Colruyt Group has become the first major Belgian retailer to invest in organic wine production in its home market, with a view to to making its first bottles available on the shelves by 2026.
The retailer's first four hectares of organic vines (20,600 vines in total) have been planted at La Croisette in Frasnes-lez-Anvaing (Hainaut), while a further five hectares will be planted nearby next year.
The first viticultural phase will be dedicated to white grape varieties Muscaris, Souvignier Gris, and Johanniter, the retailer said.
Next year, in addition to the Solaris variety, a number of red grape varieties will make their debut, including Cabaret Noir, Carbernet Jura, Satin Noir and Pinot Kors.
Fine Food Wine
In addition to its favourable vine-growing terrain regarding soil, relief, and exposure, Frasnes-lez-Anvaing is close to the Ghislenghien site which is home to Fine Food Wine, the retailer’s wine bottling department.
If the pilot project is successful, Colruyt Group aims to produce some 70,000 bottles a year of white wine, rosé wine, and, to a lesser extent, red wine.
The organic wine production project is consistent with both the group's vertical integration policy and its agricultural strategy, the retailer said.
Today, Belgium has some 700 hectares of vineyards, with annual wine production coming in at around three million litres, while the country consumes 300 million wine bottles annually.
Colruyt Group’s Fine Food Wine department bottles up to 25 million litres of wine a year, with a number of blends made in-house.
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