Ah, wine. One of the many treats life has on offer. A drink as multifunctional as a utility knife – always to be enjoyed with moderation, of course. But honestly, think of all the occasions you could pair with a glass of wine. First date with your crush? Wine. Celebrating your first anniversary? Wine. Sobbing over your break-up with friends? Wine. Enjoying your renewed freedom by taking a bath with some cheesy sing-along music in the background? Wine. We could go on and on but we’re sure you get the gist by now.
Of course, all that wine you’re drinking doesn’t magically fall out of the sky. As you’ll most certainly know, the godly drink comes from grapes, which in turn originate from vineyards, basking in the Southern sun. They’re then harvested and after a long and labor-heavy process put into bottles in the local winery, which you like to picture as a small, romantic farm in Tuscany because well, why not. We’re sorry to tell you but that image is no more than an illusion. Wineries are often large, loud and not that romantic at all. And sometimes, they’re not even set in between the vineyards. Sometimes, they lay right in the middle of a busy city.
No vineyard, much wine
This is the case for Gudule Winery. The company is set in Brussels and is the first urban winery in Belgium. Yet what does that even mean? How does that even work? Well, it’s quite simple. The grapes are shipped to Brussels by boat and then transported from the port to Gudule’s headquarters, located right next to the Tour & Taxis site.
The man behind Gudule Winery is Thierry Lejeune, a Belgian citizen with his origins near Liège. He grew up in a family where a good glass of wine was always appreciated, but first made a detour through the press world. After a while he began to think of a new career and that’s when the idea for the urban winery took shape. To guarantee the quality of the fruit, the maximum trajectory the grapes have to travel is set to 1,500 kilometers around the Belgian capital. But that still leaves quite a lot to choose from. This means that Lejeune’s wines are an interesting mix of grapes from all over Europe, carefully mixed together and bottled in Brussels.
Gudule Winery not only makes a red, a white and a rosé but enthusiasts can also choose from two special cuvées and a sparkling wine. If you want to offer yourself a great experience you can (from the first of May onwards) also book a visit of the winery with a tasting. For more info, see Gudule Winery’s website.
