Shay A

9.2

Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.

Fun to open birth year wines around your birthday, especially when you can do a Bordeaux and Napa side by side. While not a great vintage, this held up well after a few hours and presented as expected. Clean and zero Brett. Great color! Deep ruby with hardly any bricking. Leather, cassis, vanilla pipe tobacco on the nose. Sporting a good bit of dusty red and black fruits (mostly tart raspberries and blackberries), there was a little savory truffle note mixed with an herbal and mocha finish. Still quite grippy. Pretty. — 16 days ago

Doug Powers

9.6

En Magnum. This is absolutely beautiful, dark fruits, still some underlying structure, just the slightest kiss of Brett, great balance, long, lingering finish, great Bandol from a great vintage!! — 9 months ago

with Jim

Shengli Hu

9.2

Bright medium ruby color!! Brett, black olives, black pepper, FRESH red and black fruits, jerky, fruit wrapped acidity and tannins. Called it 1996 Cote Rotie. — a year ago

Douglas Braun

9.0

2019 - Vintage earthy ,wild fruit, rose petal, (little bit of V.A. & Brett) but still drinking well and fairly well balanced — 5 months ago

Ed Chin

9.2

Where is that signature brett funk? Loads of dominate fruit yet the structure isn’t quite up to par. — 8 months ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Opened about four hours prior to service and allowed to breath. Two bottles were opened tonight from the same cellar and one of the corks showed some small signs of seepage but both wines showed equally. No formal notes. The 1997 Opus One pours a fairly youthful looking deep ruby color with moderate signs of sediment and a near opaque core. The nose exhibited powerful aromas of dark fruits, organic earth, tobacco, leather, horse blanket (brettanomyces?!), and fine baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry and the structure remains quite firm but the texture is plush and almost chewy. The notes on the nose are confirmed and the finish is long and satisfying.

But the tasting notes only tell half the story here. This was consumed alongside a 1990 Chateau Mouton Rothschild. Had these been served together double-blind, I would have absolutely understood if someone called both as left-bank Bordeaux. Yes, the texture was plush and yes, the color was dark(er), but only just. It was just waaaay more Old World leaning to me with the earth and presence of brett. Which makes me wonder, why hasn’t brett been noted very often in other TN’s for this wine? Only (Charlie Carnes and OneFive) really address it directly and maybe this is what most are getting at when they mention “Bordeaux-like” and all the Pauillac vibes. What I can confirm is that these notes were consistent between two bottles from the same case, still in their tissue paper, so I’m reasonably confident that this is characteristic of the 1997 Opus One. I digress; I liked the wine. There, I said it. It was a bit of a one foot in Old School Napa, one foot in New School Napa, handled with an Old World touch. I liked it even better side-by-side with the ’90 Mouton, especially considering the relationship between the two. That being said, folks that can’t get down with a little brett will be turned off by this vintage of Opus. In my case, I would enjoy another opportunity to drink the 1997 some time. Great now with some air to stretch its legs and should be enjoyable through the next decade.
— 10 months ago

Tom Garland

9.2

1.5 hour decant(decent chunky sediment). A majestic deep purplish magenta color with a little bricking. Always have a soft spot for aged Cain Five and Chris's old school savory style(embrace a little brett!). On the nose: stunning nose of worn leather, funky wet earth, red fruit, touch of menthol, nutty. Taste: Restrained, silky, elegant, balanced wine with dusty earth, herbaceous, currants, plum, cedarwood, and peppery dark chocolate medium finish. YUM! Hitting its stride with time to go. — 7 months ago

with Brenda

Shay A

9.4

This was served during my annual WWC hosting. Typical format of sparkler, three whites, four reds, one dessert, all served blind.

Poured alongside the 2003 Mondavi VHR as a comparison. 60 cab/40 merlot.

Decanted an hour. The similarities between this and the ‘03 Mondavi VHR the first hour was shocking…even as the host, I wondered if I switched the wines. Slight hint of brett but certainly not overpowering. Leather, herbs de Provence, sweet vanilla pipe tobacco, graphite up front aromatically. Dark roast mocha, red and black berry fruit, cassis, really nice vein of acidity and tannin. This remained unchanged during the lunch. Seems like it’s in a peak window (maybe close to the top?) where I imagine it will hold another 5-7yrs easily before turning more tertiary. — 9 months ago

Shengli Hu

8.9

Medium minus concentration of garnet color. BRETT. Roasted green bell pepper, tart tomato leaves, hawthorn, iodine, dried tea leaves, oregano, bay leaf, blood/sanguine. Medium acidity, dissolved medium+ tannins, medium+ finish. — a year ago

Doug Powers

9.6

En Magnum. Cork came out in 100+ little pieces, but thankfully no cork taint, this shows a little Brett, but other than a mid-shoulder fill level and obvious signs of weepage, pristine redfruits and impeccable balance, everything that the 1989 has been showing for at least 10 years, outstanding!! — a year ago

with Jim