Château d'Annevoie · Johanniter 2024

Château d'Annevoie Vineyard

If the Château d'Annevoie Vineyard has carved out a reputation for excellence in the Belgian wine-growing landscape at such astonishing speed, it is thanks to Damien Briard. A man who is neither boastful nor smug, he has been a winegrower since his early years and was the long-time owner of his own estate in Bordeaux. This native of Namur has long since had nothing left to prove to anyone. He was therefore a blessing for the Loumayes, father and son, who acquired the Château and Gardens of Annevoie on a long-term lease and chose – as is somewhat fashionable in certain circles today – to plant a vineyard there. Is it a stroke of luck that Philippe Grafé, founder of Domaine du Chenoy, who gave Damien Briard his first wine tasting lessons at the age of 16, advised Léopold Loumaye on the type of grape varieties to plant at Annevoie?

The choice of interspecific grape varieties was the only unknown for Damien Briard, who had always worked with traditional grape varieties in both France and South Africa. However, the gamble paid off: in less than three years, the Château d'Annevoie vineyard has managed to produce superb still white wines, sparkling wines (with a very original Sauvignac-based bubble) and even red wines.


Johanniter

Grapes are destemmed before gentle pneumatic pressing. Temperature-controlled alcoholic fermentation in stainless steel vats. Aged on lees for 8 months. Only 2,000 bottles for this second harvest.