2000 Opus One - USA, California, Napa Valley (10/24/2009) I know that there are many non-believers out there who claim to hate Opus one, and I attribute a lot of this to the inflated price. I was lucky enough to pick up a few bottles of this wine a few years ago for around $70, and I have to say that for the money, this was one hell of a great wine! I grabbed this from the cellar where we hide all of our “gems,” as a pre-anniversary celebration bottle, since our anniversary falls during the week this year. This had about 45 minutes to warm up on the way to Fiddleheads in Jamesburg, NJ, and was popped and poured. Gorgeous deep garnet classic cabernet color in the glass, thinning towards the rim made this wine still look very youthful. As a lot of you know, 2000 is not known to be a stellar vintage for the Napa Valley, but this wine showed to prove this wrong, as have some of the other big hitters from this vintage. On the nose, this reminded me of a nice Bordeaux with some cassis, tobacco, earth, blueberry, and cherry, with the smallest hint of band aid / brett. On the palate, all kinds of red cherry, blackberry, pomegranate, and raspberry jam. Off vintage my foot, this wine has a great fruity, jammy, and velvety structure, with a bit of oak on the medium finish. All in all, this was a pleasure to drink, and I couldn’t think of a better wine that I expected so little from to date. This was darn good, and I wish I would have bought more at this price. Thankfully we still have one left that we’ll revisit 5 years down the road. For now, feel free to pop one of these, as I believe it is drinking in a beautiful place. After drinking an ’02 Insignia just a few weeks ago, I think that this wine would give it a run for its money, and is 94 points worthy. Cheers! (94 pts.)
I tasted the 2000 Opus two years ago and gave it 90 points. Apparently it has opened up a bit since then, which is good to know. I agree with you that generalizations about vintage quality are often not helpful. I liked the 2000 Opus much more than the 2001 Opus, which was supposedly a better year in Napa.
Posts: 447 | Location: San Diego CA | Registered: May 30, 2007
Mark, either you're joking, or someone is pulling a joke on you! Simply put, I'm astounded! Comparing the 2000 Opus One with the 2002 Insignia, which was WS "Wine of the Year", and finding any similarity is between the two, certainly seems extraordinary to me!
However, while I've tasted the 2002 Insignia many, many times, I've only tasted the Opus One once, but I found nothing remotely similar, including color, nose, fruit, and especially the finish. Even more so, I never had any Cali Cab from the 2000 vintage that was better than the 2002 Phelps Insignia.
I don't mean to sound over zealous, or object with your personal experience, but yours was just far different from mine. My scores are the 2002 Insignia 95/96 points, and the Opus One 86/87.
Also, the last bottle of 2002 Insignia (last month) I opened was fairly closed, and I won't open another till 2012 (if I can stay disciplined) Decanting solved that issue, but it was not a pop & pour!
I had a half bottle of this a few months ago and I gave it 86 pts. I bought a bottle that had just been stored at room temperature but it didn't show any ill effects. I thought it was a nice wine that had simple cherry flavors and the tannins were non existent. I bought the half for $30 so it was fun to pop it.
Posts: 5218 | Location: minneapolis minnesota usa | Registered: Dec 17, 2003
Very interesting both latour67 and mpls wine guy. Wish I knew what the differences were between the bottles you had and the bottle that we opened. Regardless, it was delicious to drink.
The Insignia we had on Labor Day was nothing like the one we drank back in October of 2007. It was very closed down, so who knows for sure. We won't revisit it again for a few more years as well. I only scored it 90 points. Just didn't have the nose or the palate that other bottles have had. Thankfully we have more to play with and revisit. -mJ
"Will I choose water over wine and hold my own and drive..." -Incubus Jersey Foodies/Wine Blog: http://jerseyfoodies.blogspot.com/
Posts: 1154 | Location: Central New Jersey | Registered: Apr 16, 2007
I've forgotten the exact quote, but I believe the meaning is, or close to something like this: There are no outstanding wines, just outstanding bottles! Mark, you must've had the exception bottle!
I do agree the 2002 Insignia has closed down, and if anyone is going to open now, I would suggest a double decanting, 24 hours. Decant the day before, pour it back into the bottle, record, then decant again the next day and serve. That may work!
mpls wine guy I stored a half bottle of 1998 Peby Faugeres at room temperature and thought I could achieve some expedited maturity!I think I stored it for more than 3 years, but it didn't work; it was still too young!
I do agree the 2002 Insignia has closed down, and if anyone is going to open now, I would suggest a double decanting, 24 hours. Decant the day before, pour it back into the bottle, record, then decant again the next day and serve. That may work!
I drank one last week and I would have said the opposite. Popped and poured. Was drinking well.
-------------------- "One may dislike carrots, spinach, beetroot, or the skin on hot milk. But not wine. It is like hating the air that one breathes, since each is equally indispensable."
Marcel Ayme`
Posts: 6942 | Location: The Left Coast | Registered: Dec 01, 2001
Yes, I saw your post on the "What are you Drinking" thread, and asked in a post a bit further down on that thread about your experience.
I had another bottle of the 2002 Insignia recently and it had closed down, but it has been the only bottle of 2002 Insignia that exhibited that kind of blandness. As a result, I'm going to hold off till about 2012, if possible, and wait for some maturity. It could have been just the bottle, but I do need to keep some for the future.
Originally posted by markjahnke: I know that there are many non-believers out there who claim to hate Opus one, and I attribute a lot of this to the inflated price
Truthfully, Mark, I can't recall people "hating" Opus. Overpriced for what is in bottle? Absolutely. But most comments that I hear is that it is a very solid bottle of Napa Cab, but, as you said, with an inflated price.
Romeo and Juliet are together in eternity....
Posts: 6143 | Location: Elk Grove, CA, USA | Registered: Dec 06, 2003
