Kathleen
Van den Berghe
Wine with a story
Kathleen and her team make delicious wines with character, and with a lot of respect for nature, including organic viticulture, but much more than that.
Discover the story behind the wines, because wine with a story tastes better!
For Kathleen, wine is a product to share with other people, to tell stories, but Katheen also aims to keep wine simple, because first and foremost the wine must be tasty. But making good wine is not easy, and as in everything, Kathleen strives for excellence in wine. On the other hand, Kathleen also goes for wine with character, because wine should not leave you indifferent, it must appeal to you, it must tell a story about its place of origin and the person who made it.
Mediocre anonymous wine is uninteresting, wine with a story tastes better!
So her motto is: drink less, but better!
FROM LOIRE WITH LOVE
Kathleen's wine adventure is inextricably linked to the Loire, and the iconic grapes Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc. The Loire is also a beautiful region, easy to reach, that has everything to offer from good wine, beautiful landscapes, historic castles, nice villages and towns and many activities such as walking, cycling, kayaking, ... and of course good food! So an ideal getaway!
It is not without reason that the region is a UNESCO World Heritage Site!
Château DE MINIèRE
Kathleen's first wine estate is the famous Château de Minière in Bourgueil. In 2010, Château de Minière became our property. We? We are Kathleen Van den Berghe and Sigurd Mareels. After our honeymoon in the Stellenbosch region of South Africa and upon returning from an adventure in the Tuscan vineyards, we, as a Belgian couple, looked for a country retreat in the middle of a vineyard where we could evolve from wine lover to wine grower.
When we discovered Château de Minière, we immediately fell in love with this estate, a historic place with a lot of character, nestled in the natural landscape of the Loire Valley. The original plan for a country retreat with a few vines became a full-fledged wine estate and a completely new career for Kathleen.
Kathleen realized a complete turnaround of the wine estate and the wine quality, with a very wide range of organic wines mainly based on Cabernet Franc and a little Chenin Blanc. She also managed a complete renovation of the wine estate into a gem of oenotourism, retaining its historic charm but with all modern comfort, with a tasting room, seminar rooms and accommodation for 27 people. You will also find a lot of Belgian art throughout the domain and the rooms.
Sustainability is very important and permeates all aspects of the estate, from bottles, labels, cartons, to insulation, reuse of rainwater, heat pumps, etc. The domain is also "refuge LPO", so a bird protection area.
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ChâTEAU DE SURONDE
Château de Suronde is a magical wine estate, located in the beautiful Loire Valley. This wine estate has been owned by Kathleen and her husband since 2016. This historic estate produces both dry and sweet white wines. These are grown biodynamically (Demeter) on approximately 7 hectares of vineyards with 100% Chenin Blanc vines that are between 15 and 70 years old. Sweet, semi-sweet or dry, it is the remarkable acidity of the wines that provides a perfect counterbalance to the natural sweetness of the grapes. Here too you can stay in two small residences, hidden in nature, beyond the busy world. Kathleen has also created an artist residency here and every year a Belgian artist is invited. We like to maintain the exclusive character and the domain can therefore only be visited by appointment.
Conquering a place in the wine business, as a Belgian in France and as a woman... it is not an obvious path.
Woman in a men's world
Gaining a place in the wine business, as a Belgian in France and as a woman... it is not an obvious path.
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But Kathleen chooses her own path, without hesitation. She has her own style and does not deviate from it. Not the easiest path, but the most fascinating. You find it in everything she does.
Her wines, for example: a clear style, straightforward and with character. With a clear expression of the grape, of their origin and of the winemaker, Kathleen.
And Kathleen also makes original wines, averse to all traditions and appellations, such as the red Bulles de Minière , a red sparkling wine, completely different and very tasty.
Kathleen also chooses to make tasty wines without too many frills and difficult words, even though there is a lot involved and a lot of thought has gone into it.
Vision! That is the core of all her stories. Vision first, then the rest.
If you only know the wine world from the outside, you are surprised by what is involved in production: agriculture, winemaking, bottles, corking and bottling, designing and printing labels, investing in a winery and new barrels every year, a lot of administration: taxes, customs, transport, inventory management, ... She had to learn to delegate and outsource... not always easy as an entrepreneur... but no one can be good at everything and an entrepreneur must work on her strengths to run the company and to further develop.
Kathleen surrounds herself with experts in their field, both in her own team and external advisors, including Stéphane Derenoncourt's team.
Over the past 14 years, she has built up a lot of experience in what works and what doesn't. Where are the pitfalls and where are the opportunities.
Kathleen can now perfectly advise others on their wine project.
She has also studied a lot, from viticulturist-winemaker at Syntra, the entire WSET process to Diploma and currently the extremely difficult and exclusive Master of Wine course.
The fact that she will hopefully soon become the first female "master of wine" in the Benelux proves how driven she is.