Important Update From the Founder
Read message >
Opus One - With James Handford MW
Handford Wines, London
Tasted February 4, 2015 by Papies with 638 views
Introduction
James presented a pretty good line up of the first really premium Napa wine, a wine that defined the price rather than let the market define it.
What will stay with us as a memory of Opus One is the quality and vibrancy of the fruit. Even down to the 1980 the fruit core was very much present and healthy. Good longevity and we would not advocate drinking any sub 10 or maybe better 15 years of age. The 2011 was probably the one exception and reminded us of the forwardness of the 2011 Ridge so maybe a 2011 hallmark that good winemakers made good and approachable young wines.
Wines were decanted for 2 hours and all the wines were healthy and vibrant. 96,93,86 and 80 had a fair amount of sediment.
Flight 1 - Welcome (1 note)
White
2012 Jean Loron Pouilly-Fuissé Les Vieux Murs
88 points
Staright to the point but not simple. Mineral, citrus and retains its purity. No oak feel (if any used), well round and accessible now. Pretty good wine. 88-89
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Flight 2 - The Full Opus One vineyards (7 notes)
Red
2011 Opus One
93 points
Decent dark colour. Open nose, herby, light pepper, fresh and young. Quite expressive on the nose. Quite young feel but accessible on the palate and definitely (Actually much like the excellent 2011 Ridge Montebello Papies 93) one that will be accessible sooner than later as it lacks the density of a hot vintage. Good acidity and balance and albeit the oak is evident is well in check. Reminded us of a heavy cab franc wine. Very good. 93
Post trying older wines and then returning to this the oak was a lot more evident.
Post trying older wines and then returning to this the oak was a lot more evident.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
2007 Opus One
91 points
Deep, dark red in colour. From the nose the rich fruit dominated, a lot more evident than the less ripe vintage that was 2011. Ripe fruit, jammy at times. Cassis. Lactic notes of young oaky wine. Concentrated on the palate and needs a good 5-7yrs to we believe to integrate the fruit and the oak. Not there yet though. 91
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
2005 Opus One
90 points
Quite dark in colour. Dark red. Young and rich but not jammy (like the 2007) , oaky dynamics. Fruit dominated wine and quite intense. Ripeness rules at this stage and much like the 2007 we believe needs a lot of time to integrate and start to show complexity. Not impressive at this stage. 89-90
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
2004 Opus One
92 points
From half bottle. Dark red in colour. Dark fruits lead the nose. Just about entering its drinking window, still quite ripe and rich, quite balanced . A bit of milky/lactic side to it on the nose especially after coming back to it at the end of the tasting. Dense and full of potential. A lot of the tasters on the day loved this wine but for both of us this needs more time to evolve and show a graceful side. Not austere or angular now but felt like a 92 for now but one to watch out for the future.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
2001 Opus One
93 points
An outlier in many respects and definitely felt a lot older and evolved, earthy . The colour is still quite dark but the nose shows clearly an evolved wine. Savoury, yeasty wine but also very good to drink now with good complexity. A touch watery on the mid palate but a very good wine nonetheless. Split the Papies a bit in rating. Andreas 92 / Nicol 95 – 93+ then
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
1996 Opus One
94 points
Colour is showing a bit of brownish tint and definitely shows age. The nose is just excellent, complex, blackcurrant, eucalyptus, leather/tobacco mix. The fruit is very much there though. The oak is fully assimilated, has very good balance and drinks very well now. Needs a few more years to reach its peak (Unlike 95 & 93 which are there now) but still very harmonious and a joy. 94-95 and with a lot of future ahead
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
1995 Opus One
95 points
Worth to note that this had very little sediment. The colour shows its age, Intense on the nose, feels a touch older than a 95 (Especially comparing with the 96) , leather, tobacco, herbaceous and well secondary in general. Well matured but with that characteristic Opus One vibrant core of fruit, good length and elegance. A beautiful wine with good life ahead of it but definitely feels like it is at its peak! 95 and a joy now.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Flight 3 - The pre 1994 vineyard mix - Effectively same vineyeard as the Mondavi Cab Sauv Reserve (3 notes)
Red
1993 Opus One
93 points
Colour shows its age. Compared to the 95 & 96 this felt less evolved. Still a very good wine, lively, tight with good tannin, perfumed nose. Felt delicate at times. A touch of dry tannin on the finish spoils a bit the show. A pretty solid wine but in a lower league to the excellent 95 &96. 92-93 and drink now.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
1986 Opus One
95 points
Surprisingly a youthful wine. From the colour which only has a few brownish notes to the nose to the oh so vibrant palate. Herby on the nose, eucalyptus, and so is the palate but the solid core of fruit is there too and adds a lot of flesh to the wine. Well integrated and balanced this was a great surprise and testament to the quality of Opus One. We will not go on and on here but this is superb wine. 95
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
1980 Opus One
92 points
Light in colour. The nose has a dominant cocoa/coffee note Well evolved but still with a lot of fruit. Barring that coffee note which makes the wine a bit one-dimensional the rest of the components are there, fruit, structure but the finish felt a bit dry. Still though this is a solid wine with still good life ahead of it. 92
2 people found this helpful
Comment
Closing
We definitely open this level of Napa wines too early. Forgetting the fruit bombs for a second there as wines that need to be treated like 1st Growths and let to age to show their potential. Once again for more classic wine lovers like us the less ripe vintages offer the goods and given the correlation of ripeness with Parker points (and hence price) lucky us!