The 2020 vintage started out a little shaky in the Okanagan.
Spring was wetter and cooler than usual and fruit set was less than ideal. But as the season unfolded, that signature golden Okanagan sunshine prevailed, holding all the way through to harvest. Great things happen when adversity is thwarted — and that 2020 vintage has provided Canada’s first 100-point red wine, Oculus by Mission Hill, as scored earlier this month by B.C. wine writer, John Schreiner.
No wine writer knows this wine better than Schreiner, who has documented its continual improvement over 23 vintages. The 2020 is a Bordeaux-style blend of 49% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot and was fermented with extended maceration in French oak and concrete tanks, then aged 19 months in French oak. “The wine begins with appealing aromas of cassis, spice and dark cherry,” Schreiner notes. “The long and silky tannins support flavours of dark fruits with a hint of chocolate. The finish is persistent. A tour de force!”
On the wine’s debut in 1997, Schreiner described Oculus as “the first icon wine to come out of the Okanagan.” Indeed, that was the intent of Anthony von Mandl when he acquired a bankrupt winery in the 1980s and rebuilt it as Mission Hill. He had a vision to craft exceptional wines that would play with the big guns from anywhere in the world. That dream was fulfilled in 1994 when Mission Hill Family Estate won the International Wine & Spirit Competition in London for Top Chardonnay Worldwide. The Oculus project was launched three years later, originally with famed New Zealand winemaker, John Simes, at the helm. He guided the wine through continual improvements in the 2000s, involving significant investments in equipment as well as in the vineyards, foreshadowing the pinnacle achievement that is Oculus today.
Oculus 2020 is available direct from Mission Hill.
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