2015 Opus One

98 POINTS

James Suckling

Purity and brilliance on the nose with so much currant and flower character. Roses, currant bush and fresh leaves, too. Brightness is the word that comes to mind. Full-bodied and broad-shouldered. Juicy and so gorgeous now. Balance is so wonderful here. All about harmonious fruit and tannin balance. I like it slightly better than the excellent 2014. 81% cabernet sauvignon, 4% petit verdot, 7% cabernet franc, 6% merlot and 2% malbec. Drink or hold.

97 POINTS

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW - Wine Advocate

“This wine was too much—too much like a caricature for me,” winemaker Michael Silacci confessed to me while tasting the 2015 Opus One together again recently. “So, when we took it out of barrel to prepare for bottling we added a few more components.” Medium to deep garnet-purple color, it bursts from the glass with beautiful violets, lavender, rose hip tea and chocolate-covered cherries scents over a core of crushed blackberries, black cherries, cassis and iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is wonderfully bright and crunchy, with bags of fresh black and red berries and a wonderfully plush, finely grained texture, finishing long and fragrant.

97 POINTS

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW - Wine Advocate

Composed of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 6% Merlot and 2% Malbec, Opus One's 2015 Proprietary Red Wine is truly an iron fist in a velvet glove, delivering a powerhouse of flavors and structure with a seductively plush texture. It opens with a deep garnet-purple color and wonderfully spicy notes of cinnamon stick, cloves and fenugreek with a core of cherry preserves, redcurrant jelly, blackberry pie and warm plums plus hints of camphor, lavender and cigar box. Full-bodied, rich and bold in the mouth, it fills the palate with exotic spice-laced black and red fruits, framed by firm, beautifully ripe, grainy tannins and great freshness, finishing with epic persistence. Although it is already approachable, allow it another 3-5 years in bottle for its myriad of subtle accents to fully blossom and then drink it over the next 30+ years.

97 POINTS

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW - Wine Advocate

Blended of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 4% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 3% Malbec and displaying a medium to deep garnet-purple color, the Opus One 2015 Proprietary Red Wine is a sexy, beautiful spice-bomb, with tons of cinnamon stick, cloves, fenugreek and pepper notes springing forth over a core of mulberries, plum preserves, blackberry pie and fragrant earth plus a waft of lavender. The palate is big, voluptuous and totally decadent, with velvety tannins and just enough freshness framing the rich, spicy black fruits, finishing with a lovely perfumed lift. This wine was tasted as a tank sample, but it is due to be bottled soon.

97 POINTS

Antonio Galloni MW - Vinous

The 2015 Opus One is rich, sensual and super-polished. That said, 2015 has really shut down since I tasted it last year, which is probably a very good sign for the future. All of the fruit intensity and ripeness of the vintage is evident, but the wine feels a bit more compact and less exuberant than it did at the outset. Sweet floral and spice notes add a gentler touch as the wine opens up just a bit with air.

97 POINTS

Antonio Galloni MW - Vinous

The 2015 Opus One is a terrific example of the year. Super-ripe and flamboyant in style, with tons of fruit pushed forward, the 2015 has a lot to offer. Today, the primary intensity of the fruit and some of the new oak need time to subside, but there is a lot to look forward to. A rush of super-ripe red cherry, plum, mocha, espresso and wild flowers build into the huge, creamy finish.

96 POINTS

Gary Walsh - The Wine Front

Such a pleasure tasting 2015, 2014 and 2013 together, The family resemblance is strong, yet the influence of vintage (birth year, if you like), gives individual character. Importer: Airoldi It’s rich and fleshy, bolts of purple velour rolling out, or so it feels. Violet, mocha, cassis, blueberry. Full-bodied, fat and thick with ripe silty and chocolaty tannin, and for all the wall-of-sound black fruit flavour, there’s still an inner mouth-perfume that charms most convincingly. Long and full in the finish, with cocoa tannin and earthy flavours.  A bolder, almost throbbing iteration, but super nonetheless.

96 POINTS

Antonio Galloni MW - Vinous

Points: 96+ The 2015 Opus One is just as fabulous from bottle as it was from barrel. Dark, sumptuous and voluptuous in the glass, with no hard edges, the 2015 captures all the essence of the vintage while retaining a good bit of aromatic freshness. At this stage, the new oak is still a bit prominent, but that should not be an issue as the wine ages. There is more than enough depth for the 2015 to develop positively for 20-25 years, perhaps more. Just bottled a month prior to this tasting, the 2015 is naturally a bit more reticent than it has been in the past. Winemaker Michael Silacci add that the 2015 will, in his view, follow a similar trajectory to the 2008, which he later opened for the sake of comparison. In my view, the 2015 will always be more extroverted, although it does need time to be at its most expressive. The blend is 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 6% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec.