It ranks seventh, meanwhile, among the most-searched-for wines worldwide. Opus One is extremely popular.Īccording to Wine-Searcher data, Opus One is the most-searched-for American-made wine in its database. In 1981, Mondavi sold part of his share of the vineyard to the newly launched Opus One venture, providing high-quality grapes that serve as the backbone of the blend. It is generally regarded as the best winemaking land Napa has to offer. The To Kalon vineyard is jointly owned by a number of famed Napa producers. Part of the blend comes from Napa’s legendary To Kalon vineyard. Its name is another musical reference, meaning an orchestral piece at the beginning of a composition. Opus One’s second and only other wine, Overture, is made with the fruit that doesn’t quite make the Opus One grade. The flagship Opus One red wine is a Cabernet-dominant Bordeaux blend, which also contains smaller quantities of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Merlot. While that pales in comparison to modern-day auction prices, it was unheard of at the time, especially for a California-made wine. Opus One set early Napa Valley auction records.Īt the inaugural Napa Valley Wine Auction in 1981, a 12-bottle case of Opus One sold for $24,000. It wasn’t until the 1982 vintage that the brand adopted the name Opus One. The very first vintages of Opus One were labeled Napamédoc, a nod to the wines’ Franco-American heritage. It may have always have been a masterpiece, but it was originally called something else. The Opus One project then officially debuted in 1980. The venture was first suggested by the Baron during a 1970 meeting between the pair in Hawaii, and its fate was sealed when Mondavi visited Rothschild in Bordeaux in 1978.Ĭhâteau Mouton Rothschild’s winemaker, Lucien Sionneau, and Robert Mondavi’s son Timothy made the first joint vintage at the Robert Mondavi Winery in 1979. Chardonnay is also very successfully cultivated, and about 30% of the AVA’s acreage is planted to white grapes, with the majority of those grapes being Chardonnay, Read more.Opus One started as a New World-Old World partnership between Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Château Mouton Rothschild (Bordeaux), and Robert Mondavi, famed for his eponymous Napa winery. Many grapes grow well in Napa’s Mediterranean climate, but the region is best known for Cabernet Sauvignon. Napa Valley’s AVA was established in 1983, and today there are 16 sub-appellations within the Napa Valley AVA. But by the late 1950s and early 1960s Robert Mondavi and other visionaries were producing quality wines easily distinguishable from the mass-produced jug wines made in California’s Central Valley. An infestation of phylloxera, an insect that attacks vine roots, and the onset of Prohibition nearly wiped out the nascent Napa wine industry in the early 20th century. Other winemaking pioneers followed in the late 19th century, including the founders of Charles Krug, Schramsberg, Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards. Yount planted grapes and began producing wine commercially. Winemaking started in Napa in 1838 when George C. With nearly 43,000 acres of vineyards and more than 300 wineries, it is the heart of fine wine production in the United States. Napa Valley AVA is the most famous winemaking region in the United States and one of the most prestigious in the world.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |