Fort Berens does Lillooet proud

Photo: Fort Berens winery at Lillooet Fort Berens Estate Winery was included the first time in the Okanagan Wine Tour Guide that Luke Whittall and I released this spring. The winery, of course, is in Lillooet, at least a three-hour drive from the Okanagan. The reason for adding the winery to the guide is that wine touring has long since expanded beyond the Okanagan. During the first five edition, the Tour Guide gradually expanded to include all wineries in the British Columbia interior. The drive to Lillooet, whether from Kamloops or from Whistler, is a great scenic road trip. The reward at the end of the drive is a winery with very good wines and with excellent food services. Here is an excerpt on Fort Berens from the Tour Guide. I have taken to reproducing excerpts because the book was released in later April when, due to COVID-19 restrictions, no one was touring wineries or looking for a thorough wine touring guide. With a flair for history, Dutch immigrants Rolf de Bruin and Heleen Pannekoek named their winery after an 1859 Hudson’s Bay Company trading post that was never completed. In contrast, their $7.5-million winery, completed in 2014, anchors one of British Columbia’s newest wine regions. Trained in economics and finance at the University of Groningen, the couple left high-powered careers in the Netherlands to become wine growers. “One of the primary reasons why we chose to start a vineyard was that we could not foresee ourselves working in a corporate environment and having kids,” Rolf says. They arrived in the Okanagan in 2008 with two young children. They found the cost of Okanagan-vineyard land prohibitive. On the advice of viticulturist Richard Cleave, they leased property at the edge of Lillooet and planted 8 hectares (20 acres) of vines in 2009. The vineyard was not entirely a shot in the dark. BC Electric Company planted grapes in the late 1960s on its experimental farm near Lillooet, managed by Robert Roshard. In 2005 his daughter, Christ’l Roshard, then Lillooet’s mayor, planted a small test plot of vines to kick-start economic diversification. Two years later, the provincial government and the BC Grapegrowers’ Association launched a multiyear viticultural trial at five vineyards near Lillooet. With the encouraging results from this project, Rolf and Heleen undertook a large-scale planting of vinifera. When that succeeded, they doubled the vineyard in 2018 and 2019. Fort Berens bottled wine from the 2007 and 2008 vintages they had purchased—the owners needed something to sell when the winery opened—and sourced grapes from both the Okanagan and Similkameen while waiting for their vineyard to produce. Lillooet has proven well suited for grapes. The growing season is as hot, if not hotter, than Osoyoos. The wide diurnal swings between hot days and cool nights result in full-flavoured grapes with good acidity. Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, and Riesling and even Cabernet Sauvignon and Grüner Veltliner are successful here. With its excellent wines and its restaurant, Fort Berens is giving Lillooet the economic lift that Christ’l Roshard was seeking in 2005. Four other vineyards and a second winery have since been established in the Lillooet region. A two-hour drive north of Whistler, Lillooet (population 2,300), dramatically sited beside the Fraser River, no longer is too remote for wine touring. Here are notes on the current releases.

Fort Berens Chardonnay 2019 ($20.99 for 663 cases). Seventy-five percent of this wine was fermented in stainless steel; the rest in French oak barrels. The wine was barrel-aged for seven months. The result is an appealing fruit-forward Chardonnay, with aromas and flavours of apples, pears and pineapples. The oak portion adds a touch of butter to the flavour palate. The finish is crisp and fresh. 90.

Fort Berens White Gold 2018 ($29.99 for 248 cases). This is a reserve Chardonnay from a special block on the winery’s Lillooet vineyard. The wine was fermented in French oak barrels, primarily with natural yeast. It begins with aromas of vanilla. Butter and stone fruit. On the palate, the wine is rich and creamy, with flavours of ripe apples and peaches mingled with subtle notes of oak. 92.

Fort Berens Cabernet Franc 2018 ($28.99 for 904 cases). Half the grapes were fermented as whole clusters to promote carbonic maceration. The result is a wine with bright, expressive fruit aromas and flavours – aromas and flavours of raspberry, cherry and blackberry. Light chilling accentuates the vibrant fruit. The finish is long. 91.

Fort Berens Cabernet Franc Reserve 2018 ($36.99 for 247 cases). The fruit was fermented with wild yeast and the wine was aged 14 months in barrel. Dark in colour, the wine begins with aromas of plum, blackberry and cherry. With good intensity on the palate, the wine delivers layered flavours of cherry, blackberry and black currant. The finish is persistent. 93. Fort Berens Meritage 2018 ($27.99 for 2,159 cases). This is a blend of 68% Merlot, 30% Cabernet

Sauvignon and 28% Cabernet Franc. Grapes were sourced in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys as well as the estate vineyard. The wine was fermented in stainless steel and aged about a year in French and American oak barrels. It begins with aromas of cherry, plum and chocolate. Rich in texture, it delivers flavours of plum, black currant and dark cherry with touch of vanilla and mocha. 91.

Fort Berens Meritage Reserve 2018 ($36.99 for 330 cases). This is a blend of 57% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Franc and 17% Cabernet Sauvignon. The winery took considerable pains to build complexity into this wine. A portion of the Cabernet Franc was passimento style (partly air dried). While 75% of the Merlot and Cabernet Franc were crushed, the remainder was left as whole clusters. The Cabernet Sauvignon portion had 48 hours of cold maceration before being crushed and fermented. This portion also was aged in American oak. The wine begins with aromas of vanilla, raspberries and cherries. The long, ripe tannins contribute to the rich texture. There are flavours of blackberry, black cherry, chocolate, vanilla, with a lingering spice on the finish. 92-93.