Belgian wine is a recent development by European standards, and Wallonia's vineyards are producing wines of genuine quality across a small but growing region that few international visitors discover.
Belgian wine is a recent development by European standards. The Wallonia region, historically associated with its cuisine and its abbey beers rather than viticulture, has been producing wines of genuine quality across a small but growing region that few international visitors discover because it sits below the threshold of the established French and German wine routes.
The programme that FFGR Belgium has developed for private wine tours begins 45 kilometres south of Brussels in the Hageland and extends through the Namur region to the Gaume — Belgium's most southerly and sunniest province, which shares a climate with Champagne and produces still wines from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that reward attention.
The most established producer in Wallonia accessible for private visits is Château de Bioul, a 12th-century property near Namur that opened a winery in 2010 and now produces approximately 25,000 bottles annually from 18 hectares. Private tastings with the cellar master are arranged through our concierge team and differ substantially from the public visit programme.
The abbey brewing tradition — Leffe, Orval, Chimay, Maredsous — runs parallel to the wine development and warrants a separate itinerary or an afternoon addition. Orval, in the Gaume province near the Luxembourg border, is the most architecturally significant and gastronomically interesting of the active abbeys: the monks produce a single beer and a single cheese, and both are best experienced at the source.
A two-day Wallonia programme that combines vineyard visits, abbey culture, the Meuse river valley between Namur and Dinant, and at least one dinner at a serious regional restaurant — Château d'Hassonville near La Roche-en-Ardenne is the standard recommendation — requires ground transport that handles country roads as comfortably as motorways. FFGR Belgium's Rolls-Royce Ghost or Mercedes-Maybach S680 are the appropriate vehicles for this programme, providing comfort that matches the quality of the experience at each destination.