1/4/2024 0 Comments 2001 opus oneSince 2004, when Mondavi winery was acquired by Constellation Brands, Opus One has had a single CEO - David Pearson, and a single winemaker - Michael Silacci, who run the winery with more autonomy, with Rothschild and Constellation supplying three members each for the Board of Directors. Winemaking was also done with oversight and final approval from both. Prior to 2004, Opus One was co-CEO'ed by one appointee from each side - Mondavi and Rothschild. Annual production is around 25,000 cases. In the tradition of Bordeaux, they cultivate estate-grown fruit from their four vineyards, and bottle it into a main wine - Opus One ($150-200), and the second wine - Overture ($70). Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild If you look closely, the likeness to the two founding men is unmistakable. The winery's logo is perhaps the most recognizable of all American wineries. Opus One was founded in 1979 as a joint venture by Baron Philippe de Rothschild, legendary proprietor of Chateau Mouton Rothschild (Bordeaux 1st Growth Grand Cru) and Robert Mondavi, to create essentially a Grand Cru Bordeaux in Napa Valley. While in the rest of the world Opus' distribution is done through a group of Bordeaux negociants, the winery is so hot in Japan, they are now placing permanent sales staff there. The winery’s 2000 vintage was noted in volume 1 of "Kami no Shizuku" ( watch it on this blog) - Japan's insanely popular manga with the protagonist searching the world for iconic wines. There is a guy out in Kobe, who built a virtual shrine to Opus, with bottles from every vintage stacked high and wide, and savored every day of every week of every year, like a religious reminder that he is alive. In fact, even the far-away Japanese are so gaga over Opus that Japan is Opus' third biggest market, after US and France. If you never heard of Opus One, then you've surely been living under a rock. Scott and I imagined sliding down that thing in a cardboard box, but then thought better of it lest we ruin our upscale reputations with this venerable establishment. Sitting on the valley floor next to Highway 29 and Oakville Grocery, Opus One has a grass lawn growing on its inclined circular walls. The place looks like an alien spider ship just descended to take over Oakville.
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