By DEAN TUDOR

The Time and Date: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 11:30 AM to 5 PM
The Event: an all day session with Mission Hill Family Estate: the Oculus Vintage Affair.
We had a luncheon with Anthony von Mandl (proprietor) and Ingo Grady (director of Wine Education). Both spoke about the wines, the new release of Oculus 2005 and the inaugural releases of Perpetua (a new single vineyard chardonnay) and the premium red blend Quatrain. This was followed by Grady’s masterclass, which added the unreleased Oculus 2006 for a vertical tasting.
The Venue: Spoke Club, 600 King Street West, downtown Toronto
The Target Audience: wine press, sommeliers
The Availability/Catalogue: all of the wines are available via LCBO, Consignment, or Private Order.
The Quote: « This is our first ever Eastern Canada launch« . During the masterclass, Grady’s presentation was augmented by an extensive handbook. While Oculus has the same four grapes (M/CS/CF/PV), the proportions vary from year to year, the French oak aging time varies, the use of new oak varies, etc.
The Wines: we tasted a variety of VQA wines* at the luncheon, the seminar, and the open portfolio tasting.
I did not have time to taste the non-VQA wines. Read More »