Top 10 Small Wineries in Canada
We are absolutely thrilled to share with you that we were named to the “Top 10 Small Wineries in Canada” list in the prestigious 2024 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada! This is the second time in the last three years that we’ve made this list.
National Wine Awards of Canada
The 2024 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada were held from June 21-25, 2024 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. This year, the national wine competition featured approximately 1,800 entries from across the country. The judging was completed by an esteemed panel of judges including Canada’s leading wine writers, journalists, sommeliers, buyers, and industry professionals, along with some international judges.
We are incredibly honoured that Fort Berens Estate Winery was named in the list of “Top 10 Small Wineries in Canada” twice in the last three years. This achievement is a result of the hard work, dedication, determination, and passion of an incredible team of winemakers and grape growers. We are so proud of our entire team.
Our winemaking and grape growing team is led by our winemaker Alessandro (Alex) Nel, who joined us back in 2021. Alex explained, “My first vintage at Fort Berens was really learning about the unique terroir and growing conditions in Lillooet. It was also about deciding on which styles of wines I wanted to make moving forward and which blocks fit into those wines. In 2022, everything really fell into place at the right time. The growing season and harvest went well. We had a super team. We had more estate fruit than ever before because of the expansion of our estate vineyard, which helped with both the quality and consistency of our wines. Plus we had an amazing collection of barrels to work with.”
We are so proud to help showcase the incredible capacity and growth of this emerging wine region here in Lillooet. This incredible recognition further validates the potential of Lillooet. We are deeply honoured. Thank you for being a part of our journey.
Summary of Awards 
This prestigious list is determined by the total score of the top 5 wines entered in the competition. Here is a summary of the key awards we received in this competition:
- Top 10 Small Wineries in Canada (#9)
- Top 25 Wineries in Canada (#19)
- 3 Gold Medals for our Chardonnay Reserve White Gold 2022, Pinot Noir 2022, and Small Lot Grüner Veltliner 2023
- 3 Silver Medals for our Red Gold 2020, Riesling Reserve 2022, and Riesling 2023
If you would like to order any of our wines, please check out our online store, visit us in our tasting room, or ask for our wines at your favourite fine wine stores and restaurants.
Our tasting room is open daily from 10am-6pm in Lillooet, including daily throughout the BC Day long weekend. Lillooet is a beautiful drive from anywhere. We would love to welcome you to Fort Berens Estate Winery and to Lillooet.
FORT BERENS ESTATE WINERY Ltd
1881 Highway 99 North, PO Box 758, Lillooet, British Columbia
tf: 1-877-956-7768 t: 250-256-7788 f: 250-256-7780
Information and image courtesy of the winery.
