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. 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. We’re thrilled to announce that our visit yielded the kind of allocation that normally only comes at auction: A few cases of the unparalleled 2014 Opus One, the dense and opulent red that had critic James Suckling swooning to the tune of 97 points.
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.