Opus One 2021 Red Wine, Napa Valley

The Opus One 2021 doesn’t storm the room. It steps in, composed—its presence felt before it’s named. The aromatics layer black cherry reduction with cassis, shaded by violet, cedar bark, and a subtle graphite undercurrent. Balanced, not showy. 

Then comes the initial sip, bright with freshness. Deep blackberry and blueberry emerge, folded into tea-leaf complexity and touches of licorice and dark chocolate. The mid-palate is plush—fine-grained tannins drape it in velvet, while tension from oak and soil keeps it upright. 

The scorecard is nearly perfect. Multiple critics land in the high 90s—Vinous calls it “vibrant, layered, sensual”; Dunnuck praises its purity and precision; Suckling hears violets, graphite, cherry blossom, and a poised calm intensity. 

That gravity comes from lineage. Born of a marriage between Mondavi and Rothschild’s winemaking legacies since 1978, Opus One sits on Oakville’s To Kalon and Ballestra parcels. Every small sub-lot is handled with intent—from vineyard to barrel—resulting in a wine that’s simultaneously Napa in breadth and Bordeaux in restraint. 

The 2021 vintage pushed character into form. Faced with one of the driest seasons on record, the team managed drought stress meticulously—low yields, focused maturity, long hang time. The result is concentration without muscle, detail without flash. 

This isn’t a bottle that shouts for attention; it earns quiet reverence. It stays with you—not because it’s dramatic, but because it’s precise, layered, and asks only to be tasted again.

Opus One 2021—the power of Napa, framed in finesse.