Mission Hill releases 2020 Oculus

Photo: John Simes

John Simes, the legendary winemaker at Mission Hill Family Estate, retired in 2015 but his fingerprints are all over the portfolio still, perhaps most notably with Oculus, the winery’s ultra premium red blend. A native of New Zealand, he joined Mission Hill in 1992. The first 500-case vintage of Oculus was blended in 1997, one of the earliest icon wines in the Okanagan. I provided details on every vintage from 1997 to 2015 in my 2017 book, Icon: Flagship Wines from British Columbia’s Best Wineries. Here is an excerpt:

Launched in the 1997 vintage, Oculus was the first icon wine to come out of the Okanagan. The price of Oculus [$125 for the 2013] has nearly quadrupled since its debut, but that can be justified by Mission Hill’s ongoing investment in making a wine of international quality. John Simes, the now-retired winemaker, told me in 2013: “Every year we continue to learn new methods and techniques as we strive to elevate the quality of every vintage.”

Now one of the largest vineyard owners in the Okanagan, Mission Hill had just begun developing its estate vineyards when Oculus was created. The first vintage was made with grapes purchased from a Black Sage Road vineyard that was acquired the following year by Mission Hill. The Osoyoos Lake East Bench vineyards that Mission Hill began planting in 1997 were soon producing the best Bordeaux varietals in most years. Oculus was made entirely with Osoyoos grapes in 1998. Osoyoos grapes have predominated in every vintage since, except for 2005. The first four vintages of Oculus were aged in both French and American oak. The decision in 2001 to use French oak exclusively and age the wines more than 12 months in barrel took the quality of Oculus up a notch.

In 2004, Michel Rolland, the legendary Bordeaux winemaking consultant, was asked for his advice. Mission Hill had already built an underground cellar ideally suited to aging wine in barrels. The consultant recommended major upgrades to the winemaking technology. “Starting in 2005 and 2006, we effectively built a small winery inside the big winery,” John Simes said. “There was significant investment in equipment that allowed us to really elevate what we could do, as winemakers, with those premium red grapes.” The small winery was equipped with sophisticated sorting tables, allowing only the best individual grapes to go into the fermenting tanks. Michel Rolland also recommended using oak fermentation tanks able to handle the fermenting grapes gently. And he recommended using a basket press— which is gentler than a bladder press—to squeeze the liquid from the skins at the end of fermentation. This careful handling avoids extracting harsh tannins. The consultant’s impact was immediately evident in the elegance of the 2005 Oculus. He continues to consult on the blending of Oculus.

Further gains in the quality of Oculus have come from the vineyards. Aside from the five strong vintages between 2005 and 2009, vineyard practices have improved. Drip irrigation, which replaced overhead sprinklers, enables precise delivery of water to the vines. Compost now nourishes the soils. Aerial photography (with aircraft or drones) guides the detailed management of vineyard blocks. The vines, which are now mature, produce deeply flavoured grapes. In the challenging cool vintages of 2010 and 2011, the vineyards still delivered Oculus-quality grapes to the winery.

“I think the future is tremendous,” John Simes said in 2013. “We are just starting, really. Our oldest vines that go into Oculus were planted in 1997 in Osoyoos. That is like 12 or 13 harvests that have come off that vineyard. That is nothing. In terms of what we can do in the vineyard and how we turn it into wine here, there are tremendous opportunities ahead of us. We don’t even know what they are yet.”

Because of winemaker turnover at Mission Hill since John retired, I am not certain who blended Oculus 2020, which I recently tasted at the winery. Taylor Whelan, the current senior winemaker, posted a comment in July on the wine: “The 2020 Oculus is a remarkable wine; balanced, nuanced, and powerful. Showcasing the dense red and dark fruit and velvety tannins that Border Vista vineyard is known for, the 23rd vintage of this wine is among the best we have produced.” The winery benefitted that 2020 was one of the strongest vintages to date in the Okanagan.

Oculus 2020 ($185). This is a blend of 49% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. The wine was fermented with extended maceration in French oak and concrete tanks. It was aged 19 months in French oak. The wine begins with appealing aromas of cassis, spice and dark cherry. The long and silky tannins support flavours of dark fruits with a hint of chocolate. The finish is persistent. A tour de force! 100.