Belgian wine

Belgian wine is produced in several parts of Belgium and production, although still modest at 1,400 hectoliters in 2004,[1] has expanded in recent decades.

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.

Wine grapes were also cultivated by individuals, as well as by seigneurs such as the Dukes of Burgundy, who owned the vineyards at Brussels, Louvain, Aarschot, Namur and Mons.

During this same era, techniques of beer production advanced and, owing to the addition of hops, storage life was prolonged.

The expansion of the Belgian winegrowing area in the late 20th and early 21st century is part of a larger trend of increase in cold-climate winemaking.

Belgium has five officially demarcated Appellations d'origine contrôlées (AOCs), four in Flanders and one in Wallonia, and two Vin de pays regions.

AOC Haspengouw (Hesbaye) followed in 2000, located in Limburg, close to the border with Netherlands, and home to Belgium's most famous "château" and largest wine producer, Wijnkasteel Genoels-Elderen.