What’s the most you’ve spent on a single bottle of wine?
This week, Julien tasted the cult-favorite Napa wine Opus One… Does he think it’s worth the hefty $500 price tag? And can it stand up to its Grand Cru cousins in Bordeaux? Watch the video to find out!
Transcript:
00:00:00:00 – 00:00:21:13
Cooler climate of Bordeaux and great terroirs that top chateaux have delivers that finesse and the balance that is really hard to match and not quite matched perfectly here, I would say. But what I really like about Opus one is how….
00:00:21:15 – 00:00:48:15
I think I might have made a mistake today. I spent $500 on a bottle of wine so you don’t have to. I want to find out if the cult California winery Opus one is really worth the hype, or if you should spend your $500 on something else. I’m Julien Miquel, Bordeaux trained winemaker. I spent the past 25 years or so making and tasting fine wines all around the world.
00:00:48:15 – 00:01:22:03
After making my debut as the winemaker at Chateau Margaux, one of the top first growths of Bordeaux. So I know a thing or two about top cult wines, especially the French ones. So I am very curious to find out if opus one is better than top Bordeaux, for example, or if it’s just overhyped American stuff. Let’s go and pour this little baby wine.
00:01:22:05 – 00:01:47:22
Hello, bonjour, and welcome to your new Bonner Private Wines video where we learn about wine together weekly. I want to give you my opinion on this wine and describe it with some precision, give you my impressions, but I’d also like to hear your thoughts in the comments. If you’ve ever had a chance to taste Opus One, what do you think of it?
00:01:47:24 – 00:02:17:03
Do you have the same opinion as me? Or even if you have never tried it, would you spend $500 to buy an Opus One? Let me know. But first, let me take a minute or two to refresh your memory on why Opus one has become a cult winery of California and and iconic wine. Opus One is one of the world’s most famous wines, among the most expensive produced in Napa Valley.
00:02:17:03 – 00:02:54:20
As well, the winery was initially established as a joint venture between two of the biggest names in Bordeaux and Napa Valley, Baron Philippe de Rothschild or Philippe de Rothschild of Chateau Mouton Rothschild, the illustrious first growth of Pauillac. You can, by the way, learn more about Pauillac and why it’s so special in my dedicated video here. Baron Phillipe de Rothschild partnered with Robert Mondavi, the biggest California producer at the time, Opus One was the first premium California wine to break into the European market and to be sold in Europe.
00:02:54:20 – 00:03:25:11
It is one of the original cult cabernets like those of Harlan Estate or Screaming Eagle, etc. the idea of Opus One was conceived some 15 years ago, in the 1970s and the first vintage was produced, in fact, just a couple of months before I was born in 1979 and released in 1984. So the hype around Opus one has been going on for about 40 years.
00:03:25:11 – 00:04:00:12
It’s time to put an end to it or not. Let’s find out. Opus one’s global reputation continued to expand substantially through the 1990s, and it’s survived the sale from Robert Mondavi to Constellation Brands, a big, large global wine group, in 2004, this is one of the most iconic New World wines. Full stop. So let’s go and taste it.
00:04:00:14 – 00:04:25:07
And this vintage 2018 is a six year old wine now, and it looks really, really gorgeous. Dark to the core, nice, vibrant red to the rim. Looking like a dark cherry essentially. And it looks pretty young still, no signs of orange hues that would indicate that the wine has evolved and matured already. No signs of aging whatsoever. It looks super youthful, which is to be expected.
00:04:25:07 – 00:04:51:03
Six year old for such a wine is nothing. But let’s let’s sniff. Yum yum yum yum. Oh, it smells so delicious. Two main things come to my mind when I smell this wine. Before I describe what it smells like. Well, the aromas first of all, when you smell a fine wine like this, you instantly know that you have something special.
00:04:51:03 – 00:05:22:19
It just smells really, really subtle. Oh yeah, there’s no huge explosion of aromas. It’s very delicate, very soothing. Calming in a way, because it’s very soft aromas, discreet and delicate. And that’s a big part of how you can tell the difference between an everyday wine that just explodes with tons of aromas and fine wines. Secondly, this particular one smells pretty oaky to me, especially at first.
