Beers and craft breweries
The special thing about Belgian beers is, of course, their enormous diversity. They range from light lagers to amber beers, lambics, Flemish reds, sour browns, strong beers and stouts. Most beers are bought or served in bottles rather than cans (although the virtues of cans are touted by some microbreweries and are making a comeback!). Almost every beer has its own branded glass, sometimes in a unique shape. And if all that wasn't enough to prove that beer is a serious thing in Belgium, in 2017 Unesco included Belgian beer culture on its list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
Among the multitude of Belgian beers - which include the classics Stella Artois, Jupiler, Leffe (see below) or Grimbergen - we can firstly mention the Trappists. Out of 12 abbeys producing beers in Europe, 5 are Belgian: Westmalle, Westvleteren in Flanders; Chimay, Orval and Rochefort in Wallonia, the last mentioned being produced at the Notre-Dame Saint-Rémy de Rochefort abbey, not far from Namur
Lambics - typically Belgian - owe their very specific acid taste to spontaneous fermentation by wild yeasts and are therefore not sown. Among the lambics you can't miss the Gueuze, the Kriek, the Framboise or the Faro. There are also other varieties that are not very well known in France, such as the so-called Saison beer, which ferments quickly and has a low alcohol content, generally around 4% vol. alc., or the table beer, at only 1.5% vol. alc. which has become rare, but which was nevertheless served in school canteens until the 1970s.
Namur beers
In the Meuse region of Namur, two abbeys have a beer whose name is known throughout Belgium and abroad: Leffe (Dinant) and Maredsous (Anhée). However, they are not brewed on site and depend on large brewery groups, AB InBev for the first one (n° 1 in the world) and Duvel-Moortgat for the second one (the largest independent Belgian brewery group).
The Brasserie du Bocq (Yvoir) is a smaller brewery, although already important in Belgium. It was founded in 1858. It brews a full range of rather traditional beers, including Blanche de Namur (a reference to Blanche, Countess of Namur and Queen Consort of Sweden and Norway in the 14th century). Also in Dinant (Falmignoul), the Brasserie Caracole is the mother of all micro or small breweries in the region. François Tonglet still brews beers with names that evoke the region: Caracole (snail) or Saxo (reference to Adolphe Sax) for example. Its undeniable artisanal character coupled with a long experience (it started in 1992 in Namur) makes it a brewery recognized by its peers and widely appreciated by connoisseurs
In Mettet (Saint-Gérard), a beer of the same name is brewed at the Brogne abbey, which has the triple characteristic of being organic, brewed on the spot (but by laymen, as the abbey is no longer active) and of being produced alongside a small amateur vineyard (600 plants, planted in 2003). Closer to the center of Namur, in Malonne, the Brasserie du Clocher is located in a former church that has been desecrated. In this micro-brewery, a Philomène is produced in several different versions. The atmosphere around the production is rather good-natured but the quality is there. At the Notre-Dame du Vivier abbey (Marche-les-Dames), the Clem' de Castro revives the style of abbey beers
Finally, La Houppe has established itself in a few years as the Namurian beer of reference, the one with which the inhabitants identify. Installed in the former Balon-Perin brewery in 2015, the Brasserie de l'Échasse quickly became the favorite of the Namurians. So it naturally took the name of Brasserie Artisanale de Namur, managed by five passionate people. Its beers, the Houppe and the Jambes en l'Air, are full of references to the Namur universe
The renaissance of Belgian wines
Belgium has a small wine production. Vines have been grown in the flat country since the 9th century. The drop in temperature in Northern Europe at the end of the Renaissance during the "Little Ice Age" had a negative effect on wine growing in the region until the 19th century. Among the reasons which precipitated the end of the vineyard in our regions, we can also mention Napoleon's protectionism which made the vines be uprooted in Wallonia and the phylloxera which destroyed the vineyard everywhere in the world at the end of the XIXth century and at the beginning of the following one.
Today, there are about 400 hectares of vines in Belgium (between 75 and 100 at the beginning of the century, less than 200 in 2014)
Belgium has four protected designations of origin (PDO): Hageland (1997), Haspengauw (2000) and Heuvelland (2005) in Flanders and Côtes de Sambre et Meuse (2004) on the French side. To this must be added the PGI Vin de Pays des Jardins de Wallonie and Vlaamse Landwijn as well as the designations "quality sparkling wine from Wallonia" and "crémant de Wallonie" (2008).
The first vineyards of the "modern" era were still modest in size and the work was often empirical. This was the case in Torgny, the southernmost village in Belgium, where it was said in the past that if viticulture worked, it was thanks to its privileged geographical location. Then there were others: in Trazegnies (Hainaut), on the side of a slag heap; on the hillsides of Huy or Villers-la-Ville; in Hageland (Flemish Brabant). These were generally small farms that were more the object of mockery than admiration. The situation is quite different today: the professionalisation of the profession, the improvement of techniques, the search for suitable grape varieties, the passage of time which allows the vines to acquire maturity and finally the undeniable climatic change mean that Walloon winegrowing, and Namur in particular, has nothing to envy the largest share of French production.
