(I organized and led a tour for the NATO International Club a couple weeks ago. Our group included ladies from Estonia, Spain, Canada, Lithuania, Australia, Scotland and the USA—it was really fun and everyone was very punctual. I wrote the following for next month’s newsletter, but you read it here first!)
As with any planned outing in Belgium, the wild card for the October 9 tour of Chenoy Winery was the weather. A previous visit to this winery left me with atmospheric memories of hushed hillsides beneath low clouds, with late surviving grapes wet with blowing mist cloaked in gold and crimson grape leaves.
Fortunately, the sun shone brightly the morning of our NIC group tour. Fog drifted softly over the fields between Brussels and Namur, so when we arrived only the last drops of dew hung suspended on leaves and spider webs.
Belgians from the nearby village were progressing through the vineyards hand-harvesting bunches of grapes. Pierre-Marie, whose family bought the vineyards nearly two decades ago and whose brother learned winemaking in Bordeaux, began our tour in the sunny courtyard between farm buildings that date to the 17th Century. Sun sparkled on the roses planted at the end of each row of vines as Pierre-Marie showed us some of the different varieties that grow well in the region and are naturally resistant to pests.
We walked between the steel fermentation tanks and rows of oak barrels with the sharp, fruity smell of bursting grapes all around us. The harvest was in full swing! One man stood in the back of a tractor raking grapes into pallets while other men carried them through the barn and tossed them into the modern grape press—no barefoot grape stomping here.
Then it was off to Chenoy’s new tasting room to try the different offerings. The same wines can taste different, Pierre-Marie explained, depending on unexpected things: the company, time of day, the content of the previous meal. After we all introduced ourselves and raised a glass to cheers each other, we verified the science with experience; wine really does taste better among friends!
Couldn’t make it? The Chenoy Winery is open for tours on weekends from April to October. In 2022 they will celebrate their 20th anniversary with a new tasting terrace. Several Chenoy wines are available for purchase in shops around Brussels. Visit https://www.domaine-du-chenoy.com/ for more information.
Fall 2020 
First visit to Chenoy with Chris, Ken and Cindy 
Ken and Cindy found an apple orchard for our next stop 
And somewhere to taste local cheeses! 
Under the Sicilian Sun
A Sunny Day in Mons
Making Mustard in Dijon
Our Loire Valley Itinerary