Tasting Note:  As the name suggests this a blend of Bordeaux varieties intended to express excellence in a slightly more rugged style priced below the manicured Oculus. This is hugely impressive on the nose with flavours flooding the palate. It pours deep ruby, with just a touch of garnet in the rim. The nose blasts blackcurrant, mint/menthol, dried pine needle, graphite and dark chocolate.  Great aromatics with cabernet sauvignon dominance on display.  It is full bodied, dense and almost thick, yet poised with firm acidity and youthful, starchy but well-proportioned tannin. Finishes very dry and fades at bit more quickly than hoped after the aromatic fireworks, but it is still in the realm of excellent length.  I would lay this away until the early 2030s, and expect it to age gracefully beyond 2040.

Backgrounder:  Compendium is one of three wines in Mission Hill’s Legacy Series of ‘almost top-tier’, with Oculus occupying the pedestal. Compendium is compiled of the same Bordeaux varieties, and made in very much the same way as Oculus – so it is largely a matter of lot and barrel selections. The fruit originates in the South Okanagan, with slightly warmer Osoyoos East at 48%, Osoyoos West 12% and Black Sage Bench 40%. This sourcing enables ripe Osoyoos cabernet sauvignon to dominate at 41%.  Merlot follows at 36% then Cabernet Franc at 23%. The warm, dry and long 2022 vintage was ideal for this style. The fruit was hand harvested from specifically designated blocks.