Opus One earns prestigious Butterfly Mark
Napa winery Opus One has achieved the Butterfly Mark, a sustainability certification created specifically for super-premium brands by Positive Luxury.
Established in 2011, the Butterfly Mark is a stamp of approval recognising exceptional sustainability in ultra luxury brands. The brainchild of London-based consultancy firm Positive Luxury, the Butterfly Mark is designed to hold top-end companies to higher standards so that they can “lead” from the front.
“We believe luxury should lead and have the highest standards for sustainability,” reads a mission statement on the Positive Luxury website.
All of the parameters are tailored specifically to super-premium firms, and annual fees to maintain the Butterfly Mark can stretch to £50,000 for a company earning a turnover of £100 million or more. According to Positive Luxury, the Butterfly Mark is the only sustainability measurement tool “designed for the specific social, environmental, and material risks of the luxury industry.”
Global companies to currently hold the Butterfly Mark span the luxury arc from fashion, skincare and homeware brands to food and drink producers, and currently include jeweller Monica Vinader, fashion label Erdem, lingerie brand Coco de Mer and Marbella Club Hotel, among others.
Now Opus One, the winery founded by Baron Philippe de Rothschild and Robert Mondavi in 1978 in Oakville, Napa Valley, has joined the butterfly ranks.
Strict regulations
Assessment for prospective Butterfly Mark holders is rigorous and frequent, and can take around a year to complete. While a B-Corp certified company only has to re-certify every three years, those wanting to keep the Butterfly Mark must re-certify every two years.
In order to qualify, Opus One underwent an independent assessment, during which it had to provide evidence of the changes the fine wine producer has made, and continues to make, across key issues relating to climate, nature and water (Environment), the treatment of workers and communities (Social), and responsible and ethical business management (Governance). To meet minimum standards a business must achieve at least 50% in all of these areas.
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All companies shooting for the Butterfly Mark are issued an account manager to advise and assist them through the process, and once the mark has been obtained consumers can find out more about the company via the Connected Butterfly Mark (a QR code businesses can embed online or in stores which shows which areas the brand are excelling in and which require more focus).
Opus one: a collector’s wine
Bottles of Opus One often sell for several thousand pounds per bottle on the secondary market. The highest price achieved at auction so far was US$2.4 million for a “Chair’s Lot” of Opus One at the 2015 Auction Napa Valley. Separately, a 100-case collection of the 1979 vintage sold in China via Sothebys for US$165,000 in 2013.
Only six Californian wine producers made it into last year’s Power 100 list, a global ranking of fine wine brands traded on Liv-ex, and Opus One was one of them, just missing out on a spot in the Top 20 by a hair’s breadth, coming in at position 21. The average trading price of Opus One wines was £2,770 per lot. However, the Napa producer slipped significantly down the list in 2024, having held fourth place in 2023.
In terms of the wines themselves, Opus One makes two red wines in the Bordeaux manner – Opus One, the estate or first wine, and Overture, the estate second wine, both blends of Bordeaux grapes.
This year, the winery appointed its first director of winemaking, Meghan Zobeck, formerly of fellow California winery Screaming Eagle, “to oversee the cellar, harvest, laboratory and bottling departments.” Winemaker Michael Silacci, who has held the role for 24 years, retains final approval for blending, harvest and operational activities.
According to Positive Luxury, Opus One achieving the Butterfly Marks demonstrates its “commitment to transforming luxury, for the good of all”.
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