Belgische wijnen, Belgian Wines

Wat dacht u van Belgische wijnen? Die zitten nl in de lift. Met een 80-tal erkende wijnproducenten en een verdubbeling van de aanplanting de laatste 5 jaren kan België zijn plaats in de wijnwereld veroveren.  De laatste 10 jaar is er een spectaculaire verbetering in kwaliteit toe te schrijven aan de professionalisering van de sector.
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Belgian wine is produced in several parts of Belgium and production, although still modest at 1,400 hectoliter in 2004, has expanded in recent decades.

History

Belgian wine first appeared in the Middle Ages, around the 9th century. It is unlikely that wine was made in the area now known as Belgium before that, since the climate was not suitable and Gaul was covered with thick forests. However, there are mentions of Paris vineyards in the 4th century. From that time, vine cultivation spread northward and in the 8th century the banks of the Rhine were covered with vineyards. The first attempts at viniculture in Belgium were made around the same time. Moreover, the vineyards were already well established in Amay. The vineyard at Vivegnis, in the north of the province of Liège, was already considered old in the 9th century, as well as the vineyard at Huy, which belonged in part to the Bishop of Liège. The edges of the Meuse River were intensively cultivated because they offered well-exposed hillsides.
In the 14th century, each city had its own vineyard, whether within or outside the city walls. The cities of Tournai, Louvain, Brussels, Bruges, Ghent, Thuin, Hal, Dinant, Namur, Tongres and Huy, among others, have left signs of their vinicultural activities in the form of local place names such as Wijnberg, mount of vines, Wijngaard, Dutch vineyard, Vivegnis and Vinalmont.
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