Building on the success of our first two editions initiated by our ex-president Phil François, our team has decided to do it again in 2024, especially since we can once again welcome you to this prestigious setting that constitutes the Citadel of Dinant.

 

Young people, we nevertheless want to once again make you benefit from know-how which has its centuries-old origins in our prehistory. At the time, the vine was wild and, like a liana, grew on the trees in edges that could reach several tens of meters in height. Humans of the time, hunter-gatherers, fed on it.

 

The evolution of wild vines towards cultivated vines took place in the 7th millennium BC. The oldest traces, which were found by archaeologists, date back to 5400 years before the Christian era in the Zagros mountains in Iran. Neolithic pottery was also unearthed in Georgia, in which traces of tartaric and malic acid were found which constitute irrefutable proof of the mastery of winemaking 6,600 years ago.  In ancient times, from the Middle East, the vine gradually spread around the Mediterranean.

 

In the Middle Ages, in France and Spain, it was the numerous invasions of Moors, Goths and other tribes which slowed down the cultivation of vines. In Europe, the Christian religion will protect the vineyards. It was at this time that enormous progress was made in the adaptation of terroirs to grape varieties, more particularly in Burgundy. This is the period when the wine landscape was established in France under the strong domination of the clergy and the nobility and when viticulture rapidly declined in the Middle East.

 

During the Renaissance and modern times, the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, English and French spread the vine everywhere they went.  This is how the English promoted the development of Sherry from the 16th century. The Dutch, for their part, pushed France towards the distillation of wines; and so Cognac and Armagnac were born!

 

The Dutch also pushed the French in the South-West to produce sweet and sweet wines.

 

In a more contemporary era, in 1870 Phylloxera destroyed almost all French vineyards. AOCs and Biodynamics will be created. And now, Belgian viticulture is starting…

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It is this historical richness that leads us to offer you a wide range of vine products combined with fabulous local products that should suit your taste buds according to your personal preferences.

 

Good tasting,