The winery is across the street from the Robert Mondavi Winery in the Napa area (technically in Oakville) and was originally called Napamedoc until 1982 when it was renamed to Opus One. The location is not a coincidence as it was founded as a joint venture between Baron Philippe de Rothschild and Robert Mondavi in 1978. While Napa has a great reputation today, the joint venture in with the Rothschilds was a big development at the time and was a sort of stamp of approval at the time. The first vintage was released in 1984 and held the rank as the most expensive Californian wine, at $50, for some time. Interestingly, when Robert Mondavi was purchased by Constellation Brands in 2004, Baron Rothschild negotiated with Constellation Brands to remain in control of the marketing and management of the vineyard.
Pictures of the winery here:
https://www.opusonewinery.com/
I clicked on this post because, though I'm ashamed to say it - I have never been to Napa. My interest has been peaked by this class, however, and as a first-timer my instinct is to find the "best" wineries to see.
ReplyDeleteDid you know are over 500 wineries in Napa valley? Talk about product proliferation - wine tourism appears to be facing the classic problems of a crowded marketplace. In the first-timer guides I read, Opus One was mentioned a few times but there was little consistency across publications. With 50% of wineries in Napa producing Cabernet Sauvignon, how are consumers supposed to differentiate between different wineries? It seems that wineries are facing the same problem that their wines are in grocery stores - how is one supposed to develop brand loyalty when so many wines seem incredibly similar?
The discussion in class around "bringing the experience to the customer" and potentially linking wine experiences with Airbnb partially answers this question. I also believe a winery that truly differentiated it's look (e.g. architecture), style (e.g. plays hip hop music for customers on entry), and wine offerings would have an advantage in this space.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment! It's nothing to be ashamed of, I went for the first time only this quarter. The 500 figure of wineries in Napa was surprising to me as well. I only learned of it when I was working on the midterm and came across the figure. Totally agree on the proliferation of wineries in Napa. When we visited, I had trouble picking which wineries to go to and as you mentioned often had trouble finding consistency across different publications. I ultimately relied on recommendations from friends as well as the hotel where we were staying. I also tend to care about the scenery and atmosphere of the winery and so while the quality of wine is a factor, I ended up picking wineries that seemed like they would be a nice place to sit at.
ReplyDeletei never know the use of adobe shadow until i saw this post. thank you for this! this is very helpful. Winery Limassol
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