Winemaker Notes
Blend: 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 5% Merlot, 2% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Mesmerizing aromas of flowers, bark, currants and blackberries. So perfumed. You just want to smell it. Exquisite tension and finesse with an almost Burgundian texture, yet it’s Napa in its soul with ripe fruit, stones, spices and Chinese tea leaf flavors. Savory and delicious. Drinkable but better in 2020.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet colored, the 2014 Opus One opens with youthful notes of warm blackberries, chocolate-covered cherries, redcurrant jelly and blackcurrant pastilles with hints of bay leaves, tobacco leaf and underbrush. Medium to full-bodied, firm and grainy with a lively backbone and tightly wound black and red berry layers, it finishes with a compelling herbal lift.
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Vinous
The 2014 Opus One has arrived at its tenth birthday in style. Crushed flowers, red berry fruit, blood orange, mint and white pepper give the 2014 a striking top register of aromatics to play off its mid-weight structure. The 2014 remains quite youthful and vibrant. Its construction and overall feel are decidedly on the more linear, mid-weight side of things.
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Wine Spectator
So expressive, this lets sage, savory, thyme, violet and rose petal notes spill forth, backed up with a bountiful core of fleshy, gently mulled blackberry and black currant fruit. The structure is a shade less polished than 2013 and 2015 but harmonizes easily with the savory and fruit notes through the long finish of smoldering earth. An overlooked year. Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec.
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Decanter
A cool bouquet of fruit compote and wild plum mingles with notes of clove, incense and lilac. On the palate the wine is youthfully taut, with a good line of acidity and fine but assertive tannins. It's quite a serious, savoury Opus which will need a few years in the cellar to unwind.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Home to some of the most sought-after Cabernet Sauvignon in America, Napa Valley’s Oakville district stretches across the center of Napa's valley floor and foothills between the Vaca and Mayacamas Mountains. This AVA is home to the legendary To Kalon Vineyard and Martha's Vineyard, as well as many powerhouse wineries including Screaming Eagle, Silver Oak, Robert Mondavi, Opus One, Far Niente and Groth.
The climate is generally warm and agreeable, resulting in year after year of favorable vintages. Summer days see a gentle tug of war between warmer inland air and the cool air coming in from the San Pablo Bay, creating an ideal environment to grow red varieties. Oakville's diverse soils, namely ancient sea bedrock, clay and gravel, are well-drained, and perfect for high-caliber viticulture.
Cabernet here is often bottled varietally but is also popular in Bordeaux Blends. Oakville wines are known for their silky, sensual textures, structured tannins, dark and brooding fruit and lovely aromatics. These age-worthy and prestigious wines are favored by collectors throughout the world.