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Tasting Notes
The 2018 Opus One is an incredible wine – vibrant and concentrated, pure and focused, and beautifully balanced. The nose is full of precise pure dark berry fruit, earthy spice – cardamom and cloves, with a fresh, herbaceous note reminiscent of rosemary. The palate is beautifully constructed with layers of the finest tannins providing a textural framework for the wash of soft, sweet fruit – with a bright cherry edge to the core of crunchy blackcurrant. Long, pure and effortlessly fresh. A blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot, 5% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Malbec, this wears its oak – 17 months in 100% new French barrels – incredibly lightly. The finish lasts forever. First class.
Critic Scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Extremely perfumed and floral with lavender, lilacs and violets to the sweet, ripe berries, such as blackberries and blackcurrants. Some slate and graphite, too. It's full-bodied, yet ever so balanced and refined, with super fine tannins that last for minutes. Fresh herbs, such as bay leaf and lemon grass highlight the dark fruit. The quality of tannin is exquisite with wonderful polish and refinement. Lasts for minutes. So wonderful to taste now, but better after 2026.
Deep, lustrous crimson - with a pale rim! Nose of warmth and ripeness but not heaviness. As though from a ripe Bordeaux vintage but then the tannins are so much riper than on most red bordeaux. Tangy freshness on the finish - one can only guess at the number of sessions in the tasting room that went into this blend! (Interesting to see more Petit Verdot than Merlot or Cabernet Franc.) Some delicacy, which I'm sure was the aim. Quite bordelais but so much more accessible. With impressive persistence. Neat, minerally and fine-boned.
The 2018 Opus One is a blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot, and the rest Merlot and Cabernet Franc. This deep purple-hued effort leans to lively, fresher side of the vintage but has a brilliant, utterly classic style in its crème de cassis and blue-tinged fruit as well as notes of lead pencil, candied violets, damp earth, and chocolate-like nuances. With a Pomerol-like elegance and purity, it's medium to full-bodied and has wonderful tannins, flawless balance, and a great finish. It plays in the finesse-driven end of the spectrum yet is concentrated and seamless, with serious length. It offers pleasure today but should benefit from 4-5 years in the cellar, and my money is on it evolving for 30 years or more.
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About the producer
Opus One is arguably Napa's most famous winery. It was established in 1979 as a joint venture between Baron Philippe de Rothschild (of Bordeaux First Growth Ch. Mouton Rothschild) and Robert Mondavi, conceived after the two met holidaying in Hawaii in the early ’70s.