More and more Belgian wine growers: ‘Belgium now has an ideal climate for wine growing’

Last year, 3.5 million liters of wine were produced in our country, 13 percent more than in the record year 2022. Striking trends are the explosion of rosé sparkling wine and the rise of orange wine.

There are more and more wine growers in our country, and the number of hectares on which wine is grown is also increasing, the Federal Public Service Economy reported on Thursday. Last year, 31 new winegrowers were added – most of them from Flanders – so that Belgium now has 290 winegrowers. The wine growing area grew from 801 hectares in 2022 to 891 hectares last year.

This growth means that the increasing trend in Belgian wine production continues. 2022 was already considered an exceptionally good wine year, with a production of approximately 3 million liters of wine. Last year, another 13 percent more Belgian wine was produced, amounting to almost 3.5 million liters.

“There is enormous growth going on and that can only be welcomed,” says Jeanette van der Steen of the Château Bon Baron wine estate on the banks of the Maas, near Dinant. She has been active for more than 20 years and has personally experienced the difficult early years of Belgian wine growing. “People have long had a prejudice and did not see Belgium as a wine country,” she says. ‘But they don’t realize that climate change is happening and that we now have more or less the right climate in Belgium to grow wine.’

Due to the higher average temperatures, Belgian grapes ripen faster. But climate change is also leading to more unstable weather, increasing the risks for wine growers. “It remains difficult to develop a profitable winery in Belgium,” explains Koen De Bock, the manager and owner of the wine shop Belgian Wines. ‘People are taking the step because they see that there are a few Belgian wine estates that produce beautiful, tasty wines and because demand is increasing. Moreover, the charm of wine growing also plays a role. But the initial investment is very large and it takes at least twelve years before a domain is fully profitable and of high quality.’

Wallonia overtook Flanders last year as the largest wine region. Currently, 53.5 percent of Belgian wine is produced in Wallonia, compared to 46.5 percent in Flanders. Of the provinces, Hainaut and Limburg are the leaders, followed at some distance by Liège, West Flanders and Namur. The high production in Hainaut can be attributed to the presence of two large sparkling wine producers Chant d’Éole and Les Vignobles des Agaises. Both wineries won ‘gold medals’ last year in the election of the best Belgian wines. Limburg has the largest concentration of wine growers in Flanders.

Van der Steen is also located in a prime location for wine. The presence of the Meuse guarantees that the grapes are less threatened by drought stress and spring frost and that they ripen faster due to the ultraviolet reflection on the water. She points out how important the right location is. ‘Before you buy a piece of land, you should monitor for several years how the soil behaves. Grapes do not like wet feet. Fortunately, there are now professionals, training courses and consultancy firms that can help you choose a good land.’

Last summer’s bad weather led to a lot less red wine being produced in Belgium last year (-33%), because the grapes ripened less well. However, the winegrowers were able to compensate for this by using those grapes in rosé sparkling wine. The production of rosé sparkling wine grew by no less than 54 percent last year. White sparkling wine (+19%), white wine (+17%) and rosé (9.5%) also did well.

Moreover, orange wine is now also on the rise in Belgium, says the FPS Economy. This wine, which is also called amber wine due to its orange color, is made like red wine, but with grapes for white wine, resulting in a complex taste palette. Last year, 325 liters of orange wine were produced in Flanders and 28 liters in Wallonia.

De Bock acknowledges that orange wine is in. “It’s new, it’s trendy and it can be paired well with dishes,” he says. ‘We notice that producers are experimenting with it to meet the demand from trendy restaurants and wine bars.’

But De Bock also sees the demand for Belgian wines increasing more broadly, especially in Belgium itself. “We are already seeing shortages sometimes, also due to the tendency to work with local products as much as possible,” he says. Yet there is certainly still room for growth. ‘If you look at how much wine a Belgian drinks, the entire Belgian production would be consumed in two days if all those Belgians only drank Belgian wine. Demand can definitely grow further.’