About
In 1995 I founded the very first Belgian website devoted to wine at www.bernardwines.be, which was meant as a means of getting out information.
Due to medical reasons I was forced to take it more slowly and thus my laptop became the guardian angel for my company during a period of 4 years in hospital. That’s how the website became to be the beating heart of my company.
Today I export wines worldwide from Australia and Hong Kong to the USA and the UK. Obviously I sell to private retail customers, but also to companies and the better restaurants & hotels.
Today I am proud to be able to install the new headquarters of my company in the home of my parents, who’ve sadly passed away and always supported me during my career in wines.
My father, grandfather and grand grandfather were all hotelkeepers of the famous Belle Vue Brittania on the sea-side promenade of Ostend, so I decided to take courses at the local hotelschool.
The school, at the height of its glory back then, provided me with both the basic knowledge of wines and the love for the craft.
Upon graduation in 1987, after my one-year tour of duty with the Navy, I spent another two years developing my skills for the making and tasting of wines at the Wine University of Bordeaux II (Talence) in France.
It was the owner of Château Patris, St-Emilion Grand Cru – Michel Querre – who, after my apprenticeship as wine-maker, sent me to Restaurant Ledoyen on the world famous Champs-Elysées in Paris to become sommelier. After that, I would move on to become sommelier at the cruise ship ‘Le Mermoz’.
Finally, in 1992, I landed a much anticipated job with one of the oldest wine merchants in Belgium where I honed my skills for another year before finally, in 1993, I started my own business.
Every year I return to Bordeaux to evaluate the new releases (as well as older wines). I am thrilled to be able to share these wonderful wines with you all...
In 2004, the French government gave me the greatest honour I can possibly imagine by bestowing on me the title of ‘Chevalier dans l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole ’.
Enjoy your online visit...