Mission Hill Family Estate 2014 Oculus

Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

$125

One of the highlights of this year’s Vancouver International Wine Festival was the retrospective tasting of Mission Hill’s flagship red blend, Oculus. Library tastings are always a good gauge of how a wine is evolving, showing where the style was and where it’s headed. Eight wines were poured, presented in two groups, 2005-2009 and 2012-2014. The tasting showed Oculus is definitely going in the right direction — the youngest wine stood out amongst a strong collection of polished and flavourful blends.

As chief winemaker Darryl Brooker explained, Mother Nature played a large role in shaping the 2014 Oculus. A warm and early spring was followed by a dry summer and warm autumn, allowing grape varieties to achieve optimal ripeness. “An absolutely stunning year,” Brooker explained during the tasting. “It was a really long growing season that was never too hot or too cool. An amazing year for all varieties, but certainly Bordeaux reds are going to be the ones that shine.” The result is a ripe and rich model of Oculus that’s immediately appealing, but also has the stuffing to age. It’s a blend of 50 percent Merlot, 24 percent Cabernet Franc, 22 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and four percent Petit Verdot, aged in French and American oak for 15 months. The fruit came from Mission Hill prime estate vineyards in Osoyoos (83 percent) and Oliver (17 percent). Set for release next year, the 2014 Oculus promises to be the measuring stick for this Okanagan icon going forward. Highly recommended.