2021 Opus One Pre-Sale Offering

“Excellent wine generates enthusiasm. And whatever you do with enthusiasm is generally successful.” Baron Philippe de Rothschild, quoted in: “All American wine tastes the same … like Coca Cola.”

- Baron Philippe de Rothschild, The Essential Wine Buff, edited by Jennifer Taylor, 1996.

I can’t tell you the last time I had Coca Cola, wine and water are the two most important beverages you can put in your body.  We have a great line-up of Wine Tasting events this week at the Wine Bar and the table in the Wine Cave is available Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights this week.

We will take up to 16 people but will accept as few as 6 for a curated dinner by Chef Toni.  We must know in advance what food items you want so you will have to coordinate the menu with Toni ahead of time but she can put together any of your favorites from past Wine Bar menus or whatever you want if she has enough notice. The best thing about this table is the view of the wine, we have the largest selection of vintage wine in South Florida and everything is available at a retail price!!  You may want to bring a sweater it is 64 degrees in the wine cave.

September/October means it’s time for the fall releases and none of these are more highly anticipated than the iconic Opus and this year we are anxiously awaiting the release of the 2021 vintage as there was no 2020 Opus One produced.  This vintage looks to be exceptional in Napa Valley and you better stock up on your Napa Valley Cabernet as most producers like Opus One made no Cabernet at all in 2020 because of the fires.

Are there two men that walked the earth over the last 100 years that were more important to the wine industry as a whole?  I am talking about the two original partners in the Opus One project; Robert Mondavi and the Baron Philippe de Rothschild.

Well, it is kind of ironic that the wines from this winery are now getting the best press ever.  We have always been big fans of Opus One and have hosted several events over the years with this winery including an event that put all 26 consecutive vintages released at that time of Opus One on the table.  The 1979 showed brilliantly on that occasion as it did in 2010 when we showed it at the great wine seminar with Opus’s CEO David Pearson.  Even the French tasters, Pierre-Emanuel Taittinger, Eric Rousseau and Pierre Lurton had nice things to say about this first growth of the Napa Valley.

The newest release is here and although the wine continues to go up in price it has not slowed the demand for this iconic wine as it is sold in over 80 countries the world over and is considered to be one of the most prestigious brands in the wine business.

You can argue that there are better wines at a lower price, but there is no disputing that Opus One is the most successful wine brand created in our lifetime.  There is no other wine that has come on the scene the last 40 years that is over 30,000 cases in production and that now costs over $400 per bottle.  Opus One is the best investment you could have made in wine the last 30 years!

The Newest Release from Opus One the 2021 Vintage

2021 Opus One Napa
Price: $485.25                   Your Price: $427.02
2021 Opus One Napa (375ml)
Price: $270.00                   Your Price: $237.60
(100 points) “A classical vintage that perfectly suits the Opus style. Gorgeous vivid plum colour, sculpted, balanced, with a ton of lift, waves of rose petals, iris and peony, soft grilled cumin, sage and white pepper spice. Love the hidden power here and the supple slightly chalky tannins that are structured in their architecture with a precision and carved quality. Precise, layered and stretched out, a brilliant Opus, concentrated and yet delicate. Feels pared back and captures the spirit of early Opus, when it moved forward the conversation of what Napa could be. Michael Silacci director, 100% new oak for ageing extremely well integrated even now. (8/2024) Jane Anson

Older Vintages of Opus One on SALE!

2019 Opus One Napa MAGNUM
Price: $1159.00                Your Price: $1019.92
2019 Opus One Proprietary Red Wine Napa
Price: $480.00                   Your Price: $422.40                Quantity in Stock: 5
2019 Opus One Proprietary Red Wine Napa 375ml
Price: $245.00                   Your Price: $215.60                Quantity in Stock: 12
(99 Points) Winemaker Michael Silacci commented that usually the blends are finished in January or February after the vintage. This year, with the 2019s, he was still tweaking the blend, but he did mention that this is "pretty close to the final blend." Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2019 Opus One leaps from the glass with notes of Black Forest cake, Morello cherries, mulberries and fresh blackcurrants plus hints of licorice, wilted roses, Sichuan pepper and iron ore. Full-bodied, the palate is jam-packed with juicy black, blue and red fruits, framed by velvety tannins and background freshness, finishing on a compelling earthy/mineral note. Tasted as a barrel sample, this is a truly magnificent Opus One in the making!  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2018 Opus One Magnum Napa
Price: $1132.50                Your Price: $996.60                Quantity in Stock: 2
2018 Opus One Napa Valley
Price: $485.25                   Your Price: $427.02                Quantity in Stock: 13
2018 Opus One Napa 375ml
Price: $199.50                   Your Price: $175.56                Quantity in Stock: 2
(98 Points) Very deep garnet-purple in color, the 2018 Opus One soars out of the glass with bright, bold boysenberries, warm cassis and ripe, juicy black plums notes, plus emerging nuances of lilacs, oolong tea, cinnamon stick, tilled soil and black truffles. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is packed with tightly wound layers of crunchy black fruits, supported by firm, grainy tannins and fantastic freshness, finishing with lifted fruitiness and on a lingering mineral note.  Wine Advocate

