Opus One

I know Opus One gets a bad rap, but I still want to try it given that I really love Mondavi Reserves and generally enjoy California Cabs. If one was to try a somewhat older vintage of it as I prefer some age on my cab, what vintage do you guys suggest? Thanks!

Mike,
I have not had a lot of Opus, but do remember having both a 1991 and a 1994 several years ago, and liked the 1991 a bit more, although the 1994 was quite good as well.
Don’t know the pricing of these now or what your pain point is.
I don’t buy Opus, not because it’s not a good wine, but really because I have a few others at this price point I like better.
Will be interested to see what others think.
Tom

I think that Opus One is a very good wine, especially releases beginning in the second decade of the 2000s. Pricing on recent vintages of $350+ I do feel to be absurd, but with wide distribution on a production of ~25K cases per year I’ve been successful in sourcing at retail for low-$200 +/- which feels about right.

I recently opened a 2014 which was very nice: dark fruit, balanced, elegant.

Now on the other hand, I’m seeing their second wine Ouverture everywhere at retail. This is a NV blend, that I think was once exclusive to the winery (?) Anyway, I’m not a fan: the few bottles I’ve had have all been really green, not at all enjoyable.

Opened a mag of 97 last year that was exceptional

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Mike - I don’t know that it really gets a bad rap, but it is a confusing wine.

It was a big loud project initially, and it was a costly wine for the time.

Then a lot of wines came out that were every bit as good and not as expensive. A lot of people started pooh-poohing it. And I admit, I was one.

But then I tried it one day and thought it was actually pretty decent stuff. Overlooked perhaps, but not a bad wine. At the time it was around $100, which was high, but didn’t make it particularly out of line, since a lot of other wines were hitting that price.

And now it’s over $300.

I’d never pay that.

It’s gone through some changes and I’m not sure who’s making it since Constellation got involved. Last one I had was before their involvement, which I believe was somewhere around 2005. But the earlier ones were pretty good.

That’s good to know! I’ve enjoyed a lot of 90’s Napa Cab so I’ll definitely have to try and hunt one down. Hopefully, something will turn up. Not really inclined to pay current retail.

2014 wasn’t too young?

Thanks for the note Greg. I may have been unfair calling it getting a bad rap. I think it has to do more with QPR and current prices. Hard to find any under $300 currently, but I’ll have to continue looking!

Anyone had their 2016?

Love me some Opus. I’m not buying it, but if someone’s pouring or gifting it …
Have had 94, 97, 99, and a handful of early 00s while they were young-ish. I remember blind tasting one of the off years (98 or 00) and it was thin but delicious.

I think it’s a top tier CA cab but QPR is bad. I had the 2007 Opus recently and it’s wonderful and lively. Like someone said, fair price is 200-250.

I’m with Greg on that as well. I’ll just add that QPR is in the eye of the beholder. If you love it, you will seek it out and buy it. RE: Burgundy, people go monkey shit; me included to be honest. I have a few Opus tucked away, older, waiting for a day. 300 is a lot. However I do find myself buying Dujac for similar magnitudes. Opus to someone is Dujac to me. I don’t judge.

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I had the 2007 recently which a friend shared with me over a steak dinner. Nice, but overpriced.

2014 is young, but open with an 8 hour slow ox.

Opus is fantastic with some age. I’ve had the 1994, 1996, 1997 several times over the past 24 months and put it into several blind tastings and it always delivered great results and very high scores and even though it’s a tad sweeter it was often confused with a great aged Bordeaux from a riper vintage. I just hope that the more recent vintages will age like those from the 90s and before.

I would go for the the 96, 91, 94, 95 vintages (in that order) as these vintages are ready and full of tertiary aromatics. The 97/99 are still a bit on the younger side.

Check out more recent Cellartracker scores for these vintages to see that the hype is real here:

Best Opus according to Cellartracker in the past 2 years:
2009 94.6
1991 94.5
2002 94.4
2004 94.4
2007 94.4
1996 94.3
2013 94.2
2012 94.2
2005 94.2
1987 94.1
1995 93.9
2010 93.9
1992 93.8
1997 93.8


Another hint at the greatness of these wines comes from two vertical tastings Jane Anson of Decanter (in my eyes, one of the most reliable critics) and La Revue Vins France:

Jane Anson, Sept 2019:

Scores

1979 95
1980 99

1981 91
1982 89
1983 88
1984 94
1985 97
1986 93
1987 95
1988 94
1989 91
1990 94
1991 96
1992 95

1993 92
1994 95
1995 89
1996 97
1997 100

1998 92
1999 98
2000 93
2001 98
2002 93
2003 91
2004 97
2005 96
2006 95
2007 97
2008 96

2009 93
2010 95
2011 94
2012 97
2013 100
2014 96
2015 96
2016 98

I reckon Opus is pretty successful all round. Recent vintages have been delicious - isn’t Michael Silacci still making it? - plus it’s accessible in terms of being able to buy it, whereas many top CA wines are not for us Europeans, and (wearing my ITB hat) it’s priced at a level that makes it commercially very successful. In terms of older vintages, I’m a big fan of 1991, 1987 and 1980.

RE the 2016, I had a sample sent to me at home last year:

A wine of striking finesse and elegant proportions. The aromas are decidedly ‘cool’ with floral elements, sweet French oak and fresh tobacco alongside intense blackcurrant. Lots of nuance and complexity and it keeps evolving and changing in the glass. On the palate this is absolutely seamless - the fruit is sweet, but precise, and well defined and the tannins are beautifully sculpted. There’s the freshness of a cooler year allied to impressive ripeness of fruit and a finely-spun texture. The alcohol sits completely within the framework of the wine and the finish is both lifted and pure. Bizarrely there’s something more Margaux than Mouton about this. Stunning. 97/100

Cheers,
Matthew

Thank you.

I went to an Opus organized dinner several months ago. The dinner was paired with the Ouverture, 2016 Opus and 2005 Opus. The Ouverture is decent but nothing special, and quite over-priced. The 2016 Opus has great materials but painfully young, as you might expect. Certainly did not show to me as it did to some critics. The 2005 was excellent, probably even needing a but more time. I have a couple glasses of each and we followed them over the course of the dinner. I don’t buy Opus and find it a wine whose price outstrips the pleasure it brings to me. I much prefer Dominus if we are comparing likes.

Thanks for the scores Andy! Interesting to see how high 2001 is.

There is no denying their wines are outstanding. Visited a couple years ago and had some 2007, 2013 and 2014. Afterwards, we had a 1997 with pizza of all things (great pairing). After tasting 3 previous vintages earlier in the day and the '97 being 21 years old, you could tell there was a common thread of balance and class. Pending how aged you like your wines, I’d go with something in the '97-2005 range.

FWIW, if you pulled up to the winery to purchase a bottle of their current release, you’d be spending $395 with the tax included :astonished: .