![]() The interesting thing, was that at no point were we profiled negatively. ![]() I was under-dressed for this winery, in just jeans and a tee shirt, but my wife made up for me by looking much better (although she too had jeans on). The day we visited, we were greeted immediately by the most gracious hostess, who thoroughly explained all the details needed while visiting Opus One. ![]() Light stone, glass, and steel make up the most unusual winery in the area. The grounds are impeccable and simplistic, not a thing out of place. If you appreciate modern architecture, you simply must visit Opus while staying in California Wine Country. 4) Upon going back to our Bed & Breakfast and talking w/locals, they agreed, that Opus has an “over hyped” reputation to uphold for non-locals.īeautiful grounds and views are deserving of a higher than 2 rating, but the wine, staff, and lack of value for the money is why we won't return for $50 for two people to have two glasses of sub par wine. 3) The gate wasn't open for tastings until we called via intercom, giving the impression (as verified upon entering the winery), that's it's "better than most”, almost an elitist attitude. 2) It was probably, in my opinion, in the lower 1/3 of the wines tasted over the weekend at several other “by appt only” wineries. My #2 rating can be summed up as this: 1) Overpriced ($25 for each person for one wine, that's a Bordeaux Blend for $165 a bottle). After reading about the "mystique" of Opus One, and being told how great the wine and overall experience is at the winery, we had a tasting there. ![]() My fiancé and I were in Napa over the Memorial Day Weekend, booked several reservations, including one at Opus. Don't waste your time as there are so many wonderful wineries in Napa Valley that put so much passion into what they do, unfortunately Opus One is not one of them. I understand that Opus One is a "brand name" and the Asian markets help drive the price point, but overall a disappointment. The wines very both very polished, lacking any uniqueness or depth. There was no descriptions of the vintages offered, no tasting profiles, not even a brief history on the wines. I was offered a by the glass pour of the 20, which was interesting to me, but I chose to do both, costing $100 ($60 for the 2005, $40 for the 2010) then I was offered to be seated at the lounge furniture outside. Arriving at the founders room, I was ignored for a good 5 minutes before finally being acknowledged. The gentleman that escorted me to the "tasting room" was very pleasant and by far the only positive experience of the visit. The initial reception is cold, kinda of a your just another number type attitude. Opus was #193 for me and I have to say it is at the bottom of my list with Cakebread and Black Stallion for the worst winery experiences. I am a transplant Napa Valley Local, on a mission to taste at 100 wineries per year, while living here. The costs for tasting a glass of wine is 35 to 40 dollar. Did Imention that he didn't even give us advice on the different wines they offered? Well, forget it. Sorry, if I go to a shop to buy a 250 dollar let's say electronic device then I expect much more support. Then he even didn't give us the bottle, but put it at the counter close to him so that my girlfriend had difficulties reaching it. He also dropped my credit card to the floor. During the payment process he didn't give my ID back to me directly but dropped it on the counter. He was talking to us, then before I was able to say something turning to some other people - that actually happened three times. I am not judging whether the building is nice or not, but what I expect from the people serving me while buying this really expensive wine is some attention and consulting. Okay, I would never say one bottle of wine is worth 250 dollar, but we wanted to buy a gift for friends, so we stopped at the opus one winery. We visited 6 and they were all quite a marvelous experience. The rudeness we encountered in Opus One was an exception in Calistoga/Napa. This was $65 a pour for Opus! The horrible experience was saved by a wine pourer, a very gracious Asian American, who explained everything to us when we summoned her. Once in the tasting room, there were children running around - surely they were not tasting! The tall male pourer at the counter was equally rude and did not explain any of the wine we tasted from the menu. Do we have to taste to buy? How about the 2 designated drivers? To think my brother, who has a vacation home in Calistoga, just bought a case of Overture the week before. There were 8 of us coming from all over the United States and she would not allow all of us to enter if not all would do the tasting. Unfortunately, when we visited on July 17 at about 1 pm, the woman at the reception was very rude and condescending. Opus One offers wonderful wine in a beautiful setting marred by unfriendly staff.
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