“Opus took what it wanted in the beginning,” Silacci said with a big, warm grin during the tasting. There’s an almost essence of To Kalon character to the wine with the ripeness and generosity yet firmness and form. What is striking when tasting the old wines with the newest releases is that they resemble one another in nature and pedigree. “I have been waiting for the 19 to go down but they never do,” Silacci said after he tasted both vintages.

It’s interesting that I have drunk the 1979 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve a number of times in the last three years and the wine is as equally fresh and vivid as the Opus One 1979 after all these years, although it lacks some of the complexity and polish of the Opus. Silacci said that the winemakers of Mouton were given the run of the vineyards of the Robert Mondavi Winery at the time and that the French choose some of the best grapes that were going into the Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserves. It showed such grace and beauty for an old wine, with all the autumnal and tobacco character one could hope for in an aged cabernet sauvignon-based red. In fact, one of my favorite wines was the first vintage of Opus, the 1979. He rolled out all the early vintages of Opus from 1979 to 1990 in a tasting at the winery a little over a week ago and it was impressive how well the wines were aging. I am in the process of reviewing almost every vintage of Opus One with winemaker Michael Silacci. The latter is perhaps “the” great icon wine of a generation (especially mine) considering its first vintage was 1979 and it was founded by the late greats of Bordeaux and Napa Valley – Baron Philippe de Rothschild (Mouton Rothschild) and Robert Mondavi. rated some of these world-class standard-bearers over the past week, including Masseto, Seña and Opus One. Great modern icon wines always seem to be of exceptional quality, regardless of their origins. 'noresultstext': 'No results for Tasting Notes, Tasting Reports, Videos and Events.

Opus one cabernet sauvignon