In 2020, the vineyard covered 587 hectares. Production has increased fivefold over the last ten years. Sparkling wine production is in the majority with 870,000 litres for 660,000 litres of white wine and 240,000 litres of red wine. Rosé wine comes last with just over 80,000 litres. 54% of Belgian wine is produced in Wallonia
The wines of Namur
Château Bon Baron
2003 was a pivotal year for Walloon winegrowing. The first 3,000 bottles of Cuvée Ruffus (Estinnes, near Binche) were released that year. Today, the production amounts to 350,000 bottles for 30 hectares. The same year, Jeanette Van Der Steen moved to Lustin (Profondeville) from her native Holland. In the past, there was a tradition of winegrowing in the Mosan valley and in Lustin in particular, where there are traces of vine planting as early as 1018. Jeanette became passionate about winegrowing, trained and prepared the soil on a one hectare plot. The following year, in 2004, she planted 2,500 vines of seven different varieties, four whites (auxerrois, chardonnay, pinot gris and Müller-Thurgau) and three reds (pinot noir, cabernet and acolon). The small family business grew rapidly, so much so that it was soon decided to acquire more land. Château Bon Baron was born. Its main characteristic is that it is located on a variety of terroirs that are far apart from each other. Saint-Héribert, on the edge of Profondeville, is the Belgian vineyard situated at the highest altitude. The Domaine Bon Baron vineyard covers 17 hectares
Domaine du Chenoy
After a long career of forty years as a director of the Grafé-Lecocq breeder, Philippe Grafé took a step aside but wished to remain in the wine business. He acquired an old farm in Emines (La Bruyère) and in 2003, he planted 25,000 vines specially adapted to the local soil and climate. These vines were recently created to withstand these conditions and are the result of crosses between several others. They are called hybrids or interspecifics: Solaris, Helios, Bronner or Regent, for example. In the following two years, the vineyard grew with the planting of 17,000 additional vines. Philippe Grafé had to convince and overcome two obstacles: the average consumer's view of Belgian viticulture and the surprising taste of these different grape varieties. Domaine du Chenoy produces white, red, rosé and sparkling wines. In 2014, the vineyard switched to organic farming. And in 2017, Philippe Grafé handed over his estate to the Despatures brothers, who were already active in viticulture in France. Since then, they have ensured the continuity of this pioneering estate in the region, which is now looking to the future.
Domaine du Ry d'Argent
Direct neighbour of Chenoy, Domaine du Ry d'Argent started in 2005, shortly after Philippe Grafé's operation. The starting point was very different, as the aim was to give a new lease of life to a traditional family farm. Jean-François Baele had just taken over the farm from his parents. He admired the results obtained by the Chenoy and was certain that his own land was also suitable for wine growing. Initially, he also decided to plant interspecific grape varieties on a 5 hectare area. The first vintages were produced in 2008. Later, as his success and learning curve grew, Jean-François Baele began to produce sparkling wines and then gradually integrated conventional grape varieties by planting several plots (auxerrois, pinot gris, chardonnay). In total, the estate covers 13.5 hectares on 4 different terroirs, including a very small organic plot.
Château de Bioul
Vanessa Vaxelaire transformed the family chateau into a wine estate in 2008 (11 hectares, organic since 2020) and looks after its preservation with her husband Andy. Visiting the château is linked to discovering the vineyard and the Made in Bioul itinerary set up by the hostess: museum of the vine and the château, discovery of the cellar, tasting, restaurant and shop: the experience has recently been completed by accommodation possibilities for groups. Inspired by Philippe Grafé, Vanessa Vaxelaire has chosen interspecific grape varieties: Johanniter, Muscaris, Pinotin. Even though it has only recently been awarded the organic label, the Bioul vineyard has always been worked with strict respect for nature, without weeding and without inputs, with respect for biodiversity.
Domaine de la Falize
The smallest of the Namur wine estates, but only in terms of surface area and age (2012), because it has all the makings of a great estate. Its owner has given himself the means to get rid of all the problems inherent to a young estate and to the difficulty of practising viticulture in Belgium. He has collaborated with Peter Collemont (Clos d'Opleeuw), considered as the Belgian Pope of Chardonnay. He has also entrusted the vinification to a particularly talented and precise young oenologist, Morgane Favory. The wines of Domaine de la Falize, biodynamic, rare and inevitably expensive, are present on some of the country's great tables. Like the great Burgundies, both the whites and the reds are made from single-variety grapes (Chardonnay and Pinot Noir).
Another interesting domain should be created soon. The Clos de Mostombe in Landenne (Andenne) should be doubled with a wine tourism centre installed in Thon-Samson