2017 Opus One Proprietary Red Wine Napa
Price: $500.00                   Sale Price: $405.00                Quantity in Stock: 1
(95 Points) Opus One had picked 91% of their fruit before the fires started in 2017, and only two lots were eliminated from consideration. The 2017 Opus One, bottled in July 2019, is a blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8.5% Petit Verdot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 4.5% Merlot and 1% Malbec. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it slowly grows on the nose, revealing compelling notes of baked black cherries, mulberries, black raspberries, warm cassis and blackberry pie with nuances of spice cake, yeast extract, tapenade, licorice and dusty soil with a waft of wild sage. Medium-bodied, the palate has a lively skip in its step, featuring bags of juicy raspberry and cassis-laced fruit and a refreshing line, supported by ripe, plush tannins, finishing long and graceful.  Wine Advocate

2003 Opus One Napa
Price: $595.00                   Sale Price: $475.00                Quantity in Stock: 1
(94 points) This blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Merlot and Malbec aged 17 months in French oak is a strong effort offering creme de cassis, cedarwood, white chocolate and spice box. It possesses a Bordeaux-like personality, as one might expect since Opus One is owned by Baroness Philippe de Rothschild and the winemaking team comes primarily from Pauillac. The significant tannin in the wine provides a slight austerity, but this is a full-bodied, rich effort that marks the beginning of a period when Opus One finally began to live up to the enormous potential first announced in the late 1970s by the late Baron Philippe de Rothschild and the late Robert Mondavi. Although accessible now, the 2003 will benefit from another 4-5 years of cellaring and should keep for two decades. (RP)  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2002 Opus One Napa (6 Liter)
Price: $6500.00                Sale Price: $5100.00                Quantity in Stock: 1
(89 points) An improvement over recent vintages, the 2002 Opus One boasts a dense ruby/purple color as well as an attractive bouquet of damp earth, cassis, licorice, and spice box. Medium-bodied with noticeable, but supple tannin, excellent purity, and a moderately long finish, it is excellent, possibly outstanding, but remains significantly over-priced vis a vis the finest wines in this price range. It will last for 10-15 years. Wine Advocate # 162 Dec 2005

1981 Opus One, Napa Valley
Price: $725.00                   Sale Price: $600.00                Quantity in Stock: 5
Winemaker Notes: 1981 marked one of the earliest harvests in Napa Valley history.A very mild winter with lower-than-average rainfall gave way to early bud break and hot weather in June. The 1981 Opus One is lean, elegant, and quite long-lived.

1980 Opus One, Napa Valley
Price: $1500.00                                Sale Price: $1050.00                Quantity in Stock: 3
(99 points) "This wine was stunning when I tried it in June 2018, and delivers again here. Just a wonderful nuanced wine rippling with flavour. Richer and more layered than the 1979, with dense black cherry and black truffle, finishing on softer forest floor notes. Opened up and kept surprising over hours in the glass. No Merlot in this vintage. One of the coolest growing seasons on record, long and slow with two weeks of hot weather just before harvest that brought the grapes to perfect ripeness. Just 10 days skin contact during the winemaking, but still inky in colour and still going strong almost 40 years on." Vinous

1979 Opus One, Napa Valley
Price: $2350.00                Sale Price: $1950.00                Quantity in Stock: 1
This is the first release of this iconic wine. 

Opus One Overture, Napa Valley
Price: $220.00                   Your Price: $193.60
Overture is the second wine of Opus One, it is made from lots not used in the final Opus blend. It is a non-vintage wine, softer and rounder upon release. Overture will be available for both on and off premise accounts.

