Palate
Elegant, even soft in its youth, this vintage will grow in complexity and unfold the nuance of flavors. The vintage yielded wines of great structure and balance with a sweet middle palate, layering fruit and oak aromas.
Growing Conditions
The estate vineyards of Opus One, comprised of 4 parcels, sit in the western portion of the famed Oakville AVA. Two parcels, totaling 100 acres, are within the renowned To Kalon Vineyard. These are complemented by the combined 70 acres of the Ballestra and River parcels, which envelop the winery. In the vineyards, hand-harvesting and other traditional approaches are taken wherever they work best. When modern techniques benefit the winegrowing process, they are researched, evaluated and integrated into practice.
With the release of the 1991 vintage of Opus One celebrates the first wine made entirely at their new winery located in California's world famous Napa Valley. The growing season presented ideal conditions for Opus One's Bordeaux grape varieties to develop the intense, ripe fruit flavors, along with the structure and character necessary to produce balanced, elegant, world class wines. Seventeen inches of rain in March ended the prospect of a drought year. The growing season was extremely long and cool, producing a large crop and a late harvest.
Winemaking
Skin Contact: 33 days
Aging
Barrel Aging: 15 months in new French oak
