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OPUS ONE
Opus One is a partnership between Robert Mondavi,
the infamous Napa Valley winemaker, and Baroness
Philippine de Rothschild, proprietress of Chateau
Mouton Rothschild. Based in Oakville, California,
Opus One produces an exclusive, proprietary,
Bordeaux style blend.
With their first harvest in
1979, the concept of Opus One was borne when Baron
Phillipe de Rothschild and Robert Mondavi first
met in Hawaii in 1970 but the wheels were not put
into motion until 1978 when Mondavi made a visit
to Bordeaux. The name Opus One derives from the
partners’ desire to have a brand which had a Latin
name but was internationally recognisable – the
Latin Opus (a musical term meaning work) was
selected initially and the number One added a few
days later.
At Opus, only 'one' wine is made. All
of the grapes are hand sorted and each tank can be
dedicated to a single lot of grapes, the tanks
being raised so the free run wine can run into new
French oak barrels for ageing. Press wine is also
aged in barrels, which provides backbone to the
final blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot,
Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. Of the
2005, Robert Parker has commented, "the palate is
wonderfully concentrated with layers of macerated
blackberry,
cloves, vanilla and dark chocolate,"
and awarded the wine 95 points.
Top Opus One vintages produced
1993, 1995, 1996, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
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