00:05:22:19 – 00:05:49:06
You really smell the oak barrel, the smoke, the toast, the wood smoke, the vanilla, the roasted hazelnut. The caramel is quite dominant. Then when you agitate the wine thoroughly like this, then the fruit, comes through subtle aromas of cassis or blackcurrant, which is the signature of Cabernet Sauvignon. You got some dark cherry as well, which is, I think, more from the merlot.
00:05:49:08 – 00:06:17:12
By the way, Opus One is what we call a Bordeaux blend, a blend of grapes originally from Bordeaux, but we certainly an emphasis on Cabernet Sauvignon, 84% for this particular vintage, and then for 5% of each Petite verdot, merlot, and Cabernet Franc, with a 1% a malbec. Not sure what that does, but it’s there. It’s aged for 17 months in new oak barrels, 100% new, which is probably why it smells so oaky.
00:06:17:12 – 00:06:31:06
So the smell is really excellent. Very refined, oaky and dark, plenty of dark chocolate as well. And coffee, which I love. Beautiful, but let’s taste.
00:06:37:03 – 00:07:07:23
Oh, wow. Wow. It’s good. It’s very good. This is an extremely mellow red wine. It’s extremely soft on the palate. It’s essentially like silk, a very, very smooth tannins. So the picture is really, really creamy with a nice oily body. And this makes it extremely palatable. Now flavor wise it’s pretty potent. However, a big burst of cassis, flavors underlined by a nice acidity.
00:07:08:04 – 00:07:29:09
It’s a little warming, comforting, I would say, from the alcohol. And you get a big explosion of berry flavors, augmented by a wealth of oaky notes, as well, very marked by oak at this point. Not so well integrated, I would say, but oak is a bit of a trademark of American wine. Oakier generally than most French wines.
00:07:29:15 – 00:07:58:21
Which is probably why I notice it, quite a bit personally, but the density of the wine is good. Quite solid, but not hugely concentrated. It’s not that chewy. It just feels nice. Explosive, but super soft. So overall, this to me is a 96 out of 100 points. They’re above the 95 points, which is where you get into the super high end, but it’s not approaching the 100 points.
00:07:58:23 – 00:08:35:04
The overall density is not, that extreme. And that 100 point level 98. No. Would I buy this over a similarly priced Bordeaux wine is the question. Let me tell you why not and why. Maybe under some circumstances I would. I think in Bordeaux, with a $500 wine, you’d really get something quite exceptional. You’d get a top classified chateaux from Margaux or an extremely good Saint-Emilion or Pomerol, which to me would be denser wines, more serious wines as well.
00:08:35:04 – 00:09:06:06
Probably with a bit of a longer aging potential, too. So really, collector wines you would get from Bordeaux, which to me would be a bit more interesting to taste with a bit of a greater nuance and complexity of flavors, you need a finer tannins as well, and more harmonious overall, I would say the cooler climate of Bordeaux and great, the loss that top chateaux have delivers that finesse and the balance that is really hard to match and not quite matched perfectly here, I would say.
00:09:06:06 – 00:09:34:22
But what I really like about Opus one is how approachable it is, how a vintage 2018 is already extremely satisfying to taste. It’s fruity, it’s oaky, it’s chocolaty, it’s smoky, it’s warming, it’s comforting, it’s smooth. So it tastes like pure pleasure. And so the fact that it’s not overly complicated makes it more easy, in fact, to enjoy very simply without having to think too hard.
00:09:34:22 – 00:09:59:08
Which in itself is a huge merit. So if you’re in a restaurant and you just want something very fine and pleasing but not complicated just to appreciate simply some fruit and oak, well, this is what it is. And it’s probably more enjoyable than a bottle of wine in that regard. Less complex, but also less complicated. And this pros and cons to that.
00:09:59:10 – 00:10:22:00
In any case, given its explosive finish and given this is a wine that would easily aged for another 15 years and still be exceptionally good, I’d say it is certainly worth the $500 price tag, if any wine is worth that. That was it for me today. Like the video to support. If you enjoyed it, subscribe to continue learning more with us.
00:10:22:03 – 00:10:39:14
Here are a few videos that I suggest you watch next and I will see you soon in the wonderful world of wine. Cheers!
