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Regions

Comprehensive description of all European growing areas, their grape varieties, traditions and legal rules with maps.

Wine regions in Belgium 2 growing regions

Description to Belgium

The Kingdom of Belgium (Dutch: België, French: Belgique) in Western Europe with its capital Brussels covers 30,688 km². It lies between the North Sea and the Ardennes and borders the Netherlands to the north, Germany and Luxembourg to the east and France to the south. The north of the country with the Flemish is a Dutch language area, the south with the Walloons a French language area. Standard German and West-Central German dialects are spoken in East Belgium. Together with the neighbouring state of Luxembourg and the Netherlands, the Benelux states are formed.

Belgien - Landkarte, Flagge und Wappen

History

Despite its minor economic importance, viticulture in Belgium has a long tradition. In the 9th century, under Emperor Charlemagne (742-814), monks cultivated vines in southern Belgium. There were vineyards along the Meuse (which was also an important transport route) around Antwerp, Brabant, Hainaut, Liège and Naumur. Even in the early Middle Ages, wines from Flanders (today the two provinces of East and West Flanders, the remaining part is in France) were highly valued and the centre of the northern European wine trade. In the 15th century, due to climatic changes in connection with the Little Ice Age and competition from Burgundy, viticulture was abandoned.

Belgien - Rebanlage bei Torgny im südlichen Belgien

Viticulture

In the 1970s, vineyards were planted again for the first time. Belgian wine legislation is closely based on that of neighbouring France. There are several AOC quality wine areas (Kwaliteitswijn) and country wine areas (Landwijn). In the Flanders region, these are Hagelland, Haspengouw, Heuveland and Maasvallei Limburg (together with the Netherlands). In the Walloon region, these are Côtes de Sambre et Meuse, as well as the two sparkling wines Crémant de Wallonie and Vin mousseux de qualité de Wallonie. The country wines Vin de pays des jardins de Wallonie (Wallonia) and Vin de Pays Flamand (Flanders) can be produced in the entire region. Certain grape varieties are authorised for each AOC. These are the white wine varieties Auxerrois, Bacchus, Chardonnay, Kerner, Müller-Thurgau, Optima, Ortega, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Schönburger, Siegerrebe and Würzer as well as the red wine varieties Domina, Dornfelder, Gamay, Lemberger (Blaufränkisch) and Pinot Noir.

Vineyards

In 2022, the vineyards covered 602 hectares of vines with only 30,000 hectolitres of wine production. The largest vineyard is Wijnkasteel Genoels-Elderen. However, the wine demand is mainly covered by imports from France. The cultivation of table grapes is of great importance; in 1862, Felix Sohie in Huldenberg founded the cultivation under glass. Today there are thousands of greenhouses in which, for example, the Alphonse Lavallée and Leopold III varieties are grown.

Map: © Goruma
Flag: by Dbenbenn - Own work, Public domain, Link
Coat of arms: by Sodacan, Katepanomegas, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Torgny: by Jean-Pol GRANDMONT - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Source 1st paragraph: WIKIPEDIA Belgium

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