Two to ten times less pesticides. That’s the gap between a vineyard with modern grapes like Solaris or Johanniter and a vineyard with classic Riesling or Chardonnay in the same cool climate. Vicky Corbeels did the math for her PhD at the University of Antwerp, and it’s one of the reasons she argues the Belgian wine sector should stop copy-pasting from Bordeaux.
For this Sparks episode I spoke with her about sustainable viticulture in cool climates. We covered EU policy written for Mediterranean producers, a paradox where certified-organic growers reach for the most polluting frost-protection method, and a European consortium above the 56th parallel where the challenges shift again.
This episode was recorded in Dutch. Listen on YouTube or Spotify above. The full Dutch transcript is on the Dutch version of this article.
Who is Vicky Corbeels
Vicky didn’t come up through wine. She trained as an Arabist and Islamologist — the diploma is twenty years old. Fifteen years ago she moved into the wine sector and worked her way through every step: sommelier in restaurants, wine writer, independent wine consultant. For the past decade she has made her living selling her wine knowledge to professionals and consumers.
A year and a half ago she started a PhD at the University of Antwerp. The trigger: a 2021 postgraduate in Energy and Climate, with a thesis applied to Belgian winegrowing. What she found there wouldn’t let her go. Her company Cru Design is the platform she now uses to combine masterclasses, consulting, and research.
Why Belgian wine can’t come from Bordeaux
The problem starts with where the knowledge comes from. EU wine policy and most European research is written by the big traditional wine countries around the Mediterranean. They have the funding, the subsidies, the influence at Brussels.
“All EU wine policy is written for those warm, traditional climates,” Vicky says. “And those solutions are not necessarily the solutions we need in cool climates.”
Bordeaux and the Belgian Maas valley share the word wine. Not much else. Different grapes, different summer daylight, different fungal pressure, different frost profile. The Belgian sector has imported a lot of practice from the south because there wasn’t much alternative. That borrowing is starting to grind against reality in the vineyard.
Vitiviniculture: the first two phases only
Vicky’s research is deliberately limited to what she calls vitiviniculture. Two phases: the grape growing itself, and turning grape juice into wine before bottling. Everything after — packaging, glass, distribution, consumption — sits outside the scope.
Not because it doesn’t matter. Because those studies already exist. Bringing a one-kilo bottle down to 500 grams is the same calculation for wine, beer, or fruit juice. What’s actually specific to cool-climate winegrowing happens before the bottling line.
Modern grapes: 2 to 10 times less pesticide
Vicky uses the term modern grapes on purpose, instead of hybrid, interspecific, or resistant. “Hybrid always sounds like something that isn’t quite. Half-and-half. Wanting to but not really getting there.”
The numbers behind the term are clear. Solaris, Johanniter, Souvignier Gris, Bacchus — these varieties need up to twice less pesticide than Riesling or Cabernet Sauvignon, and the frequency of vineyard interventions drops as well. In some regions the gap reaches a factor of ten.
Two thirds of the Belgian vineyard area is still planted with traditional varieties. Meanwhile the EU is explicitly asking member states to focus on adapted crops — not just for wine, for agriculture as a whole.
Four research phases through 2027
The PhD runs in four blocks.
Phase 1: maturity gap. A comparison of sustainability maturity between cool-climate countries (with Belgium as case) and the traditional wine regions. The conclusion now in publication: there’s a gap, and the southern programmes aren’t transferable to the north as they stand. Bordeaux solutions don’t drop in cleanly over Flanders.
Phase 2: scenario thinking. 25 Belgian winemakers — Flemish and Walloon — plus key stakeholders are being interviewed about how they see Belgian vitiviniculture in 15 to 30 years. The output: four future scenarios with early-warning signals, so growers can spot which scenario they’re heading toward and steer earlier.
Phase 3: LCA. A life-cycle analysis of products, materials, water, and energy across viticulture and vinification. The point is to surface the hotspots — where the climate impact is concentrated.
Phase 4: socio-economic. Pending an EU fund still up for approval. This phase exports the Belgian case study to the Netherlands and the more northern countries.
A consortium above the 56th parallel
For the EU fund, Vicky built a consortium with the universities of Maastricht, Copenhagen, and an Estonian university. All countries with active winegrowing, but the dynamics aren’t uniform.
Denmark, for example, has a colder average climate than Belgium for its main regions. But there are pockets where figs, olives, and other exotic fruit grow happily. Above the 56th parallel — Denmark, Estonia — the challenges shift again. Same pattern, one layer deeper: even within the cool-climate bloc, you can’t copy-paste.
The organic frost-protection paradox
One of the most striking findings from the postgraduate work: the most polluting frost-protection technique — literally burning material between the vines in spring — is used proportionally more often by certified-organic producers than by conventional ones.
That tells you something, but not what you’d expect.
“Certificates are far more a means than an end,” Vicky says. “Sometimes the corner gets cut. People want to land the certificate, and then it doesn’t go any further than that.”
That’s why her research doesn’t zoom in on certification as a topic, but does flag where certification leads to perverse outcomes in practice.
Pioneer phase, 3.5 million litres
Belgium now produces around 3.5 million litres of wine a year. Possibly the largest cool-climate producer after the UK. The sector is still in a pioneer phase. The growers Vicky works with are uniformly convinced about sustainability — demand is huge — but they want science-backed answers before the next round of investment.
During our conversation I floated the idea of a dedicated cuvée whose proceeds fund the research itself. Marketing and financing in one move. Vicky liked the idea. To be continued.
FAQ
What are modern grapes? Modern grapes are specially adapted or cloned varieties with tolerance for fungal pressure and other challenges of cool, wet climates. Examples: Solaris, Johanniter, Souvignier Gris, Bacchus. Vicky uses this term in preference to hybrid, interspecific, or resistant.
How much less pesticide do modern grapes need? Two to ten times less, both in dose and in intervention frequency. The exact figure depends on region, vintage, and variety.
Why isn’t EU wine research usable for Belgium? Because policy and most programmes are written for the traditional warm wine regions around the Mediterranean. Different grapes, different summer daylight hours, different fungal pressure and challenges make that knowledge non-transferable as it stands.
What is vitiviniculture? The combination of grape growing (viticulture) and winemaking (vinification). Vicky deliberately limits her research to these two phases — everything before bottling — because that’s where cool climates work fundamentally differently.
When are the first results available? Phase 1 (the maturity-gap comparison) is in publication. Phase 2 (scenario thinking) Vicky expects to finish within two to three months. Phase 3 (LCA) is on the schedule for late 2026.
More about Vicky Corbeels
Vicky publishes research updates and her masterclass schedule on cru-design.com. Her next event at Antwerp wine shop Belgian Wines focuses entirely on modern grapes.
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