A few weeks ago, my wife and I spent a weekend visiting friends in Birken, a very small town past Whistler, past Pemberton, with the next major town being Lillooet. Yup, the focus of this weeks column is Lillooet of all places.
Its because of our very long drive through snowy mountains and fertile valleys that I recognize the giant leap of faith that Dutch immigrants Rolf de Bruin and Heleen Pannekoek took in 2005 when they decided to grow grapes in what has just become Canadas newest wine region. Originally hoping to break ground in the Okanagan, the availability and cost of land was too prohibitive, resulting in them following the recommendation of legendary B.C. viticulturist (or vineyard guru) Richard Cleave and heading over the northwest horizon.
Lets get some myths and assumptions out of the way, shall we?
First off, the elevation isnt as high as youd imagine, holding fort at about 230 metres compared with Whistler Villages 675. Second, and probably most important, though the region is in The Great Beyond, its quite hot in the summer and their grape-growing season stretches out just a tad longer than Oliver or Osoyoos in the South Okanagan. An extra benefit is that its quite rare for the mercury to go past the 35 mark, a crucial threshold where,when surpassed, grapevines temporarily shut down, as is known to occur occasionally in the Okanagan. The gravel and mineral-rich soil is the result of glacial deposits, and is low on organic material making the roots of the vines work extra hard, having an upshot of better-quality fruit.
For now, Heleen and Rolfs vines are quite young and only producing enough decent grapes to do a couple of full-fledged estate wines, the rest of their bottling being partially or wholly composed of Okanagan fruit. Since were talking about Lillooet vineyards and Lillooet terroir this week, well focus on the two wines that are composed from 100 per cent Lillooet grapes.
Fort Berens 2011 Riesling ( $19-ish) is a rich, fruit-forward wine loaded with pineapple, peach, apple and blood orange. Theres a good dose of residual sugar on the finish and a honeyed element making it a really good match for anything spicy. In fact, Id wager itll envelop as much heat as you can throw at it. Theres the slightest hint of an old-school British Scrumpy apple cider in there as well, a kind of tangy, savoury edge. With no shortage of flavour, complexity and character, and that unique edge to it, Im interested to find out what others will think of it. Its quirky, but I really dig it. Give it a whirl and let me know.
There shouldnt be a hung jury with Fort Berens 2011 Pinot Noir Rosé ( $18-ish), however. The cheery, raspberry and cherry-laden pink wine should prove to be a crowd pleaser that at 90 cases will sell out quickly. A brilliant rosy hue, the wine totally glides along with clean acidity, keeping all of those berries buoyed with red plums and white flowers strewn all over the place. A fairly dry style, dont go too spicy food-wise on this one, but feel free to barbecue some salmon and pour it liberally for you and your friends.
Fort Berens wines are available at private wine stores and the winery direct, . Dont forget to follow me on Twitter for wine musings and other tidbits or drop by
