Opus One love hate relationship
Napa Valley and Opus One
No Wine region in the world has experienced such rapid growth than Napa Valley, California. In just a few decades, Napa Valley has gone through a complete transformation from inexpensive jug-wine to world renowned wine destination. The turning point for this wonderful transformation took place at the rise of Opus One. The winery released its first vintage in 1984, 5 years after its first harvest in 1979. Since, for a very long time, a bottle of Opus One was the most expensive wine in the entire valley at $50 each, which is roughly about $200 in today value. In 1981, the first annual Auction-for-Charity was organized in Napa Valley; one bid was for a case of Opus One topped out as the most expensive at $24,000. Napa Valley wine country was no longer the same.
Cult followers
It didn’t take very long to Opus One to find its way to the heart of many wine lovers world wide. In the 1990s, Opus One forever imprinted its name as part of the California Cult Wine. Cult wine is a group of wealthy individual with very expensive tastes for wines, often spending hundreds of thousands dollars on high-end wine for consumption, collection and even investments.
Nowadays, even at an annual production of 25,000 cases, Opus One insists on having no wine club membership. More than half of its production will be enjoyed by wine lovers in Asia and Europe. The winery needs little help on selling out each vintage year after year.
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder
Many claim that Opus One is too expensive at $55 a taste or $365 a bottle, well if you come to sip on wine, then perhaps it is. Opus One is more than just a drink, it is an experience, an escape and for lack of better word, it is music in a glass as each note captures your senses one sip at a time.
