The famous winery is located in the Oakville AVA in California's Napa Valley. The vineyards cover 110 hectares of vines. It was founded as a 50:50 joint venture by wine legends Baron Philippe de Rothschild (1902-1988) and Robert Mondavi (1913-2008) in 1979 with the aim of producing a Bordeaux-style wine in California. The idea was born in 1970 at a meeting in Hawaii. According to eyewitness reports, the concept was fixed within an hour at a meeting in Bordeaux in 1978. The name "Opus One", however, was not decided until 1983. The first experimental red wine was produced in 1979 by Lucien Sionneau of Château Mouton-Rothschild and Thimothy Mondavi. The wine was made from the varieties Cabernet Sauvignon (80%), Cabernet Franc (16%) and Merlot (4%) and aged for 24 months in 100% new barriques. In the period 1979 to 2001, the proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon ranged from 80% to 97%, which roughly corresponds to a classic Bordeaux blend from the left bank of the Gironde. The length of ageing in barrique barrels ranged from 15 to 24 months.
The 1979 and 1980 vintages were officially presented in 1984. In 1991, a new winery was completed; until then, production took place at the "Robert Mondavi Winery" across the road. Over the years, the vineyards have been steadily increased to their current size through additional purchases. Opus One is one of the most outstanding and expensive wines in California and is marketed in 65 countries worldwide. In 1995, a bottle of the founding vintage 1979 had to be paid 2,500 dollars at an auction. Today, current vintages cost about 150 to 200 dollars. Older vintages are among the best and most expensive wines in the world. Special vintages are, for example, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997. The latter is dubbed the wine of the century. It was blended from Cabernet Sauvignon (86%), Cabernet Franc (8%), Merlot (3%) and Malbec (3%). With the sale of the entire Mondavi empire in December 2004, Opus One also came into the possession of the US multinational Constellation Brands.
Image: By Cszmurlo, Own work, CC BY 2.5, Link
