Château de Bousval, a top Belgian wine estate

Biodynamic cultivation

Château de Bousval grows its grapes the biodynamic way, which means they manage the soil and vines with natural elements and take the moon into account. Some moon phases have a stronger effect on the soil, while others are better for the fruit or plant's growth.

Winemaking is manual labor

Making wine involves a lot of manual labor, and the vineyards at Château de Bousval are no exception.

Guyot pruning

In the early months of the year, it's time for pruning. Château de Bousval uses the guyot pruning method, where they keep one branch—the strongest one—and guide it horizontally. The rest is trimmed away. New shoots later emerge from the eyes on the horizontal branch.

Binding the branches

In April, the vines start growing. The shoots are tied up and guided to grow horizontally along stretched wires. Non-fruit-bearing branches are removed to keep the plant healthy and productive. This meticulous procedure takes weeks to complete.

The harvest

The harvest is done entirely by hand. In good harvest years, Château de Bousval brings in volunteers to help out.

The enemies of the vine

The weather

Frost and hail are the biggest climate challenges for growing wine and fruit.

Late frosts can totally destroy young buds. This happened at Château de Bousval, where 60% of the 2014 harvest was lost due to late frosts.

Hail is a problem for fruit during the summer, and Château de Bousval has a special way of dealing with it. They use an anti-hail cannon when hail clouds are coming their way. The weather service gives them a heads-up, and then they fire up the cannon. It shoots out sound waves into the clouds to stop the hail from forming. There's one cannon for the whole vineyard. But the noise it makes is quite loud!

Flowers to control insects

Château de Bousval uses flowers to fight pesky insects. They planted a field of flowers behind the vineyard with varieties that attract insects that are the enemies of ravenous vine pests, such as leafhoppers. So, they don't need to use as many insect repellents.

Gluttonous birds

When the grapes are full of sugar, birds, especially starlings, go crazy for them. One year, the grapes were ready for harvest, but when the pickers arrived the next day with their crates, there weren't any grapes left! So, to scare the starlings away, Chateau de Bousval installed perches for birds of prey. They also put up scarecrows that make noises to mimic the presence of birds of prey.

Mildew, a devastating fungal disease

Powdery mildew is probably the scariest disease for a vineyard. It's a fungal disease that makes the leaves turn white and the grapes start to rot. Mildew can do a lot of damage, and it's a real problem for the vineyard. Sulfur and copper of natural origin are effective means of control, but Château de Bousval also uses the rose bush as a warning system. Roses are the canary in the coal mine — they're the first to be affected. This signals the winemaker that action is required.

A building that blends right into its surroundings

The winery building was designed with the environment in mind and opened in 2019. It has a vegetated roof and dark exterior walls that match the bark of the trees. The building follows the slope of the site and blends right into the landscape.

The vinification

The building's design is also based on the process of making wine. The grapes go in at the top and the wine is aged and bottled at the bottom. The winemaker uses gravity as much as possible, so there's no need for pumps and the wine is less exposed to oxygen.

Fermentation with indigenous yeasts

After pressing the grapes using pneumatic membranes, the juice is moved to tanks for fermentation. Most of these tanks are stainless steel vats, but there's also an enormous terracotta amphora and a concrete egg-shaped tank. Château de Bousval uses indigenous yeasts to achieve spontaneous fermentation. These natural yeasts are everywhere in the air and in the vineyard, which gives the wine its unique character and connection to the land.

Vinification by parcel

Château de Bousval has 22 vineyard parcels, and the grapes from each are harvested and vinified separately so that the parcel’s unique characteristics are preserved. When it's time for the assemblage, the cellar master decides which specific wines will be added into the blend.

100% control over production

Château de Bousval has been investing a lot in its wine production. The winery handles everything in-house with its own equipment. The winery has its own lab for analyzing and monitoring the wine, as well as its own bottling installation.

Wine ageing

The wines are aged on the lower floor in oak barrels made by Burgundy coopers. Château de Bousval uses both small and large barrels, depending on the style and structure of the wine.

The barrels rest on a gravel layer that's right on top of solid ground. This keeps the humidity steady and the temperature at 18° Celsius all year long.

How long it takes to age varies, depending on the type of wine. It can be anywhere from 6 to 8 months to 15 years.

All about quality

The house is all about quality, so not all wines are produced every year. Red wine made from pinot noir is especially difficult because of the climate. It's only made in good years (2018, 2019, 2022), and in bad years it's used to make rosé. In 2023, for example, there was a problem with the suzuki-fly right before harvest. The harvest had to be brought forward so the grapes weren't at their best to make quality red wine. But they worked well into a nice rosé.

