Fort Berens Estate Winery Pinot Noir 2022

Deborah Podurgiel WSET IV Candidate rated this wine as 92/100 with the following review:

I always enjoy tasting the new releases of Pinot Noir from Fort Berens Estate Winery. Each vintage is a little different with the 2018 and 2021 vintages being completely different from each other and again, the 2022 vintage, produced from mostly estate grown grapes for the winery’s Red Rock Vineyard, is very different.

Pale ruby in the glass, the 2022 vintage does have the typical red berry, raspberry, strawberry and a hint of baking spice flavours on the palate, but right from the get-go, it is fragrant with earthy, meaty, sous bois and wood notes on the nose and palate. Enticing and elegant, it is a complex story, balanced with fresh acidity and does keep you wanting for more, because besides being very tasty, it’s very intriguing.

From one of the earliest harvests, grapes were hand-picked, destemmed, crushed, and allowed to cold soak for two days prior to being inoculated with a Burgundy yeast strain. Extraction was gentle with three pump overs a day during fermentation and the wine was aged nine months in mostly neutral French oak barrels with three percent in new French oak.

The winery suggested serving it with pan-seared duck breast, which we did, and it was an absolutely delicious and spot-on pairing. Tasted January 2024.