Our Provenance Guarantee
Purchase with confidence. All of our wines are selectively sourced and thoroughly inspected for authenticity and signs of poor storage. Accepted bottles are preserved in our climate-controlled cellar until they reach your doorstep. We have no storefront and no walk-in traffic, so nothing is moved or handled between inspection and shipping.
The bottle you see photographed is the bottle you receive (or fundamentally identical when multiple bottles are listed), and our commitment to you is that it arrives as represented. If it doesn’t, we want to hear from you.
Ratings & Tasting Notes:
100 points — Decanter (September 2019)
The reviewer, who professes real affection for the 2012, gives the 2013 the edge — just as concentrated and full of fruit, but with acidity and floral nuance balancing the richness. Dark rosemary spice and black olive paste deepen the flavours through the mid-palate, and the wine spirals on, drawing out to a lengthy finish. 18 days of skin contact.
100 points — James Suckling (September 2016)
Suckling calls it the greatest Opus ever made. Terrific aromas of crushed blackcurrants, blueberries and flowers with hints of sweet tobacco, roses exuding opulence and class. Full-bodied, with a superb balance of ultra-fine tannins and vibrant acidity, and a complex aftertaste of black and citrus fruit that is extremely persistent. Approachable and enjoyable on release, though he expected it to be better still from 2019 onward, and judged it a wine that will always be beautiful to drink.
98 points — Wine Advocate (February 2021)
Deep garnet in colour, needing a little swirling before exploding with preserved black and blue fruits — blueberry compote, blackberry pie, blackcurrant cordial — giving way to unsmoked cigars, new leather, beef drippings and menthol, with wafts of roasted rosemary and rose oil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is both powerful and ethereal, charged with energy and backed by profound black fruits, supported by plush tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long and beautifully perfumed.
96 points — Vinous (Antonio Galloni, December 2024)
A powerful, dense wine. A blast of dark-fleshed fruit, leather, spice, tobacco, menthol and liquorice races across the palate, and the 2013 still possesses notable textural depth. Galloni finds the aromatics a little open, suggesting a wine that has entered its first plateau of maturity.
Cult Wines International Notes:
Opus One was founded in 1979 as a joint venture between Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Château Mouton Rothschild — a deliberate marriage of Napa Valley fruit and Bordeaux winemaking, and the first venture of its kind between a California estate and a First Growth. The partnership produced a single wine from the outset, drawing on estate parcels in the western reaches of the Oakville AVA, and released its inaugural 1979 vintage in 1984. More than four decades on, Opus One remains the reference point for the Napa Bordeaux blend and one of the few California labels traded internationally as a blue chip.
2013 is widely held to be one of the finest Napa vintages of the decade — a long, even, near-flawless growing season that delivered ripeness and structure together rather than trading one for the other. The blend is 79% Cabernet Sauvignon with 7% Cabernet Franc, 6% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec, given 18 days of skin contact. The wine is deep garnet and unmistakably powerful: crushed blackcurrant, blueberry compote, blackberry, roses and violets over unsmoked cigars, new leather, menthol, liquorice, black olive and roasted rosemary. It is dense and full-bodied yet carried with real lift, its ultra-fine, plush tannins set against vibrant acidity and a long, perfumed finish. Two publications scored it perfect, and it now sits on the first plateau of a long maturity.
Bottle Size:
750 mL
Storage History:
Always stored on its side in a climate-controlled cellar.
Condition:
Please note: The bottle shown is the exact bottle being sold.
Outstanding condition.
