Not every wine story begins with a vineyard. This one began with a building company — and the decision to sell it.
In 2017, after selling their construction business, Kathy De Clercq and Bart Bracke followed a long-held passion and founded Wijndomein Cruysem in their home town of Kruisem, in the Flemish Ardennes. The dream had been brewing for years — on trips through France and Spain the couple always sought out wine estates, and once even imagined buying a château and vineyard abroad — but when it came to it, they planted their roots at home. The domaine takes its name from Kruisem itself, the municipality formed in 2019 from the merger of Kruishoutem and Zingem, a stone’s throw from the celebrated three-star restaurant Hof van Cleve.
They did it properly, from the ground up. Both trained as winemakers at Syntra and deepened their knowledge in Avize, in the heart of Champagne — and that Champenois influence defines everything they make. Cruysem produces no still wines at all: only traditional-method sparkling wine, from the four classic grapes planted on the estate — Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Blanc.
The secret lies underfoot. The vineyard sits on sandy-loam soil with a subsoil of ferruginous sandstone, and that iron-rich stone is crucial: it lends a pronounced minerality that gives Cruysem’s wines their own signature. The other secret is patience. Where Belgian law requires just nine months of ageing, Cruysem rests its wines for two full years in the cellar — a commitment to quality that was rewarded almost immediately. When their very first Cuvée 2018/2019 was released, it was named one of the six best Belgian sparkling wines at the Gault&Millau Belgian Wine Awards.
The accolades have kept coming. In 2024 every wine Cruysem entered took a medal at the Concours Meilleur Vin Belge — a clean sweep — and in May 2025 the estate officially joined the BelBul quality label for Belgian sparkling wine, of which Kathy is a founding member. In early 2026 Kathy De Clercq herself was named Wine Lady of the Year, recognition of a second career built, as she puts it, by trading the building site for the vineyard.
For a domaine barely a few vintages old, Cruysem has arrived with remarkable poise — proof that world-class traditional-method sparkling wine can be grown, quite literally, in your own backyard.
Foxes & Grapes takes its name from the ancient Greek fable by Aesop — a story about desire, perspective, and how we sometimes convince ourselves that something just isn’t worth it simply because it feels out of reach.
In 2025, we opened Foxes & Grapes Wine Bar in Brussels with a simple philosophy: wine should be enjoyed, explored, and shared by everyone.
Within our first year, the bar received a Red Star and later a Silver Star from Star Wine List, and was recognised as a finalist for Best Newcomer Wine Bar in Belgium.
Operating the bar also helped us reflect on the long-term direction of the project. The traditional wine bar model did not fully align with the broader vision we had for Foxes & Grapes.
So we decided to evolve.
Today Foxes & Grapes is growing into a platform built around three pillars:
What began as a wine bar is becoming something bigger: a space where curiosity, discovery, and great bottles come together.
And this is only the beginning.
