Dutch wine

Dutch wine – Dutch wines is on the rise. The quality is often quite mediocre, but the demand is high because the Dutch like to drink wine from their own country.

At the moment there are about 400 vineyards, spread throughout the whole of The Netherlands, the most of which are situated in southern Limburg, Brabant and Zeeland.
The best known vineyard is Apostelhoeve in southern Limburg.

Thanks to the global warming the viticulture line is expanding to the north.
England has viticulture as well, but even in Sweden and Finland there is some limited viticulture.
The best known wine grapes in The Netherlands are Riesling, Müller, Thurgau and Auxerois.
These are white grapes, out of which especially Riesling can be surprisingly good.

The biggest problem for grape growers are the mould diseases like Mildew.
They appear because of the damp and cold climate.
As a reaction to this new races have been bred like the Rondo and Regent (black grapes).
These are hybrids however: crosses of American and European grape varieties.
Their taste is generally not appreciated as highly as European grape varieties.