opus one 2005

After a long summer one of the things to look forward to is the annual presale luncheon for Opus One. This year it was at JJ's on the plaza and I have to say the filet I had was great. It was interesting listening to Gina Voci talk about Mr Mondavi and how much of a presence he was in her professional life. The mondavi's have not had control of this property for a few years but the spirit is still there.

The lunch started off with a Deutz Champagne blanc de blanc...lots of creamy mousse and toasty notes but very light and elegant. had to have 2 glasses...

Opus One 2005 a big brusing wine that will need time to decant or sit in cellar. One of the reasons it is so pricey they have little women brought in from the Dominican Republic who sort the little trays of grapes as they come in. Field hands are told not to send any bad bunches or else, and then these little women, 20 according to Stephen Molloy, sort through and pick out any bad grapes in the bunches and they are also destemmed so that there is nothing but natural grape tannin. ok part of this is true...they do sort out very meticulously Dominican or not. they also only use new french oak barrels which are over $1000 a piece..

so they have their reasons for charging as much as they do...and actually compared to things like harlan or screaming eagle or maya or....they are a bargain. this wine should be a 10 to 15 year ager.