Andy De Brouwer, Halle

A few years ago Andy De Brouwer came up with the idea to mix gueuze and champagne as a house aperitif at restaurant Les Eleveurs (Halle) into a kind of half-and-half. It was such a success that the idea was copied by other restaurants, often in an ill-considered way. Some replaced the champagne with cheap cava and the gueuze with kriek of lesser quality. That is why he had the idea and process of the ‘vin lambieké’ legally protected.

Instead of simply mixing two alcoholic drinks, Andy De Brouwer decided to let undergo Oude Lambiek from Den Herberg in Buizingen a second fermentation in the bottle, together with ‘vin clair’ of white hybrid grapes from the wine cooperative of Liège.

MeuZenne is the contraction of the names of two rivers: Meuse (= Maas) and Zenne. The wine comes from a beautiful limestone rock in the Meuse valley, while the Oude Lambiek comes from the Senne valley.

Andy De Brouwer is the owner-sommelier of restaurant Les Eleveurs in Halle. He graduated as a master sommelier at the hotel school Ter Duinen in Koksijde. In 2012, he was named Sommelier of the Year and elected First Maître d’hôtel of Belgium 2019. Together with colleague Yanick Dehandschieter, he also received the HORAL Lambic Award 2020.