1998 Opus One

But at what QPR?

I paid about $100 at post off prices with case discount. Now selling for $200. If I sell one of the two cases that I bought, I would be drinking for free and still have $1200 in my pocket. So, what is the QPR?

Good QPR from when you bought. Not so good now.

I'm not sure that when one buys a bottle of any "luxury" wine that one looks at QPR as a factor. Once you get above about $20-$30 dollars a bottle QPR kid of goes out the window. Nobody asks about the QPR of a bottle of classified Bordeaux or Grand Cru Burgundy and what is the QPR of a bottle of absolute plonk even if it's free? Am I a fan of Opus? No. Is it overpriced? Probably. But they sell out every year and there is a certain cache to some wines that can't be explained by price versus quality or value.

If Opus 1 were the quality level of a 3rd or 4th growth Bordeaux, I can see it but at $200, I can buy 2nd and 3rd growths that are better. For example, I have a recently purchased Leoville Las Cases 2004 for $139. Much better buy to me. I collect Leoville so the cost, while extravagant is OK by me. Sure beat my 2005 futures cost.

I'm not sure that the classification system is all that valid these days as there are over performers all over Bordeaux these days..as well as a few under performers. Certainly Leoville Las Cases is a perennial favorite of mine as is the Poyferre and who would guess that Lynch Bages is a Fifth Growth. I found the 1998 Opus to be much better than I anticipated regardless of how much it cost on realease, purchase or now. I'm going to put in a blind line-up of my weekly tasting group next week and see how it fares.

I don't think this holds for me. Though in my case (I do spend more than $30 a bottle, but rarely), spending more than $40 is something I do for things like vintage port or Sauternes which are wines difficult to compare with other wines at a lower price.

A lot of my wine buying is things like German Riesling, and wines from the Loire and the Rhone where I find there is quite a lot of wine that is (for me) high QPR.

Well, _some_ of us do think about the QPR of classified Bordeaux, and some of us don't buy it. I might like the QPR of the right bottle, but I know too little and it would be expensive experimentation.

I certainly agree with you that the QPR of undrinkable plonk is zero, and thus presumably lower than that of Opus One. So I don't spend much money on undrinkable plonk, and when I do it is an accident. (Though I do buy plenty of what I think of as semi-decent plonk!) Similarly though, I don't spend much on Opus One, and since I can't get _any_ without spending a lot, what I actually spend on Opus One is zero.

But if you could buy it for say, $30 would you?

Given its reputation, I'd certainly buy it for that price at least once. Whether I'd do it more than once of course would depend on my impression on drinking it.

Then, maybe though it is not my favorite California Meritage.

I have had several vintages of Opus 1 up against vintages of similar quality from Bordeaux and they just don't match up head to head well. Certainly, Opus 1 is its own wine and has its own qualities. But as the price has ratcheted up over time, its value has not held up.

I understand. Opus was never a favorite of mine due to the very issues that you relate. The '98 was the last vintage that I bought. I purchased cases of earlier vintages and once sold a case of 1995 to the Bruce Springsteen entourage via a local catering outfit for a whopping profit....I guess when The Boss wanted Opus, he got Opus! I was surprised by the quality of the 1998 eleven years after release as it was much, much better than I expected and quite honestly I think many would have a hard time picking it as New World as it has become quite Bordeaux like.