Today, more than thirty years later, it is in fact synonymous with a great Bordeaux cut thanks to a fabric and elegance that is truly out of the ordinary. Born in 1979, the result of continuous research and improvement, in a very short time it established itself among the elite of contemporary winemaking thanks to an unstoppable qualitative growth.
A unique and inimitable wine, the flagship of the company's production, Opus One represents not only the progenitor of the great Californian Cabernets but also the symbiosis between two of the most important wineries in the world: the Mondavi family and the Mouton Rothschild group. The attention and the human touch are fundamental to calibrate and enhance the characteristics of each single vintage. Four parcels form the terroir where Opus One wines are produced: here the traditional varieties that make up the Bordeaux blend (merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot) are grown with experience, passion and dedication. Already from the building that houses the cellar, perfectly inserted, almost camouflaged, in the context of the vineyards, this careful research can be grasped. Producing wine in harmony with the surrounding environment, capturing the best of its expressiveness: this is the goal of Opus One Winery, a prestigious Californian company. Timeless expression of the company's vineyards, it reveals explosive hints of fruit and sweet spices, due to the prolonged stay in cask, in its youth, but it is destined to enrich its bouquet with long refinements. After careful selection, the berries are placed in tanks for fermentation at a controlled temperature. The five grape varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Merlot and Malbec) are harvested by hand. It is made by assembling the best of different vintages, to obtain a wine of great prestige and possibility of evolution. Fining clarifies and polishes the wine.Īfter about a year and a half in barrel, the wine is bottled.'Overture' by Opus One is made in Oakville Napa Valley over a dark volcanic soil.
Carefully added in more turbid vintages, fresh egg whites attract the very small particles that would otherwise remain in suspension. During the first year, Michael continually tastes from each French oak barrel, evaluating the effect of the wood on the wine.įining, which occurs after the final racking in tank, also illustrates the hand-crafted nature of Opus One. Once the wine is safely in barrel, the topping, racking, and fining processes begin. To provide backbone to the wine, a portion of the press is often added to the final blend. Like the free-run wine, the pressed wine is put into barrels to be aged. In another gentle, unhurried step, the skins, seeds, and pulp are pressed. The tanks are raised so the free-run wine can flow into new French oak barrels the remaining skins tumble easily into basket presses. The long, warm maceration in temperature-controlled tanks draws out myriad rich flavors and colors from the skins, seeds, and pulp. Stainless steel is the perfect material – it provides a cool and gentle beginning to the fermentation process.īecause Opus One makes only one wine, each tank can be dedicated to a single lot of grapes each tank is used only once during harvest, so fermentation and maceration need never be rushed. Only gravity is used to move the berries from the destemmer into the stainless steel fermenting tanks below. The grapes are hand-sorted: any leaves or imperfect grapes are discarded. The integrity of the grapes is assured by placing the clusters in small picking boxes that hold no more than thirty-five pounds (sixteen kilograms). Guided by the vision of our founders, our winemaker Michael Silacci combines intuition and technical acumen with the dual perspective of viticulturist and winemaker.Įvery cluster of Opus One grapes is hand-harvested, and just as much care is taken when transporting them from the vineyard to the winery. Winemaking at Opus One resolves to a single goal: to produce an extraordinary wine. The blending of wine-lots across vintages and extended barrel aging gives Overture a supple structure and silky texture. The classic blackberry and cassis character of Cabernet Sauvignon melds seamlessly with the black cherry, red currant and violet from the Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. This remarkable terroir expresses itself in the complex aromas, flavors and especially, textures of Overture. Overture is a timeless reflection of our Opus One estate vineyards.
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