Fort Berens can deal with challenging vintages

Photo: Alex Nel, the South African winemaker at Fort Berens

The current releases from the Fort Berens Estate Winery in Lillooet include three red wines from the 2021 vintage – the year of the heat spike. In June 2021, the winery reports that Lillooet recorded its highest temperature ever, at 48◦C. Fortunately for the health of the vines, to say nothing of the vineyard workers, the weather moderated after the heat spike; there was even a little more than average rain in the rest of the season. The red varietals had a long hang time and yields were above average. The reds were rich and bold.

That vintage was the first full harvest in Lillooet for Alex Nel, the talented South African winemaker recruited by Fort Berens in 2020. “We were very fortunate to find Alex Nel through an international search,” said Rolf de Bruin, the co-founder of Fort Berens. Alex succeeded Danny Hattingh, another South African winemaker who had worked at Fort Berens from 2014 through the 2018 vintage. “Having worked with Danny, we knew that South African winemakers are highly educated, often with work experience around the globe,” Rolf said of the decision to recruit Alex. “There was a great fit, as Alex worked in a remote area in South Africa, which made the move to Lillooet seem like a step toward a more urban lifestyle.”

The decision to hire Alex was made in March 2020. Due to the Covid pandemic, Alex was unable to leave South Africa until December 2020. “Luckily, Danny Hattingh was willing to jump back in for the 2020 vintage,” Rolf says. “Alex took over in January 2021 to finish the wines for bottling.” And he started the 2021 Fort Berens vintage by pruning the vines last spring.

Alex is a 2008 graduate of the renowned Elsenburg Agricultural Training Institute (where Danny also trained). In addition to doing harvests in New Zealand and California, Alex was the winemaker and brewmaster at Cederberg Wines, a family-owned South African winery highly rated for wines from its high-altitude terroir. Alex has made several changes to the winemaking protocols at Fort Berens. The white wines are fermented cool and with aromatic yeasts to produce fresh and lively wines. The red grapes now get a two-day cold soak on the skins, along with punch-downs during ferment and maceration in the skins to extract flavour. He has also moved the winery to the use of French oak. The notes on the current releases also show a preference for aging at least some of the reds in neutral oak so that wood flavours do not obscure the fruit flavours.

One wine in the current release package is a Pinot Noir from the 2022 vintage, a year that started cool but finished with a long, even period of ripening and a comparatively late harvest. Unfortunately, that set many vineyards up for bud and vine damage from the extreme cold in December. Consequently, bud damage reduced the yields at Fort Berens (as with so many B.C. vineyards). “Overall, based on the latest harvest data, we expect this vintage [2023] to be about 30% of a normal crop,” Rolf writes in notes accompanying the current release. “In addition to crop loss, the vineyard also suffered from some isolated vine loss,” Rolf continues. “We consider ourselves fortunate to have lost just 8% of our vines, where Wine Growers BC reported that 29% of all the vineyards will have to be replanted. Our block of Cabernet Sauvignon suffered about the greatest loss with just about 50% of the vines not budding out this spring. As climate research shows that winters will become warmer, and that the likelihood of these severe cold winter periods will decrease, we decided to replant our Cabernet Sauvignon in June. In 2024 we will replace the vines we lost in other blocks.”

Rolf also writes picking decisions were complicated by the way the fruit developed in the 2023 season. “This year, Alex reported that he relied much more heavily on the flavour profile than on the lab analysis [of the grapes]. The fruit developed quite differently this year with lighter crop load. It certainly ripened sooner with our harvest starting earlier than usual.” The challenges of the past three vintages have not deterred Alex from his determination to produce wines so excellent that some might be included in Decanter’s annual Top 50 wines. He has already achieved that once, with the Cederberg Five Generations Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 have been chosen for a previous Decanter Top 50.

Here are notes on the currant Fort Berens red wine release.

Fort Berens Pinot Noir 2022 ($34.99 for 794 cases). The fruit for this wine came from two Okanagan vineyards – one in Summerland and one on the Naramata Bench. The lots were kept separate, crushed and after a two-day cold soak, were inoculated with a Burgundy yeast strain. Three pump-overs a day were done during fermentation to extract fruit flavours. The wine was aged nine months in mostly neutral oak barrels. This is a fruit-forward wine with aromas and flavours of raspberry and cherry. The tannins are long and the wine is medium-bodied. 90.

Fort Berens Small Lot Merlot 2021 ($32.99 for 343 cases). The fruit is from the winery’s two Lillooet vineyards. The grapes, after being crushed, were allowed two days cold soaking on the skins. Pump-overs were done every four hours during fermentation and the wine macerated on the skins three days after fermentation. The wine was aged 15 months in neutral oak barrels. This wine begins with aromas of cassis and cherry. On the generous palate, there are flavours of cherry and plum with a hint of spice. The tannins are long, supporting a persistent finish of sweet fruit. 91.

Fort Berens Cabernet Franc 2021 ($32.99 for 1,029 cases). The fruit is from the winery’s Lillooet vineyards and from an Osoyoos vineyard. The grapes, after being crushed, spent two days on the skins before fermentation started. Fermentation temperatures were allowed to rise to 28◦C, with pump-overs every four hours to maximize flavour extraction. After a nine-day post-ferment maceration on the skins, the wine was aged 15 months in oak (five percent new). The wine begins with aromas of cassis, blueberry and blackberry. The long, ripe tannins support a rich texture and flavours of dark fruits with a touch of spice. 92.

Fort Berens Meritage 2021 ($31.99 for 1,835 cases). The winery also bottled 72 cases of wine in 375 ml. The blend is 64% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Cabernet Franc. The fruit is from a vineyard near Osoyoos. Each varietal was vinified separately and aged 15 months on oak barrels. The blend was assembled after the wine had aged. The wine begins with aromas of black cherry, plum and cassis. This is echoed on the palate, along with a note of mocha. The long, ripe tannins promote a long finish. 92.