Belgium develops its wine production

Sparkling wine, white wine, sparkling wine, rosé, red wine… The number of grape varieties, wine growers and wine growers increases every year among our Belgian neighbors.

We have never seen so much wine in the land of beer. The year 2023 marked a record wine production in Belgium, with 3.4 million liters of wine, an increase of 13% compared to the previous year, according to the latest figures from the Belgian equivalent of the Ministry of Wine. the Economy. In ten years, wine production in Belgium has multiplied by 6.5 and the number of hectares of vines by twelve in almost twenty years.

Vincent Dinnste’s vines are barely visible, and for good reason: his 4,000 vines were only planted in mid-April. At the age of 35, this trained agricultural engineer decided to get started, like around thirty new wine growers each year in Belgium. Near Dinant, in Wallonia near the French border, he bought six hectares of hillsides in a rolling landscape overlooking the Meuse valley. As a grape variety, he chose Pinot-Meunier. And his eye sparkles when he talks about his adventure: “We are on a slight south-west slope, so we really have very good exposure to the sun. By the end of 2028, I hope to sell my first bottle. We really have the climate now which allows us to make quality wines.”he explains.

“A few winegrowers have succeeded in making quality wines.”

Vincent Dinnste, Belgian “neo-winemaker”

at franceinfo

Among the winemakers inspiring a new generation is the Hautier family, from the Chapters estate in Nivelles, in Walloon Brabant, south of Brussels. The first vines were planted in 2013. “When we launched the vineyard, people thought we were crazy”, recalls Cathy Hautier. More than ten years later, the estate has 13 hectares and 12 grape varieties, and the number of bottles increases each year, with red, white and sparkling: “In 2021, this represented 25 000 bottles, in 2022 we were at 60-65 000 bottles and in 2023, I think we will produce between 50,000 and 55,000 bottles, explains the winemaker. Yes, there is a craze for wine in Belgium, to set up as a winegrower or winegrower. It pulls everyone up.”she emphasizes.

With global warming, “in Belgium, we will be in Burgundy”

For Marc de Brower, a specialist in the history of wine in Belgium, this enthusiasm can be explained in particular by climate change: “We almost have the climate of Champagne going back about thirty years. And in Champagne, they have a problem, they are too hot. So making champagne in Champagne is going to become more and more difficult. So the sparkling, sparkling zone will go back to Belgium around the 2050s and then Burgundy will go back to Belgium. We will be in Burgundy!”

According to specialists, the number of hectares of Belgian vines will increase from around 900 today to around ten thousand within 20 to 30 years.