In 2001 the release of its 20th vintage – the 1998 – was met with gala events in Tokyo and Hong Kong. International demand for the wine continued, and in 1999 Opus One celebrated its 20th anniversary by holding vertical tastings and gala dinners in Oakville, New York, Paris and London. This same year Opus One exported a share of its 1985 vintage – and became the first ultra-premium California wine to be sold in France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland. Three years later, Baron Philippe de Rothschild died in France at the age of 85 and Baroness Philippine de Rothschild took the reins of the family wine business. ![]() Opus One then became known as America’s first ultra-premium wine, establishing a category of wine priced by the bottle at $50 and above.įollowing Lucien Sionneau’s retirement in 1985, Patrick Léon joined Château Mouton Rothschild as winemaker and Timothy Mondavi as co-winemaker of Opus One. The 19 vintages were simultaneously unveiled in 1984 as Opus One’s first release. Two days later he proposed an additional word: “Opus One”. Baron Philippe announced his choice, “Opus,” a musical expression denoting the first masterwork of a composer. The partners agreed to choose a name of Latin origin for the joint venture, allowing for easy recognition in both English and French. In 1982 Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild began label design. In 1981 a single case of the joint venture wine sold for $24,000 at the first Napa Valley Wine Auction – the highest price ever paid for a California wine. The following year the partners officially announced their joint venture. The room is actually a semicircle, like the courtyard above it.Ĭhâteau Mouton Rothschild winemaker Lucien Sionneau and Robert Mondavi’s son Timothy made the partnership’s first vintage at the Robert Mondavi Winery in 1979. Seen from its center, the Grand Chai appears to curve into infinity. One thousand barrels are arranged side by side in the Grand Chai, where the wine is nurtured and aged in new French oak during the first year of its life. Beyond its glass walls an entire vintage of Opus One rests in the Grand Chai, the cool, semi-circular cellar that lies directly under the sheltering earthen berm. Just on the other side of those walls, the wine begins its second year of barrel aging in ideal cellar conditions.Īn allée leads out from the Gallery, and the architecture ushers guests toward the heart of the winery – the Opus One Tasting Room. On the lower level of Opus One, classic metal sconces focus parabolas of light against the stark walls of the Gallery. These exquisite flowers complement the winery without interfering with the winemaking. Scentless orchids are placed throughout Opus One. At the foot of the bright stairwell, a faint scent of oak greets the senses for the first time.Ī lush orchid is in bloom on a round table at the center of the stairwell. The wine is aged on the lower level in the cool of the winery’s cellars. The descent from the naturally lit Rotunda to the dimly lit subterranean level is dramatic – and purposeful. One element of style that helps create this elegant mood is the use of mirror images – a device consistently used in classical European architecture. The stairwell, like the upper level of the winery, has a formal feeling, even though contemporary, light and understated. At its center, softly dappled light pours through a pyramidal skylight, illuminating the spiral stairway that leads down to the Gallery - the main entry to the cellar level of Opus One. The Rotunda, with its glazed yellow interior, has an inviting, comfortable ambiance. The building’s architect, Scott Johnson, refers to Opus One as being “introverted, like a jewel box.” Its hemispheric form nestles in the earth and is surrounded by a grassy berm. Similarly, the winery itself is integrated into the land around it. The balusters are “cast” in negative space. The Eastern perspective that an object and the space around it are of equal importance is reflected in the balustrade of the spiral stairway. ![]() As elsewhere in Opus One, hand-plastered walls and ceilings are finished with a gesso of pale yet luminous yellow. A room furnished with seeming contradictions, the Salon is a deft merging of Old and New World sensibilities. Brightly-glazed, modern ceramics line a fifteenth-century limestone mantel. In the Salon, the winery’s most formal space, eighteenth-century Italian opera chairs face contemporary chenille sofas and suede seating. And just as it honors the land, it honors the light. The quiet profile of Opus One blends with the natural surroundings – the vineyards and rolling hills of the Napa Valley. ![]() Modern materials – California redwood and stainless steel – are juxtaposed against cream-colored Texas limestone. The winery, like the wine, joins New World and Old World aesthetics. Defined by colonnades on either side, a central courtyard introduces an architectural motif found throughout the building.
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