Belgium’s Wine Renaissance at Château de Bioul

Belgium is universally known for being a beer producing country. With hundreds of breweries scattered around the country, including international companies such as AB InBev and six of the thirteen Trappist monasteries recognised by the International Trappist Association, Belgium’s reputation in this sector is not in question.

And yet, something is changing, with winemaking growing in importance and attracting more and more producers each year. According to the Federal Public Economy Service, in 2023 Belgium listed 290 winegrowers, up from 259 in 2022. In the same period, the number of hectares dedicated to vineyards grew too: from 801 to 891. This led to an increase in wine production of almost 13% in 2023, which reached more than 3.4 million litres. This upward trend is currently led mostly by sparkling wines and still white wines, which together represent about 86% of the total production, according to 2021 harvest data. Red wines and rosés account for a considerable smaller portion of the national output: 8.5% and 5.5% respectively.

One of the main representatives of this new vague of Belgian wine makers is certainly Vanessa Wyckmans-Vaxelaire, president of the “Association des Vignerons de Wallonie” (the Wallonia winemakers association) and main driving force behind the Château de Bioul domaine. The castle, with an imposing façade in bricks and stones bordered by a moat, is located just south of Namur and it was founded in the 11th century. Over time, its appearance changed a lot, especially after being burnt to the ground in 1554 by the troops of King Henry II of France during the war with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Following this event, the Brandenburg family transformed what remained of the original medieval fortress into a residential manor. And in 1896 François Vaxelaire, from Wiesembach in Lorraine, moved to Belgium and rented the castle, eventually buying it in 1906. Vanessa is his great-great-granddaughter.

“We planted our first vines in 2009 and we now have fourteen hectares dedicated to winemaking: one near the castle and the others distributed in five parcels all around the nearby village”, she explained while showing us the château, where her family still lives, and the terrains around it. Above the castle’s porch, the Vaxelaire’s coat of arms and motto is still visible: “In arduis constans” (tenacity in adversity).

And Vanessa showed a great deal of tenacity when bringing her family into the winemaking business: “In order to start planting vines we needed permission from all family members. It took some negotiations, but eventually everybody agreed to it”, she told us. “And to minimise the impact on the estate, we worked with a landscape architect”, she said while indicating the vineyards stretching behind the castle. An oval lake sits in a small valley between the château and its garden: from the bridge crossing it in the middle one can see the vines neatly aligned all around it. The grass unfolding in all directions, the trees punctuating the park and the grapevines crisscrossing it blend in a dreamy scenery, which turns the castle into a romantic idyll. 

But the biggest challenge was not planting new vines. Rather, it was finding the right grapes for her project, given the unpredictable weather characterising Belgium. “In the beginning we thought we had the same climate of Alsace, but the weather over here is much less stable. We therefore had to select mould and mildew resistant grapes, capable of thriving in our region. To do so we visited both Germany and Switzerland, where we learnt about varieties that could withstand the Belgian weather”, she explained. “Working with such grapes however turned out to be an asset, as vines actually need to be stressed a bit in order to deliver their best output”.

Right now, the Château de Bioul domaine works with a variety of carefully selected grapes capable of fitting both its terroir and climate: solaris, muscaris, souvignier gris, bronner, johanniter, cabernet blanc, cabaret noir, cabernet jura and pinotin. This allows Vanessa to offer a wide range of products: three white wines, one red, one rosé and one sparkling, developed with the traditional, champenoise method. All of them are refined either in steel or concrete.

“Another advantage of working with resistant grapes is that they do not need much human intervention to thrive”, Vanessa continued. “This allows us to be a completely organic and biodynamic winemaker, hence making our viticulture very sustainable and our wines of high quality. Furthermore, we protect the natural balance of our terrains in additional ways: we installed perches to welcome birds of prey, which help with rodent control, and beehives to host bees, essential for pollination. Also, we limit mowing to two or three times a year to preserve our flora”.

As of today, Château de Bioul produces roughly 50.000 bottles per year, all destined to the Belgian market. But the business is growing and the team taking care of vineyards and winemaking already includes twelve people. Among them there’s Mélanie Chereau, cellar master and main architect of the domain’s wines for more than ten years.

Winemaking in Belgium, whose first attempts can be traced back to the 9th century near the modern city of Liège thanks to the work of monks, is still the prerogative of small producers. Only a handful of winegrowers dedicates more than thirty hectares of land to vineyards, with the average size being about four hectares. However, there is growing interest in the sector: Belgium already identified ten official appellations, each with its own regulations, and the future looks promising.

“My goal is twofold: to constantly improve the quality of our wines and to support the growth of the winemaking sector in our country”, Vanessa tells us as we walk back towards the castle. “As president of the Wallonia winemakers association I wish to increase cooperation with our Flemish counterpart to make a name for Belgian wines. There’s a lot of new producers bringing new energies and products into the market and Belgian wines deserve a better place under the sun. If we work together, we can all succeed”.

With her family’s tenacity up her sleeve, Vanessa’s journey can only be a bright one.