A bit more about Opus One:

Over the span of a little more than three decades Opus One has become the most renowned name in American wine.  The ride to the top has never been easy for the folks behind Opus One.  From its conception as an idea created by the late Robert Mondavi and the late Baron de Rothschild, Opus One has been enveloped in controversy.  The ambitious price of the first release, the doubting critics, the cynical consumers, and the overworked hype that has surrounded the wine from the beginning have all fueled the debate about its real quality.  However, the new century has ushered in a new era for Opus One - this great winery's place in the future scheme of things has now been accepted and the quality niche it has carved for itself is no longer being questioned by the wine community.  Opus One has proven itself beyond a doubt - it has, does, and you know you have made it in the world of elite wines when your peers from Bordeaux refer to you as one of the "First Growths" of Napa Valley.

The seeds for Opus were sown as far back as 1970 when Baron Rothschild visited California and made the oft-quoted statement "California wines are like Coca-Cola - they all taste the same."  By 1975 the revered Baron, the dynamo who revolutionized Bordeaux and brought great fame to his beloved Château Mouton, apparently had a change of heart.  He and Robert Mondavi met that year in Hawaii to discuss future possibilities.  Four years later in 1979 the good Baron announced a joint venture with his American counterpart, Robert Mondavi, to produce a Franco-American wine in the Napa Valley.  Conceived to utilize French vinification techniques and traditional Bordeaux grape varieties, the wine would be grown and produced in California; the winemaking decisions would be made jointly by Robert Mondavi's winemaker, Tim Mondavi, and his counterpart at Château Mouton, Lucien Sionneau (Sionneau, now retired, was replaced by Patrick Léon).  The first vintage for Opus One was harvested in 1979, but it was not until October 1983 that a name for the wine was announced.  Hundreds of choices were considered; but it was the Baron, a great patron of the arts and a lover of music, who suggested the name so closely associated with the art of music.  When the name was revealed, Baron Philippe said in an interview: "A bottle of wine is a symphony to me".  A full two years earlier excitement about the first release of this historic venture reached a crescendo at the first Napa Valley Wine Auction in the summer of 1981.  A barrel of the 1979 vintage came up for sale.  Nobody but the winemakers and the inner circle of Mondavi's staff had even tasted the wine, yet the bidding was furious for the first case from the first barrel.  In less than three minutes the gavel slammed on the winning bid of $24,000 from Charles Mara of Syracuse, New York.  The purchase price set an auction record - $2000 a bottle for California wine.

In the beginning, the grapes for Opus One came from Mondavi's best and most famous piece of vineyard real estate, the To-Kalon Ranch, 100 acres of which (known as the "Q Block") were sold to the joint venture by the Mondavi family after the partnership was formed in 1979.  In 1983 Opus One began planting on a site across Highway 29 from the Robert Mondavi Winery; it was to be called the River Parcel and is north of the present winery.  Two years later the Ballestra Vineyard was planted on what is now the south side of the winery.  In the ensuing years phylloxera struck and completely devastated the first two vineyards (now replanted).  Only Ballestra, which was planted on resistant rootstock at the specific instruction of Mouton's technical director, Patrick Léon, survived the epidemic unscathed.  The winery follows a gravity flow design that put most of the vast edifice underground, covering it with an earthen berm that rises, pyramid-like, from the flat vineyard plain of Oakville which surrounds the site.  No expense was spared to build the Opus One winery.  According to Robert Mondavi, "We stopped at nothing to buy the finest equipment in order to produce the kind of wine we wanted...We looked at the finest materials in the world.  We didn't look at price; we picked what we wanted...we felt this was being built, not for the next 10 or 15 years, but for the next couple of hundred years."  Construction of the winery was not without its obstacles.  The cellar had to be waterproofed, insulated, and cooled using a costly radiant system based on miles of pipes in the cellar's floor and ceiling that circulate 45 F water, cooling the air to 55 F.  Those measures, plus the cost overruns that often are associated with high profile construction projects, caused the Opus One winery budget to balloon.  From initial concept to completion, the project took seven years to finish.  When the doors opened in 1991, winery officials conceded that Opus, budgeted between $10 and $13 million, had cost a staggering $26 million!

The first two vintages of Opus One - 1979 and 1980 - were released together in the spring of 1984.  The wines were controversial in that not all felt they were of outstanding quality.  However, most observers now believe that recent vintages have been at the very top echelon of reds produced in California.  The wines have also become serious collectibles.  The 1985 - one of the top vintages of the 1980's - now commands $400 to $650 a bottle.  A bit high for a bottle of California wine, but that seem small in comparison to the 1979 (the first vintage, hardly drinkable at this point) this wine is selling for around $2000- a true trophy wine.