Discover BC's newest wine region - Harvest 2012 update
The 2012 harvest in the estate vineyard at Fort Berens Estate Winery started on September 21st and was completed on October 25th. We are very excited about both the quality and the quantity of the fruit this year. The flavours are impressive and the fruit was very clean. The quantity allows us to continue the transition from grapes sourced from the Okanagan to grapes from our estate vineyard in Lillooet.
Overall, the 2012 growing season was quite good, with a long frost free period. The spring was warmer than last year, which encouraged earlier bud break (May 1st) – about one week ahead of 2011. A cool yet dry May & June period resulted in bloom starting on June 20th. Summer temperatures were average with a few hot spikes in July, where temperatures approached 40c. The temperatures in September and early October were higher than average with lots of sun and no rain till mid October. Second half of October was much cooler. During harvest we saw balanced development of sugar and acids in our early whites and reds. The cooler second half of October required some patience with our later varieties including Cabernet Franc and Riesling.
Lack of rain, good air movement throughout the season and low humidity resulted in a very low disease pressure. With a new deer & bear fence and bird netting on our red (and gris) varieties, we saw little loss to wildlife.
In addition to the 47.5 tons harvested from the Estate Vineyard in Lillooet, we sourced approximately 15 tons from the Okanagan. Total production in 2012 will exceed 4,000 cases with more than 75% of the grapes coming from our estate vineyard in Lillooet. This is a significant growth in production aimed at fulfilling the strong demand for our wines.
The first 2012 wines, including our Pinot Gris, Riesling, Pinot Noir Rosé and 23 Camels White will be released at the Vancouver International Wine Festival from Feb 25th till March 3rd 2013.
While our production is growing quickly, many of our wines are still short in supply and high in demand as our wines continue to perform well in international competitions. The best way to assure access to these limited production award winning wines is to join the Discovery Club, where membership has some tasty privileges.
The Fort Berens Discovery Wine Club - Join Now
Join Fort Berens new Discovery Club, where membership has some tasty privileges; special member pricing and access to coveted library wines make this deal that much sweeter. Get award winning wines delivered right to your door.
Your Discovery Club membership guarantees that you’ll be the first to sample the terroir of Lillooet. And with our limited production, we’re making Discovery Club available to an exclusive 500 members in the first year. Now that’s something special.
