Opus One Family Exploration
Rockwell Rooftop Lounge
Tasted February 18, 2022 by Michael Hung with 108 views
Introduction
I wanted to do a fun little tasting delving into Opus One and the two families that joined to create it: Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild. While this wasn't very thorough and the years didn't match up for all three wine, I wanted to see the stylistic differences between Opus One (the joint effort), Mouton Rothschild (French side), and Continuum (Californian side).
The wines were practically PnP'd with a quick double decant and drank over 2-3 hours after opening. All wines were served blind. I hope that someday I can redo this tasting in a better fashion, but ultimately here were the results from the night.
Group Ranking
1. 2007 Opus One
2. 2007 Continuum
3. 1998 Chateau Mouton Rothschild
My Personal Ranking
1. 2007 Opus One
2. 1998 Chateau Mouton Rothschild
3. 2007 Continuum
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There seemed to be some slight taint to the Mouton Rothschild, which was not bad enough to affect my analysis, but definitely affected the other tasters.
Flight 1 (3 notes)
[Tasted Blind]
A: deep garnet, but still very dark red and not much orange, some sediment
N: pronounced, sweaty leather, mildew, forest floor, herbaceous black currant leaf, Asian five spice, clove, muted fruit notes, cooked plum, cooked blackberry, chocolate and tobacco, and even more leather and barnyard after that
P: pronounced, like the nose, dominated by tertiary notes of leather, mushroom, chocolate and tobacco, and the cooked plum and blackberry, black cherry compote
Full body, med alcohol, low tannin (smooth and round now), med+ finish, dry. Very complex wine on both nose and palette. However it is surprisingly mellow, definitely showing the age on the bottle. Does not really open past the initial sediment decant. Probably would recommend to drink as it seems to be at the peak, never really evolving over the 2-3 hours. Extremely smooth and sexy mouthfeel. The alcohol and tannins are just so integrated now creating that luscious experience. 93 pt
A: deep ruby core with garnet showing on the rims, some sediment
N: pronounced, blackberries, black currant, black cherry, green bell pepper (capsicum), black currant leaf, tomato leaf, cedar, tobacco, baking spices, and leather starting to show (developing)
P: pronounced, black cherry, blackberries, black currant, tomato leaf, black currant leaf, violet, baking spices, cedar, vanilla, toast, leather
Full body, high alcohol, med tannins (smoothing out), med acid, dry, long finish. Despite being 15 years old, it still seems quite youthful as it was dominated by black fruit and herbaceous notes still. However, it was a very nice and nuanced Californian Cab blend. A well made and high quality wine. Definitely nicely integrated in the bottle now and good to drink now, but I think it can definitely age more as well. 96+ pts
A: deep dark ruby
N: med+ intensity, red currant, black currant, black cherry, cassis, red plum, red plum, lavender, bell pepper, baking spices, vanilla, toast (youthful)
P: pronounced, black currant, black cherry, cassis, red currant, bell pepper, tomato leaf, lavender, tobacco, vanilla, a bit spicy
High alcohol, med+ acid, med+ length, dry, med+ tannin. A bit strong and hot PnP, but opens up well and got better over the next 2-3 hours. What a youthful wine, almost thinking it needs at least a few more years to really start evolving. Came off as a bit aggressive and hot to me right now, but I can see this growing and integrating beautifully over the next 3-5 years. Did not find any tertiary notes at all. Spicy pepper notes did not show too well with the strong alcohol, but was very interesting nonetheless. Well made wine, probably just needs time. 93+ pt