Domaine des Hêtres: Belgian wine & Goffin asparagus

Par Gabriel Goldberg 1 June 2026 6 min read

Some friendships outlast decades without fading, and some families turn the land into a body of work. On June 8, my long-time friend Adeline Goffin invited me to spend the day with hers at Domaine des Hêtres , in the rolling Hesbaye region of Wallonia. A walk through the vineyards, a stop at the farm, a tasting of the green asparagus that made them famous, and a lunch that still smelled of May even on a Sunday in June. I left with a quiet certainty: we don't talk enough about what Wallonia can actually grow. The understated sign of La Ferme des Hêtres — Famille Goffin A friendship, a family, a calling I've known the Goffins for a long time. Adeline first — a loyal friend whose generosity has never wavered — then, in widening circles, the rest of the family. When she suggested I come see "what the brothers actually do with their days," I said yes without hesitation. What I hadn't grasped was the scale of the family project: the Domaine and the Farm share the same hectares, the same barns, sometimes the same hands. Wines on one side, green asparagus , fruit and cold-pressed juices on the other — and at the centre, a standard that doesn't cut corners. The cobbled drive leading to the main building — a Sunday morning under Brabant's low clouds The domain: Belgian winemaking that owns itself For a long time, "Belgian wine" raised eyebrows. Not anymore. Climate change, the relentless work of a handful of pioneers, and the creation of the Côtes de Sambre et Meuse AOC have changed…