This was my first experience with Opus, and now it certainly won't be the last. I was really impressed with this wine. Very serious, nothing flamboyant. Reminded me of classic 1st growth Bordeaux. Aromas and tastes of wood, lead pencil, cassis, and leather wrapped around a solid core of black and red fruits. Tannins were perfectly integrated. Not a touch of hotness or too much acidity. Blew away the Peter Michael Les Pavots we drank from the same year. I've gotta seek out more of this juice. 97+ points

Thanks for the TN! I love reading good notes from people who have great wines. This is one of the first positive TN's for an Opus One wine I've read in quite awhile!

I never thought an Opus would receive 97 points from anyone.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: elmo,

Let alone blow away a Les Pavots!

Festiva,

I also had this wine this week. A client ordered it at dinner and must admit it was much better than I was expecting.

I found it to be a well balanced wine with a lot of depth. Now please understand that there were so many better wines for the money in my opinion on the list, but still a very nice New World wine excluding the price.

Glad you enjoyed it as much as you did.

quote:

Now please understand that there were so many better wines for the money in my opinion

I couldn't agree more. To me, Opus is more often simply a good wine with very expensive names behind it. Given the choice, I'd pick a number of other wines at half the price.

Also, it seems that Opus is produced to be much less fruit-forward than most CA Cab Blends - which is what the public (and Mr. Parker) want.

I was really impressed with this bottle, though. The best thing about it - someone else brought it to dinner. The worst thing about it - I brought the Pavots...

quote:

Originally posted by Festiva:

quote:

Now please understand that there were so many better wines for the money in my opinion

I couldn't agree more. To me, Opus is more often simply a good wine with very expensive names behind it. Given the choice, I'd pick a number of other wines at half the price.

Would you mind giving a few of these other wines? and thanks for the TN.

Interesting. I have tried this wine on a few occasions and its never got out of the high 80 point range. Maybe something magical happened as most of my experiences were within 3 years of release.

I was very apprehensive in serving this bottle due to the wide range in notes and scores I've been seeing, but I was pleasantly surprised with my first ever Opus. The cork crumbled half way through but was eventually extracted (I'm glad my guests hadn't arrived because it wasn't exactly a smooth operation), and the bottle had quite a bit more sediment than I was expecting. Big nose of baked dark fruit with a touch of vanilla and leather, the aromas filled the room as it decanted for about 5 minutes. The Opus was very soft and inviting, medium bodied with plenty of dark cherry and blackberry preserve, with very nice secondary flavors of lead with the most subtle hint of cedar on the back end all the way throught the medium length finish. The tannins were really only an afterthought however, and while this did not really detract from our enjoyment it would make me want to drink up any remaining bottles I had in the near future. This was a really nice wine, and even though Opus is much maligned from a qpr stand point I felt that the $150 I got this for online was a good price. 93 points, the fact that it was only the second best red we had last night ('91 Insignia was a beast) made it a great evening.

Really nice notes Dunder. I have a couple of 1996s purchased prior to knowing what QPR meant. I will open one of them in the next couple of months.

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleD:
Really nice notes Dunder. I have a couple of 1996s purchased prior to knowing what QPR meant. I will open one of them in the next couple of months.

Thanks DD, and make sure you post a note on the '96, the only other Opus I have in my cellar (and in all likelihood my last) is a '96 and my expecations are even higher for that one.