What Are the Best Opus One Vintages? | Vinfolio

Choosing the best Opus One vintages isn’t an easy task. This Napa Valley producer crafts some of the most collectible and delicious “cult” wines in all of California; as an investor or a collector, you really can’t go wrong with any vintage.

That said, some vintages will likely appeal more to you than others. If you’re an investor looking to turn a profit from reselling your Opus One wines, you’ll want to pay special attention to the vintages that are particularly valuable, rare, and highly rated. Our guide to the best Opus One vintages will help you narrow down your choices and build a rewarding collection of these iconic wines.

The Best Opus One Vintages To Invest In

There are many ways to rank the best Opus One vintages, but one of the most useful for investors is to rank the wines by average critic score. Even if you don’t plan on drinking the wine yourself, critic scores can tell you which wines are most likely to be attractive to collectors long-term.

When collectors drink a high-quality Opus One vintage, they’re permanently taking that bottle out of market circulation. This creates a significant gap between the available supply of that vintage and demand for the wine among collectors. The wider this supply and demand gap is, the more valuable that wine will typically become as the years tick by; many investors are able to turn a profit from their Opus One bottles within eight to ten years after initial release.

With this in mind, here are some of the best Opus One vintages released in recent years:

Historically, the following vintages also received top scores from critics and are considered some of the finest the winery has ever produced:

There are other fine older vintages worth investing in as well, however, it’s generally best to buy these wines relatively young, since they’re at their lowest price shortly after release. This increases your chances of getting a higher return on your investment.

Four Ways To Spot An Investment-Worthy Vintage

While it’s useful to have a specific list of the best Opus One vintages in history, it’s even more important to know how to identify a top-quality vintage for yourself. After all, if you plan on continuing to build your Opus One collection, you’ll need at least a basic knowledge of what sets a truly great vintage apart from an average one. You can apply these guidelines to any investment-worthy vintage you encounter.

1. Read the Tasting Notes

Generally, the more simplistic and fruit-driven a wine is, the less age-worthy it will be. This is why many collectors love Opus One’s more complex and well-balanced vintages because these wines age for decades and often make for a more interesting drinking experience. A good balance of high acidity, tannins, and alcohol allows the best Opus One vintages to age for 20 to 30 years or more.

By comparison, some of the more fruit-driven vintages age for 15 to 20 years, which is still a considerable amount of time, just not quite as long as some of the producer’s finest years. You can find clues about the wine’s balance in tasting notes written by professional wine critics. Usually, the best and most age-worthy vintages will include terms like:

• • Rich
  • Powerful
  • Complex
  • Aromatic
  • Decadent
  • Racy
  • Energetic
  • Lively
  • Bright
  • Elegant

However, you shouldn’t rely on tasting notes alone. You should also look carefully at average scores.

2. Choose Vintages With the Highest Scores 

Most professional critics use a standard rating system of one to 100, with 100 being a perfect score. However, some critics, like Jancis Robinson, use a system ranked from one to 20, with 20 being a perfect score. While all critics have their own preferences and subjective tastes, you can get a fairly accurate view of the best Opus One vintages by looking at the average scores.

Generally, any wine with a score of 95 points or higher (or a score of 17 points or higher by critics like Robinson) is an exceptional wine. Many Opus One vintages fall under this category, which explains why they’re so investment-worthy. But, if you want to invest in only the cream of the crop, pay close attention to the vintages that receive scores of 98 points or more (or, in the case of Robinson, 19 points or more). These are the truly legendary wines that have been known to increase significantly in price year after year.

3. Note the Drinking Window 

Professional critics often also include an ideal drinking window in their reviews. This is the time when they believe the wine will reach its peak in terms of flavor and complexity. These windows are not exact, especially while the wine is still young, but they are based on the critic’s extensive experience and are usually pretty reliable.

The main quality to look for in the best Opus One vintages is a long drinking window that’s many years out from now. Often, this means investing in young vintages shortly after release, as they likely won’t come of age for another 20 to 30 years. Buying young wine is also one of the most cost-effective ways to build an Opus One collection, as the wines tend to increase significantly in cost as they approach maturity.

You can invest in older vintages, so long as the drinking window is still a few years away. If it’s a particularly rare vintage or one that received a perfect score from a reputable critic like Robert Parker or Jeb Dunnuck, then it could increase in value quite a bit from the time you purchase it until you decide to sell, even if it’s estimated to reach its peak just five years from now. In general, though, buying Opus One as early as possible is the better method.

4. Determine Whether the Wine Is Rare 

Opus One usually produces 25,000 cases of wine per year, but it only crafts its flagship Opus One label in years when the grape quality is spectacular. This automatically makes these wines somewhat rare.

To find the top vintages though, you’ll need to look for other rare qualities. For instance, if production was especially low that year, it could be a wine worth investing more heavily in, as supply is likely going to be much lower than demand. Or, if the wine is a milestone for the winery (like the first wine it ever produced, or that features a change in the label or blend), it’s going to be rarer and more valuable than average.

Now that you know what to look for in the best Opus One vintages, below you’ll find a number of tips on making the highest profit possible from your collection.

How To Get the Highest Return on Your Opus One Investment

To get the highest return on your Opus One investment, buy bottles from a trustworthy retailer. Some of the best retailers have direct connections to the winery and are able to offer the best Opus One vintages directly from the estate. Alternatively, if you want to buy an older vintage that was previously owned by someone else, choose a retailer that inspects every wine it sells on its marketplace. This ensures the authenticity of the wine as well as the pristine condition of the bottle. Being able to prove the wine’s authenticity is important for preserving its provenance and value.

Another tip is to buy the flagship Opus One label, rather than its second wine, Overture. While Overture is an exceptional wine, it’s not as collectible or valuable as the flagship. So, if your goal is to turn a profit, focus on the main attraction.

Finally, you should store your Opus One bottles professionally until you’re ready to sell them. Proper storage ensures that your wines mature under the best possible environmental conditions. It’s also the easiest and most cost-effective way to maintain your collection while you wait up to a decade or more for the wine to reach its highest value. When it comes time to sell, you can also use a reseller that offers professional storage services. This is the fastest way to get your wine on the marketplace, as you won’t have to ship it to the auction house first.

A top-quality wine like Opus One is truly special, and by taking great care of your collection, you’ll see why so many investors and collectors have come to love that classic blue and gold label.

Looking for the best Opus One vintages to invest in? Vinfolio is your partner in buying, selling, and professional storage. Contact us today to get access to the world’s finest wine.