open to persuasion that Opus One is worth the asking price? Indeed, for the majority of British wine drinkers, anything above the average bottle price of around £6 must seem excessive. Since Jancis recently asked if wine is becoming a luxury, observing that 'it is becoming increasingly difficult to find wines of real interest under £25 a bottle', a typically well-informed and thoughtful debate has been running on our Members' forum, citing many examples of the way prices for fine wine have increased so dramatically in recent years.įor many people, £300 for a bottle of wine is absurdly expensive, offensive even. Opus One, the famous Californian Cabernet, is neither in need of greater exposure nor, at £300 per bottle, of interest to the bargain hunter. ![]() Most wines of the week are chosen with the bargain hunter in mind, bringing lesser-known bottles to the attention of those who would most appreciate them. Grapes for Opus One wines are hand-harvested and sorted, followed by long maceration periods in stainless steel tanks. The blend is generally created using 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot, which is barrel-aged in new French oak for 18 months, then bottle-aged for the same period of time before its release.If value is relative, then Opus One most definitely qualifies (as does a Sonoma Zinfandel at a somewhat lower price).įrom $299, €329.90, £296.68, SG$450 and widely available around the world. Opus One was conceived as the joint brainchild of Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild, after they first met in Hawaii back in 1970. Their vision was to combine their expertise in Old World and New World winemaking, to pioneer a blend that was greater than the sum of its parts. "Opus One wines are some of the world's most coveted. This singular mission shapes every vintage, today and for generations to come." - Opus One Together, our founders set out to create a single wine dedicated to the pursuit of uncompromising quality. "One wine of absolute quality. 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.
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