All tagged travelblog

Walking for Wine

The steep valley walls approached the beetling of a gorge at times and trapped the sun’s heat creating a unique microclimate ideal for viticulture. The Ardennes and Hohes Venn to the west shielded the valley from rain providing the southern facing slopes with over 1300 hours of sunshine a year.  Slate rock lined the ground at the base of the vines, retaining the sun’s heat and insulating the grapes’ root structure.

Antwerpen Easy Drinkin'

In route to Antwerp from Brussels we detoured to the Trappisten, a roadside tavern across the street from the Westmalle Abbey.  Beneath a cloudless sky on the patio we sipped from chaliced Westmalle glasses: one golden, the other brown.  The brown was a mixture of the Triple and Dubbel (called a Trip-Trap), resulting in something between a Tripel, Dubbel, and Quadrupel.  Midday sun cut the Spring with Summertime.  The buds on leafless branches carried persistent remains of morning condensation.  They reflected tiny bulbs rising in columns toward the red-bricked wall surrounding Westmalle Abbey.