Are you serious?! // Winemaking in the Netherlands?

German Version

Finally a weekend away! A roadtrip to the Netherlands. I heard rumors that in the region of Limburg winemakers can be found. Are you serious? Dutch Wine?? I thought they only grow tomatoes and tulips?! Time to investigate!

The Kapelkeshof is located in between farmland and a golfcourse. Even though it is a cold day the greens are busy. We stroll across the golfcourse to reach the vineyard. So here we go – not just a rumor, Dutch wine!

The Beumer’s small vineyard contains a variety of two white and two red grapes: Solaris and Helios as well as Cabinet Cortis and Regent. All of them robust. A sign at the entrance invites clients to adopt a vine – the list of adoptive parents is long already. While the vineyard seems a bit sparse at this time of the year, soon it will explode with colours again:

The vineyard exists since 2006 and is being cultivated by young vintner Sara Beumers and her father. It’s Sara who organizes a tasting for us in their cosy golf-restaurant. She proudly presents the different wines of the family business. You can immediately sense her passion for wine. We start to chat and she tells me about her courses in German Geisenheim and her membership in a Dutch society for young producers.

Now Sara introduces: The Rosé-Prosecco de Parel van Peel en Haas, the Peeljuwel a dry white, the Cuvee de Raum that perfectly fits an asparagus dish and the Peelrand, a red that matures in a wooden barrel for 12 months. I am amazed how many different wines one can produce from such a small vineyard! I myself favour the Prosecco, light, brisk and fresh – it reminds me of summertime on the patio…

The bottles show a very colourful and modern variety of labels that mirror the happiness of their young producer. A nice present or give-away. Something for the eye!

Last but not least Sara shows us the current issue of WineLife. The Dutch wine magazine recently awarded the Rosé 2014 from Kapelkeshof.

We surely want to taste this! Sara smiles and brings a bottle from the storage room – no worries! You can sense how proud she is of this recent award. As we taste the Rosé Cuvée made from Regent and Cabernet Cortis we simply know why…

Dank je wel and tot ziens!