Opus One 2015

Opus One was founded by Baron Philippe de Rothschild, legendary proprietor of Château Mouton Rothschild, and renowned Napa Valley vintner Robert Mondavi. By combining the great winemaking traditions and innovations of both families, the founders’ singular goal was to create an exceptional wine in the heart of Napa Valley.

Opus One, like any great work, arose out of passion. Dedicated to uncompromised quality, Opus One’s sole purpose is to express this vision and passionate spirit for generations to come.

"This wine was too much—too much like a caricature for me,” winemaker Michael Silacci confessed to me while tasting the 2015 Opus One together again recently. “So, when we took it out of barrel to prepare for bottling we added a few more components.” Medium to deep garnet-purple color, it bursts from the glass with beautiful violets, lavender, rose hip tea and chocolate-covered cherries scents over a core of crushed blackberries, black cherries, cassis and iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is wonderfully bright and crunchy, with bags of fresh black and red berries and a wonderfully plush, finely grained texture, finishing long and fragrant.

Call it a hat trick: Opus One knocks it out of the park with three excellent, if very different, takes on the the last string of vintages: 2015, 2016 and 2017. Already previously reviewed as a barrel sample, the 2015 was a show-stopper from barrel and is equally impressive in bottle. The last of the "drought" years and a rather warm one at that, the resolute nature of these impeccably tended Oakville vines is apparent in the complex layers, beautiful freshness and rock-solid frame of this wine. 2016 is the vintage winemakers can't remember because it was so uneventful. "We had plenty of rain in the early part of the year," commented Opus One winemaker Michael Silacci, "followed by an early budbreak. We were able to pick fairly regularly with an even flow in the cellar." The more 2016s I taste, the harder it is to fault this decadent, rich, blue and black-fruited vintage. 2017 was, of course, another vintage story altogether and one that I will cover comprehensively in my full Napa report at the end of October. It was a year that started with a deluge, got blasted with heat during Labor Day weekend and then suffered the most devastating wildfires this area has seen just at the tail end of harvest. After all is said and done, I only judge what's in the glass, and what I've tasted so far (admittedly from some of the very best wineries in the Valley) is not too shabby at all. Readers can generally expect elegant, refreshing, medium-bodied wines—like this 2017 Opus One—with pretty perfumes, red fruit signatures and subtle dried herbs in the background. Tannins generally aren't as plush and ripe as in previous vintages, but it's nothing that judicious extractions can't manage. Smoke taint? I certainly didn't pick up any in this Opus One sample, although Opus One had nearly finished harvest (90%) by the first night of the fires." - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Advocate (10/31/2019), Ratings: 97, Drink: 2021-2040