The 2014 Opus One exudes subtle aromes of fragrant florals, fresh garden herbs and forest floor that give way to a concentrated blend of red cherry, blackberry, and black currant. Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec. The tannins are firm and gripping, standing out a bit from the core texture. Rich and creamy, intense and layered, featuring a mix of blackberry, licorice, mocha, cedar and tobacco flavors, with a touch of gravelly earth. It's quite a serious, savoury Opus which will need a few years in the cellar to unwind. On the palate the wine is youthfully taut, with a good line of acidity and fine but assertive tannins. (Antonio Galloni)Ī cool bouquet of fruit compote and wild plum mingles with notes of clove, incense and lilac. In short, the 2014 is a wine of tension, power and grace. The 2014 is not an obvious Opus One, like the 2010, 2012 or 2013, but over time, I will not be surprised if it challenges or even surpasses some of those vintages. A sleeper wine for the year, the 2014 is shaping up to be a gorgeous wine that will handsomely repay several decades of cellaring. The tannins are firm but also impeccably balanced. Savory, tightly wound and intensely aromatic, the 2014 is going to need time to unwind, but it looks like it will develop along the more classic vintages here. The 2014 Opus One has turned out to be a gorgeous wine. Exquisite tension and finesse with an almost Burgundian texture, yet it's Napa in its soul with ripe fruit, stones, spices and Chinese tea leaf flavors. This wine represents Opus One at its best: Balanced with satiny tannins and fresh acidity, providing a strong foundation for flavors of black currant, mocha, and licorice it is the epitome of Napa Valley's powerful terroir.Mesmerizing aromas of flowers, bark, currants and blackberries. Robert Parker calls it not only “one of the great wines of Napa,” but “the pinnacle of French viticultural knowledge combined with that of California and Napa’s Shangri La-like microclimate.” Grown on the estate’s four vineyard plots-the Ballestra and River Parcels, which flank the winery, as well as To Kalon North and South across Highway 29-the Left Bank-style blend is one of the most coveted, envied, and emulated wines on the planet. Since its first vintage in 1979, Opus One has become the red wine that represents California to the world. And finally, it would be different and unique. Second, it would reflect the partnership between the Mondavi and Rothschild families. The two luminaries struck a partnership eight years later, and agreed on a simple three-point philosophy: First, Opus One would be a classic Bordeaux-style wine. When he met Robert Mondavi in 1970, Baron Philippe knew he had his man. The Opus One story began when Baron Philippe de Rothschild (of Bordeaux First Growth Mouton Rothschild) conceived of a Bordeaux-Napa Valley project. James Suckling put it simply in his review: "One of the best Opus' in years." We’re thrilled to announce that our visit yielded the kind of allocation that normally only comes at auction: Rare bottles of the 2012 Opus One, direct from the winery cellars and shipping with perfect provenance. Everyone in the company headed north on Silverado Trail to the Oakville AVA, to make our first official visit to the pristine winery that brought First Growth Bordeaux and the best of Napa Valley together: Opus One. So on a beautiful August day, the Wine Access offices in the town of Napa emptied. But realistically, we’d been looking forward to it for years. Technically, we’d had the appointment for about a month.
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