Winemaker Alex Nel.
When we first met winemaker Alex Nel at Fort Berens Estate Winery back in 2022, our story carried a simple, powerful title: Perseverance Pays Off. At the time, Lillooet’s pioneering winery had weathered heat domes, the growing pains of a young wine region, and the usual roller coaster that comes with farming in a place that tests the limits of viticulture. But none of us could have predicted just how much more perseverance the next few years would demand.
Read MoreOur first visit to Fort Beren’s Winery in Lillooet, British Columbia in 2021 was nothing short of a revelation.
A most unique terroir.
Not only was it surprising that this remote location was capable of growing grapes, but in the right hands, those grapes could be turned into high quality wine. When owners Rolf de Bruin and his wife Heleen Pannekoek needed a new winemaker, their search lead them halfway around the world to an even more remote place in South Africa.
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Rolf de Bruin.
The word ‘pioneer’ gets bandied about a lot, but it truly takes vision to open the first commercial winery nowadays in a region with barely any viticultural history. It certainly wasn’t the first place Rolf de Bruin and his wife Heleen Pannekoek had considered for a winery when they emigrated from Holland, but heading into their 11th harvest, they’re already making their mark on BC’s rapidly developing wine scene at Fort Berens.
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