Belgium — wine

Haspengouw Wine Region

Haspengouw (French: Hesbaye) is Belgium's emerging wine heartland, occupying the gentle limestone plateau south of Liège and Hasselt in Limburg. The chalk and flint soils resemble Champagne and Chablis; cool maritime-influenced continental climate suits Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Gris. Belgian wine production is tiny but quality is rising sharply, driven by passionate small estates experimenting with cool-climate techniques.

Year Rating Notes
2023 Warm summer offset by cool late September; aromatic whites were particularly successful.
2022 Exceptional growing season for Belgium; the warm dry summer produced the ripest fruit in a generation.
2021 Challenging wet summer; careful canopy management and selection produced decent wines in a difficult year.
2020 Balanced vintage; Chardonnay showed fine chalk minerality while Pinot Noir achieved uncommon ripeness.
2019 Classic cool Belgian vintage; fresh aromatics and lively acidity defined the wines.