Belgium's interest in wine has grown in recent decades, especially as the country becomes more suitable for wine production – a ‘benefit’ of climate change. Moreover, as the trend towards cold-climate wines continues, a greater number of hectares in Belgium is being devoted to vineyards.

Another factor contributing to the success of Belgian wine is the increased knowledge of grape varieties and the ability of growers to select types that can be protected from exposure to damaging frosts and harvested early. The most common grape variety for Belgium is chardonnay – around 90 percent of Belgian wines are white. The soil type closely matches that of the Burgundy region of France.

While Belgium is not widely recognised as a wine-producing country, most experts agree that the quality of its wines has improved. “More and more people are realising that Belgian wines can be very good, but we must work hard to make sure that we have a good product,” says Marleen Oris, a tour guide at one of Belgium’s largest and best-known wineries, the Wijnkasteel at the village of Genoels-Elderen.

Located near Tongeren in Limburg, the wine-producer became in 2000 the second of four vineyards in Flanders to be awarded the label appellation d’origine contrôlées (AOC). A winery in the region of Hageland, close to Leuven, was the first AOC in 1997. The Wijnkasteel vineyard offers guided tours followed by tastings by arrangement: the Wijnkasteel is a picturesque thirteenth-century chateau, reconstructed in the eighteenth century after being burned down by the French army. Its current owners, Jaap and Joyce van Rennes, bought the property in 1990 and planted their first vines a year later.

The Wijnkasteel cultivates 24 hectares of vines and expansion is planned. As well as the chardonnay, the Wijnkasteel grows a red grape, pinot noir, and makes sparkling wines and levenswater, an eau-de-vie similar to Cognac.

Wallon wine

Since 2004, Wallonia has also been able to boast an AOC wine: Côtes de Sambre et Meuse, which is produced in the vicinity of Liege. The label is awarded by the Fédération Belge des Vins et Spiritueux/Belgische Federatie van Wijn en Gedistilleerd, which was created in 1950 and today covers 90 percent of Belgium's commercially-produced wines and spirits.

At the Wijnkasteel, Marleen Oris says tastes are changing and minds broadening, meaning there is a market for wines from Belgium and other non-traditional producing countries. “This will be the wine region,” she predicts. “England will also be a significant wine producer. French champagne producers are already buying up land in the UK.” Oris acknowledges, however, that prejudices are difficult to overcome, but she is confident that the quality of the wines, and not prizes and labels, will determine their success. “In the end, it’s the consumer that says, ‘This is my taste’.”

An important step in overcoming prejudices was taken in 2009 with the publication of book on Belgian wine, Vignobles de Belgique by Eric Boschman and Kris Van de Sompel. Miguel Saelens, who owns the Mig’s World Wines shop in Brussels, says that its publication testifies that Belgian wine is “more important and popular than people might think”. Saelens sells a range of Belgian wines but says that most vineyards in the country are “minute” and their wines are sold locally or consumed by family. “Only 10-12 [wineries] are large enough to sell in any great quantity,” he says. But the local industry looks set to grow.

A version of this article was published in bThere! magazine.