One of the first people to embark on the natural-wine adventure in Belgium was Servaas Blockeel. In 2012–13, he planted the first two plots of his Le Nid d'Étourneaux vineyard between Kortrijk and Oudenaarde, followed by two more. He cultivates roughly four hectares using interplanting and biodynamic methods. His wines are not aged in oak, but in oval plastic vats. No additives, fining or filtration: the juice must remain as pure as possible. His bottles sell out quickly and some enthusiasts have developed a real cult following.

“The blend,” he explains, “is made in the vineyard and everything is harvested together. Each time there are between four and eight different grape varieties. We started that way without knowing what it would produce. Now each cuvée has its own character, which returns every year with variations. There are three reds, one white and a rosé made from Roland, a grape variety that originally came from Quebec! To create something lively and distinctive, all the grapes are vinified in the same way: crushed and destemmed, followed by almost two weeks of maceration and fermentation.”

The white and rosé may macerate for slightly less time, but there is little difference. After pressing, the wine remains exclusively in polyethylene tanks, which allow oxygen transfer. During reductive phases it is left untouched. If the lees are clean, everything is retained and the wine stays there for two years.

The 2022 Mag blends four grape varieties from the oldest vines and surprised me with its elegant fruit and balance — enough to make me reconsider my opinion of natural wine. Price: €30.

On the Flemish side, Mark Longin has run Proef de Passie for more than fifteen years, importing wines from small independent French producers who show great respect for their environment and often work with organic or biodynamic grapes. Alongside this activity, he teaches sommelier and wine-adviser courses at Syntra in Ghent. He planted hybrid vines in 2015.

He began with sixteen vines in his garden in Pollare (Ninove), then in 2020 planted, with his wife, a 2,000-vine vineyard in Haaltert near Aalst, which he named Terroir TerWaer. He also chose interplanting, with twelve grape varieties including Roland and Rondo. At the event in Ottignies he presented three wines, including an impressive pét-nat.

Tom Vandevenne in Leuven also makes a very fine pét-nat; I will return to it later. Tom Jacobs of Antidoot in Kortenaken, another BWA! member, was not present.

Finally, just across the border, Monique van der Goes and Ron Langeveld produce natural wine in Chaam in the Netherlands at their Dassemus vineyard, planted in stages since 2005 and now covering six hectares. Here natural wine is called “Wilde wijn”.

In Walloon Brabant, the non-profit organisation Les Pieds dans la Dyle was launched in 2017 in collaboration with local residents. Its founder is Pablo Cremers, a fifth-generation candle maker in Wavre who is also a winegrower. With his wife Jade, he tends and vinifies several plots around Wavre and in Ottignies at the Ferme de la Balbrière. He also buys grapes in France — Chambourcin, Plantet and Landal — to vinify. The latter is particularly successful and simply delicious. Made from 100% Wavre-grown grapes, the 2023 Les Reliques cuvée contains twelve grape varieties blended before fermentation and is well worth discovering. See also HERE.