a commercial license over the next two years. “It will take decades to truly


Wine industry expert Harry McWatters has been the strategic consultant for Fort Berens Estate Winery since its beginning.


uncover what grapes excel here and contribute to a unique regional identity,” said Eckardt Zeidler.” There is a huge range ofmicroclimates and we need to entirely understand how all the parts fit together and this takes time and patience. Although the usual varieties grown


in the Okanagan are doing well at Texas Creek, Zeidler is looking for standout wines which not everyone may recognize fromtheir names, or in the case of Blattner Swiss hybrids, their numbers. These hybrids were named after the


grapes fromsome of her father’s salvaged vines and tomake wine for their own enjoyment. In 2004, Roshard led a small group


of farmers in a re-examination of the future of wine grapes in Lillooet. The group wasmotivated in hopes


of replacing jobs lost to a declining forest industry and collapse of ginseng production. A report on growing wine grapes in


the Lillooet-Lytton area released in March 2012 provided favorable data on climate and feasibility. Wine industry expert Harry


McWatters, who has been the strategic consultant to the Fort Berens group since the beginning, is particularly impressed with the support of the local community for Fort Berens. “The town council and entire


community are very supportive and interested in the project. About 80 per cent of Lillooet’s residents can see the vineyard because of the way it is situated in the valley, so they can watch development,”McWatters said. McWatters, Roshard and Pat Bell,


provincialminister of agriculture at the time, were early supporters of de Bruin and Pannekoek. Dutch immigrants, the couple


originally wanted to establish a winery in the Okanagan, but the high price of landmade themlook elsewhere. Two experienced viticulturists


Richard Cleave and John Vielvoye suggested Lillooet, based on


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promising small-scale vineyard trials spearheaded by Roshard. In 2009, Pannekoek and de Bruin


planted 20 acres of vines—Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Franc—and opened Fort BerensWinery. Planning is underway to plant an


additional 20 acres. Texas Creek Ranch, the other


commercial Lillooet winery, is taking a slow, experimental approach to building production. The immediate plans are to produce only theminimumcases required for


noted Swiss breeder Valentin Blattner who is reputed to have been impressed with the Lillooet area when he visited some years ago. “One of our favorite andmost


unique wines ismade fromBlattner 50.25.02,” Zeidler said. He and his teamare grafting


50.25.02 asmuch as they can to increase production but the only source of budwood anywhere is their own vines. With a few thousand acres of viable


vineyard land the future of the Lillooet wine industry is promising according toMcWatters. “Lots of lights, good airmovement


T:4.75”


just above the river, hot by day, cool at night—it’s similar to the extreme south end of the Okanagan,” he said.


T:3.75”


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