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Open: 10:00am-4:00pm, by appointment
Appt required? Yes
Last barlinwine.com visit: 2013
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Tasting:
Can you believe I’ve never had Opus One? I couldn’t either, so I decided to remedy the situation on our latest visit to wine country. Opus One does things a shade differently – with only one wine, rather than a tour and splash of the wine, they simply invite you to the property (by appointment) and pour you a glass of the latest vintage for $40. That’s expensive for a 4 oz. (at most) pour, but it’s cheaper than shelling out $235 or more for a bottle.
We arrived at the distinct property and were escorted from the massive rotunda that greets visitors around to a tasting bar on the left side of the building. I was happy to see that we actually had a choice this day: we could have the current vintage (2010) for $40, or a pour of the 2007 Opus One for $50. Given my love of 2007 wines, the extra $10 was a no-brainer.
We chatted with the staff about cult wines and relayed our experience getting to taste Ghost Horse at Anderson’s Conn Valley. They were intensely interested – when you work in the world of $200+ bottles of wine, there’s limited opportunity to try your competition because so many of them are such small production (and 100% allocated). Since Ghost Horse is extremely limited (100 cases per year) and the most expensive wine on the planet -- Todd Anderson’s primary motivation for starting the project -- it all added up to a very captive audience.
Our experience and insider knowledge of Ghost Horse got us in good graces with the folks behind the Opus One tasting bar, and they insisted we try the 2010 Opus One in addition to our 2007. Our host poured us a healthy dose of the 2010 (on the house) in a separate glass so we could compare side-by-side. While the 2007 was drinking beautifully, the 2010 probably had more structure and in 3 years might be superior to my beloved 2007.
All in all, this was a nice chance to try a very expensive wine. And it was very good – not necessarily $235 good, but certainly worth $150/bottle. Given the scale and the amount they produce, it’s impressive that they can get enough top quality fruit and control production enough to make a wine this fine consistently. Kudos to Opus One for that. If you’ve never had the wine and you’re into Cabs / Bordeaux blends, it is worth the $40 to enjoy a glass of this Napa classic.
We arrived at the distinct property and were escorted from the massive rotunda that greets visitors around to a tasting bar on the left side of the building. I was happy to see that we actually had a choice this day: we could have the current vintage (2010) for $40, or a pour of the 2007 Opus One for $50. Given my love of 2007 wines, the extra $10 was a no-brainer.
Our experience and insider knowledge of Ghost Horse got us in good graces with the folks behind the Opus One tasting bar, and they insisted we try the 2010 Opus One in addition to our 2007. Our host poured us a healthy dose of the 2010 (on the house) in a separate glass so we could compare side-by-side. While the 2007 was drinking beautifully, the 2010 probably had more structure and in 3 years might be superior to my beloved 2007.
All in all, this was a nice chance to try a very expensive wine. And it was very good – not necessarily $235 good, but certainly worth $150/bottle. Given the scale and the amount they produce, it’s impressive that they can get enough top quality fruit and control production enough to make a wine this fine consistently. Kudos to Opus One for that. If you’ve never had the wine and you’re into Cabs / Bordeaux blends, it is worth the $40 to enjoy a glass of this Napa classic.
Recommended wine: They only make one wine, but I'd recommend it. I think the 2010 is going to be very good.
Ratings (out of 5):
 WINE | 5.00 |  TASTING ROOM | 4.75 |
 ATMOSPHERE | 4.50 |  VALUE | 3.75 |
 OVERALL | 4.50 | ||
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