Joint vintage

THE SECOND GENERATION of the dynasties that combined forces to produce top Californian wine Opus One laugh as the photographer takes their picture. He asks Timothy Mondavi to perch on the arm of the chair that Baroness Philippine de Rothschild is sitting on. 'We look like we're married,' she says. 'We have been,' Mondavi replies, 'for 20 years.'

The Opus One partnership is not a real marriage but it joins two of the most important winemaking families in two of the most important winegrowing regions on two continents: the Rothschilds from Bordeaux in France and the Mondavis from California's Napa Valley. The joint venture, started by Rothschild's father Baron Philippe and Mondavi's father Robert, produced its first vintage of Opus One 22 years ago.

Rothschild is the owner of the premier grand cru Chateau Mouton-Rothschild (as well as Chateaux d'Armailhac and Clerc Milon, all in Pauillac) while Mondavi is vice-chairman, winemaker and winegrower for the Robert Mondavi Winery. Both visited Tokyo and Hong Kong recently to celebrate the release of Opus One's 1998 vintage, which is the winery's 20th.

Prior to this interview, Rothschild and Mondavi led a vertical tasting of all 20 vintages of Opus One for food and beverage professionals. This segued into a long lunch, accompanied by several more bottles. The two scions were lighthearted, but surprisingly sober.

The joint venture is an equal partnership between the two families and both defer to each other in conversation and later, while giving speeches as the guests of honour at a black-tie dinner held at Grissini restaurant in the Grand Hyatt hotel. 'Opus One is an exchange between our two families of ideas and techniques,' Mondavi says when asked how the New World and Old World families were able to work together. 'Sometimes we fight but we're working towards a common goal of making the best wine we can.'

The wine is unusual in that it is a classic Bordeaux blend made in a country where single varietal bottles is the norm.

'Opus One is not a Mondavi Reserve, it's not a Mouton-Rothschild - it's Opus One,' says Rothschild. 'It has the benefit of the combined knowledge of both our families, without any of the problems.'