Fort Berens Estate Winery Ltd — Attraction in Lillooet

I bought my boyfriend and my friend yesterday to visit this winery which we drove two hours from whistler to visit. I have been here once before and enjoy my experience that time, however this time was a different story! I was very embarrassed on how one of your staff members treated us and that I had recommend this spot of us to visit. When we arrived to your winery we were greeted right away and asked if we were coming for food and a wine tasting which we said yes to both and even had looked at the menu and talked about what we wanted. The lady helped us with the tasting but took a while since she was the only one out front and seemed to be a little overwhelmed. Once the tasting was finished we said that we would each like a glass of wine while we eat and later we were going to purchase 4 bottles of wine. At that point we were told the kitchen closed at 4:00pm which was not stated when we said yes we wanted food or we would have eaten first (it was also 4:00pm on the dot). The women apologized to us and even went out of her way to ask the chef if she would make us something because it was miscommunication. The chef agreed and we were greatful for that. We were told that we had to order the 3 glasses of wine outside on the patio from the waitress out there. As soon as we even stepped foot on the patio the waitress outside said “the patio is closed for the night” I explained to her what happened and said the chef agreed to make us one dish. She stated “we were discussing that but no one had talked to me about it” she then looked down at her phone and continued to text but within 10 seconds said again “that would mean I would have to serve you! I’m going to go inside and talk to them”. At this point I had enough and told her “it’s ok you stay where you are and I will cancel the order myself” because clearly this women was busy and couldn’t be bothered. I went inside said thank you to the chef again for willing to make us food but we had to cancel because the women outside was one of the rudest waitress I have ever had to incounter. Like I said we work in the industry as well and I would never have said that to any customer! I was pretty shocked by the lack of respect and professionalism that I will not ever come back or recommend your winery to anyone and I believe retraining of staff should be looked at. You can take this either way but I thought the owners should know because this is not how you run a business but it is how you get rid of...

Perhaps our less than ideal experience was because we visited on the August 2022 long weekend Monday, and it was extremely busy. We were told the restaurant was fully booked so we couldn't try their restaurant. For future reference, we asked about gluten-free accommodations on their limited menu. We were told they had no GF menu choices other than salad. The dining was outside under tents, beautiful view. The afternoon was very hot, so we may not have been comfortable dining outside. The wine tasting was great, many very delicious and award winning wines. Apparently selected in 2022 as being the the top 3rd of 10 best small wineries in Canada. The young lady from South Africa was extremely knowledgeable, but somewhat difficult to hear with the high ceilings and number of other people. She was very patient and answered all my questions. In fact, she was a wow factor of the visit. The young man, with a beard was very unfriendly. He was rushing around and seemed annoyed that I stopped to ask a question. He was bordering on being rude and offended my guest who almost didn't purchase the case he had selected because of this employees unfriendly customer service. He did however carry the case...

Wow, what a beautiful location! This winery located in Lillooet is definitely a must stop spot on Highway 99. Located on the corner of the 99 when driving up from Pemberton heading to Lillooet or the turn-off from Lillooet to Pemberton. You will look below to the the lush vineyards, the surrounding mountains and more often than not, a clear blue sky! We had a refreshing glass of Pinot Gris along with a serving of Margherita flat bread. The service was excellent and it was awesome to see a local helping us with any requests we may have had. The reception area is typical of the great wineries one would see in the Okanagan region. Nicely furnished, beautiful presentation and greeted by a young man who sounded like a seasoned expert and although he looked to be in his mid 20's was confident, well spoken and quite knowledgeable. They are recipients of several wine awards as well.We are definitely going to stop by every time we are heading that way....