Opus One Napa Valley Red 2017

A remarkable wine for the year, the 2017 Opus One is a dense, full-throttle beauty. Plush fruit and soft, silky contours give the 2017 its racy personality. Exotic, beautifully perfumed and impeccable in its balance, Opus One is one of the most complete wines of the vintage. In 2017, Opus One has a distinctly red-toned fruit profile that distinguishes it from the surrounding vintages.

Opus One had picked 91% of their fruit before the fires started in 2017, and only two lots were eliminated from consideration. The 2017 Opus One, bottled in July 2019, is a blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8.5% Petit Verdot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 4.5% Merlot and 1% Malbec. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it slowly grows on the nose, revealing compelling notes of baked black cherries, mulberries, black raspberries, warm cassis and blackberry pie with nuances of spice cake, yeast extract, tapenade, licorice and dusty soil with a waft of wild sage. Medium-bodied, the palate has a lively skip in its step, featuring bags of juicy raspberry and cassis-laced fruit and a refreshing line, supported by ripe, plush tannins, finishing long and graceful.

Bright, almost forward plum and red currant fruit is sleek and fresh in feel. Not as dense as the other top vintages, but in proportion, with alder- and sandalwood-edged structure thats fine-grained, along with a touch of floral lift through the finish that helps to offset the ever-so-slightly clipped feel that is this vintages marker. Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. -- Non-blind Opus One vertical (July 2025). Best from 2027 through 2037. 27,800 cases made.