Riesling Fellows Belgium

Nico Knott is a hotelier, chef and wine merchant of the highest caliber. He first founded his own hotel-restaurant, the "Vier Jahreszeiten," 30 years ago in 1989 in Nidrum, a small town near the German/Belgian border. He offers his guest a selection of gourmet cuisine perpetually oriented toward the regional and seasonal.

At his establishment, Nico Knott works to combine his passions for hospitality, gastronomy and wine. Shortly after opening his hotel, he opened his own wine store, Nico Knott AG, with wines and spirits from around the world and a special focus on wines from German regions.

Thanks to his strong contacts with German winegrowers and support from the German Wine Institute, Nico's many forays into the German winegrowing regions brought him fascinating insights and experiences into what makes German wine so special. His catalog soon expanded to include several hundred individual German wines. Riesling, however, continues to hold his greatest fancy. There are many truly remarkable specimens among the 550,000 bottles in his cellar, some dating back to the legendary 1959 vintage.

Nico Knott has raised the profile of German wine throughout Belgium, through his presence at wine fairs such as the Mondial du vin and the Horeca-Expo in Ghent, not to mention through seemingly weekly promotions at his popular restaurant, which is famous throughout his homeland.

François Langbeen from Belgium, importer, got the ProRiesling Förderpreis in 2006. In 1991 already he started his own company, importing German wines – now he is presenting wines from nine regions. His knowledge about German wine is unlimited. His philosophy: convert the Belgian with German top wines.
Up till today he doesn’t import wines from any other wine producing country.