"The strength of the team is each individual member.
The strength of each member is the team."
- Phil Jackson
In addition to our incredible ownership team, we also have an amazing team of up to 30 employees who have come to work at Fort Berens as part of their own journey. Each of us took different paths to get us to this location, but we are all held together here by our passion for discovery and our commitment to building the long-term sustainability of our business and the region.
Fort Berens Estate Winery is governed by a five-person board comprised of Hugh Agro, Dan Barnholden, Rolf de Bruin, Raymond Rae and independent director, Kenn Oldfield, founder of Tinhorn Creek Vineyards.
Rolf de Bruin and Heleen Pannekoek share the management duties. Heleen also is responsible for sales to restaurants and liquor stores. Rolf is responsible for all sales direct to consumers.
Celebrated winemaker, James Cambridge, joined the Fort Berens team in 2019. Along with a degree in Viticulture and Oenology from Niagara College, James has more than 15 years of experience making wine in both the Okanagan and Ontario. James was a foundational winemaker when he worked for Fort Berens in 2012. He produced our exceptional 2012 vintage under trying conditions. In many ways his wines set the benchmark for our Riesling and Cabernet Franc. The 2012 Riesling won the Lieutenant Governor's Award and the 2012 Cabernet Franc won among other awards, a gold medal at the National Wine Awards. James set the bar from a quality level and from a stylistic point of view.
Lesley Provost is the Director of Hospitality. She holds sommelier certification from CAPS (Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers) and CMS (Court of Master Sommeliers) as well as a Level 4 Diploma from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust in the UK. She is a former Top 10 Canadian Sommelier as named by WOSA (Wines of South Africa), a two-time winner of the Wine Tasting Challenge (North America's largest tasting competition) and a former champion of the LCBO's Vintages Go Local tasting competition. Lesley also brings over a decade of management and sommelier experience from top properties in Toronto like FRANK at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Susur, Terroni and Antler.
Nicole Hutton is the Discovery Club Manager and Karen Adams looks after accounting and bookkeeping.