Summer is slowly winding down. But we can still enjoy time on our patios with a glass of BC wine. Here are two BC wines from Lillooet’s Fort Berens Estate Winery you may wish to try. I am tasting their Fort Berens Estate Winery Pinot Gris 2025 and Fort Berens Estate Winery Rosé 2025. The grapes come from their estate, are vegan-friendly, and are certified sustainable. Let me tell you about these two wines.
My Wine Tasting Notes
Fort Berens Estate Winery Pinot Gris 2025 (BC $23.99++)
Winemaker’s notes, “The grapes were hand-picked, destemmed, crushed, and left on the skins for 4 hours for optimal flavour extraction. The wine was made with minimal oxygen contact to maintain the freshness and fruit-forward flavours. It underwent an extended slow, cold fermentation at 11 degrees to enhance the aromatic profile. Post fermentation, the wine was aged for 4 months on the lees to give a full, creamy texture.”
Appearance: A clear, bright, medium-intensity lemon colour in the glass.
Nose: Medium-plus intensity aromas of citrus mainly, with a lesser amount of stone fruits and a touch of lees. Interestingly, with swirling, I also picked up lime, mint, and capsium aromas. After decanting, the lime aroma was most prominent, and I was now getting guava, along with the citrus aromas. No more lees, mint, and capsicum aromas.
Palate: Dry, medium-minus to medium bodied with a lean, lightly round mouthfeel. Medium-plus acidity leaves an acidic prickle on your tongue. Citrus mainly and citrus pith with a touch of stone fruit (pears) and some stoniness. The stoniness gets stronger toward the finish. With swirling the flavours now included lime and pine needles. Fully medium-bodied after decanting with a thicker mouthfeel. Pepperiness to start, rather than just on the finish. Citrus and guava flavours with strong stoniness. No capsicum or pine needle flavours.
Finish: Medium-plus length finishing with citrus and citrus pith, stoniness, and some pepperiness. No change to the finish after decanting.
A wine with bright citrus flavours and lively acidity. A short decant opens the aroma variation and flavours and offers a fuller body. No need to decant as either way is quite enjoyable.
Rating: 
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The Fort Berens Estate Winery Pinot Gris 2025 shows a bright medium lemon colour with medium-plus aromas of citrus, stone fruit, and a touch of lees, with lime, mint, and capsicum appearing with swirling. After decanting, lime and guava become more prominent while the lees, mint, and capsicum notes disappear. The palate is dry and medium-minus to medium-bodied with a lean, lightly rounded mouthfeel and fresh acidity, offering citrus, citrus pith, pear, and stony flavours, with lime and pine needles appearing with air. It finishes medium-plus in length with citrus, citrus pith, strong stoniness, and a touch of pepperiness.
Fort Berens Estate Winery Rosé 2025 (BC $23.99++)
Winemaker’s notes, “This wine is predominantly made with Pinot Noir and Merlot grapes, with a touch of Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The 100% estate grown grapes were hand-picked, destemmed, and crushed to allow for skin contact of up to 12 hours. After the perfect colour was achieved, the grapes were lightly pressed, followed by a long and cold fermentation.”
Appearance: A clear, bright, medium-intensity orange-rose petal colour.
Nose: Medium-minus intensity aromas of red fruits and pomegranates. With some swirling I also get strawberry aromas and some grape stem. No change to the aromas after decanting.
Palate: This wine is dry, medium-plus body and a lean, thicker mouthfeel. Bright, tart, red fruits and pomegranates along with some stoniness and a touch of grapestem bitterness toward the finish. With swirling, I also picked up strawberry flavours. Light tannins. Medium-plus to high acidity, leaving a medium acidic prickle in your mouth. No change to the flavours or body after decanting.
Finish: Medium-plus to long length, finishing with tart red fruit flavours, some bitter grape stem, a touch of pepperiness, and stoniness. Less pepperiness on the finish after decanting.
No need to decant. Lively red fruit flavours and grape stem bitterness.
Rating: The Fort Berens Estate Winery Rosé 2025 shows a bright medium-intensity orange-rose petal colour with medium-minus aromas of red fruit and pomegranate, plus strawberry and grape stem with swirling. The palate is dry and medium-plus in body with a lean, thicker mouthfeel and bright acidity, offering tart red fruit, pomegranate, strawberry, stoniness, and a touch of grape stem bitterness, supported by light tannins. It finishes medium-plus to long with tart red fruit, grape stem bitterness, stoniness, and a touch of pepperiness, which becomes lighter after decanting.
Where Can I Buy These Wines?
You can order both wines online from the Fort Berens website:
Both wines are available to purchase in person at BC Liquor stores and at select Everything Wine stores.
