2023-09-11 04:00:00
Cash registers at the entrance to the store, posters to attract you… It’s the start of the wine fair. Objective for each client? Find the best wine at the best price. “You buy the box and you receive the equivalent magnum free”underlines Philippe Schoovaerts, wine buyer.
But when you look a little, Belgian wine is well hidden. “We have it in a 75 cl bottle: Haspenhof, it’s a wine that is bottled by us”he continues. “And we regularly have vintages from Domaine Bon Baron.”
How can we explain that there are only 2 wines on the shelves of this supermarket? “The volumes, for the most part”explains Philippe Schoovaerts. “It’s difficult to find relatively large volumes to be able to distribute to 200-250 stores.”
The Belgian not fond of local wines
It’s not your habit… Belgians don’t often buy wine from us. He tends instead to turn to more well-known appellations. However: Belgian wine is less and less marginal. 3 million liters produced in 2022, 259 wine growers compared to 198 in 2020.
In the Herve region: the harvest begins. Michel is co-founder of this cooperative. He is convinced: his wine is promising. How does he know it’s the right time? “Two things: it’s both the sugar that goes up and the acidity that goes down. But there shouldn’t be too little acidity either”explains Michel Schoonbroodt, director of the Vin du Pays de Herve cooperative.
It’s a good climate for wine
Ripe grapes thanks to increasingly favorable weather. “It’s a good climate for wine, because we have cool nights so we haven’t lost anything in terms of aromas: we have 15 degrees and a lot of sun during the day. I think we make wines good quality”notes Fabienne Detry, volunteer member of the cooperative.
Jean Marie, volunteer, observes him every day. After a stint in France, he now harvests grapes in the flat country. “Here, it’s developing very slowly. When you see the clusters here, it’s like we had in Beaujolais 20 years ago”details Jean-Marie Schaus, volunteer member of the cooperative.
New objective within 2 years
In total: the cooperative operates 8 hectares of land. To be profitable, it hopes to reach 10 hectares within 2 years by developing new grape varieties. “Compared to France, in Belgium, we are more or less free to plant whatever grape variety we want, so we can experiment with lots of interspecific grape varieties which are resistant and which have been developed since the 1960s. cannot, for example, plant everywhere in France because there are certain rigid frameworks”develops Jonathan Malherbe, head of culture of the cooperative.
Solaris, johanniter, souvigné gris or even muscaris… Varied, more resistant grape varieties which allow Belgian wines to find their identity. But are they of good quality? This wine merchant has a few bottles to present to us: “In my opinion, it is the bubbles which are the most representedsentatives bubbles which are produced in Belgium. There is red wine, white wine… But our terroir is really favorable to the production of bubbles”insists Serge Sneiders, wine merchant manager.
The downside? The price
Belgian bubbles have been repeatedly named the best bubbles in the world. Only downside: the price. Count 26.50 euros for this bottle of bubbles. The supply is not yet extensive enough, but the demand is there. Belgians drink 300 million bottles each year, including 3 million from Belgian farms.
Among Walloon vineyards, more than 60% specialize in the production of sparkling wines.
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