Château de Bousval can make as much as 50,000 bottles of wine in a good year, but usually, they produce between 30,000 and 35,000. Unfortunately, the 2024 growing season was terrible, with late frosts hitting the vineyard hard, and they ended up producing only 4,000 bottles.

Art in the vineyard

The Verhaeghe de Naeyer family is passionate about art, and the vineyard is filled with beautiful works of art in all shapes and forms. You'll find sculptures, paintings, and photographs everywhere you look!

Ageing under watchful eyes

The photo collection of six irises in the maturing room is really something special. The irises represent three generations of the Verhaeghe family: Mr. and Mrs. Verhaeghe, their parents, and their two children. On one side of the room, you'll find the irises of the men, and on the other, those of the women. They're a symbol of the family members watching over the wine as it ripens.

The hare, the symbol of the vineyard

All wine bottles feature the hare. That's because the hare is a noble animal and the symbol of the vineyard. Before the vineyards were planted, there wasn't much biodiversity in the fields. As the vineyard grew—with the planting of hedges, flower fields, and the biodynamic farming approach—the hares returned. This return reflects the philosophy applied in the vineyard. So, it was decided to make the hare the vineyard's emblem.

Art on the wine labels

The labels for the wine are designed by Belgian illustrator Valentine De Cort. The idea was to adapt the design to the wine’s vintage and the flavor profile, so the label changed from year to year. But starting in 2023, it was decided that the same labels would be used for five years so that customers can more easily remember the estate and the cuvée.

Trendy names

Château de Bousval's wines have trendy, pun-filled names. For example, the "Tout Cru" refers to the term "premier cru" from the Burgundy region, the red "Ange ou Démon" is named after the owners' son who can be both, "Gouttes d'O" is a nod to the daughter Auphélie, and the "Petit Gris" is a reference to the culinary snails from the region around Namur.

Marc de Bousval

Chateau de Bousval also makes marc from their own grapes. They distill it in an impressive and custom-built still that's located in a separate room. Then, like the wines, the marc is aged in wooden barrels under the watchful eyes of the Verhaeghe de Naeyer family.

Furthermore, they planted walnut and pear trees to make eau de vie.

La Sorellina, the little Italian sister

Château de Bousval's offerings don't stop with its vineyard in Belgium — they also include an olive grove on the Italian island of Sicily, in the beautiful region of Ragusa. The olives are cultivated using the same approach as for the vines, and the extra virgin olive oil is certified organic and DOP-labeled.

The tasting, the best part of the visit

There’s nothing quite like wine tasting and we are curious to taste the results of the hard work in the vineyard under the guidance of the Portuguese expert Germano Prior, together with the meticulous vinification by cellar master Romain Jacob.

Gouttes d’O

We start with Gouttes d'Or, the first wine made on the estate. It's made from 100% chardonnay grapes grown in the vineyard's coolest plots. Twenty percent of the wine is aged in old oak barrels, and the rest is aged in stainless steel or concrete. The wine is aged for eight months. The wine is fresh, balanced, and mineral-rich, and it's perfect as an aperitif or with a light entree like oysters.

Tout Cru

The chardonnay grapes used to make Tout Cru are riper and grow in warmer parts of the vineyard. The wine is fermented in stainless steel vats and aged for twelve to fifteen months in oak barrels. Tout Cru is a smooth and elegant wine with a nice round taste. It has hints of apricot and white flowers and goes great with fish, chicken, and white meat. The Tout Cru 2022 was awarded a silver medal from Decanter Awards and received a score of 91/100 from wine critic James Suckling.

Le Névrosé

Le Névrosé is the rosé wine of Château de Bousval. It's a blend of pinot noir, chardonnay, and pinot gris that has undergone pellicular maceration—that is, the white wine was vinified in the same way as red wine. During fermentation, the juice was in contact with the skin of the grapes, which gave the wine a light orange color. Pellicular maceration produces wines with more structure, but they still keep their freshness. This rosé wine ages for a short time in old oak barrels and then continues to mature in stainless steel vats. Le Névrosé is a gourmet rosé that pairs perfectly with carpaccio or tartare of both fish and meat.

Ange ou Démon

This full-bodied pinot noir with smooth tannins has a rich aroma of red fruits. The 2022 cuvée was awarded a Belgian Wine Award by Gault & Millau and received a 91/100 score from James Suckling. This versatile wine goes perfectly with roasted meats, poultry-based dishes, salmon, and cheese.