Joyce Kékkö-van Rennes

Joyce Kékkö-van Rennes, cellar master at the Wijnkasteel Genoels-Elderen estate, rigorously pursues her unchanging professional philosophy:

" The terroir, the vine and the vintage create, we conserve their qualities. "

Her winery is located at Château de Genoels-Elderen, a small village in the rolling landscape of the Hesbaye region in the Belgian province of Limburg. Following the purchase of the château by her parents Jeanne and Jaap van Rennes in 1991, father and daughter decided to make their wines here, an expression of the Hesbaye terroir characterized by limestone and loam soils perfect for the introduction of the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grape varieties. Their first harvest took place in 1992, and they were pioneers in a region that is currently booming with winegrowing.

Joyce trained with oenologist-engineers Kyriakos Kynigopoulos and Dominique Leboeuf, and completed internships in Burgundy at Pépinières Guillaume, Laboratoire Burgundia Oenologie and domaines Olivier Leflaive and Etienne Sauzet in Puligny-Montrachet.

The family-run château inaugurated new cellars for vinification in 2000 and ageing in 2013. Since 2003, still wines have been joined by sparkling wines vinified using the traditional method. In January 2019, following the death of Jaap van Rennes, Joyce succeeded her father at the head of the estate, which is now run entirely by the family: Joyce and her daughter Julia look after the wines in the cellar, while her husband Stefan and son Gabriel manage the vineyards. With a small team of collaborators, they succeed in producing award-winning quality wines every year.