Opus One Winery

The Opus One Winery is located at 7900 St. Helena Highway in Oakville, California, U.S.A. The vineyard parcels lie within the Oakville American Viticultural Area, which is part of the Napa Valley AVA.

Opus One was founded in 1979 by Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Château Mouton Rothschild. The first vintage was produced under the joint management of Tim Mondavi and Lucien Sionneau at the Robert Mondavi Winery. The 1991 vintage was the first to be produced entirely at the new facility in the Napa Valley.

The vineyard lies in the western part of Oakville at the foot of the Mayacamas Mountains on the Oakville alluvial fan, which extends towards the Napa River. It is divided into four parcels: To Kalon North, To Kalon South, Ballestra and River Parcel.

Opus One is a red wine made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. In the documented vintages, Cabernet Sauvignon is usually the dominant grape variety. Overture is the estate’s second wine and was first produced in 1993; for earlier bottlings, a vintage-spanning blend of selected vineyard lots is documented.

Farming is tailored to the characteristics and needs of individual vineyard blocks. The team uses sheep grazing as part of the documented measures for the regeneration of the land and harvests by hand when this is assessed as the best method. Modern viticultural practices are tested before being introduced. Since 2021, Opus One has held the Napa Green Winery and Napa Green Vineyard certifications.

Before fermentation, grapes and berries are sorted in detail. The first vintage rests in the Grand Chai in barrels made from 100% new French oak. In 2012, Opus One introduced a programme with natural yeasts, for which wild yeasts were isolated from all four vineyard parcels and used with their grapes in fermentation trials.