BOB: Wine from the twelve provinces

A shop that exclusively sells Dutch wine. Let that be exactly what wine shop BOB in Amsterdam's Pijp district does. Madness or vision? - TEXT HUIB EDIXHOVEN

That Dutch wine can be damn good had long been known. Such standard-bearers as the Apostelhoeve and Hoeve Nekum have been hard at work for five and three decades respectively. Their often splashy wines have long charmed enthusiasts and find their way to special events.

For example, Hoeve Nekum's 1999 Riesling was poured at our king's wedding in 2002. Unfortunately, the wider public is long deprived of wines from Dutch soil. Admittedly, this is not only due to consumer disinterest. A lot of wine was simply not good enough, while it came with a price tag that still hurt a bit.

Things have been changing rapidly over the last two decades. For the better, that is. Aided by deepened knowledge, improved techniques, modern grape varieties
AND a warmer climate, the production and quality of Dutch wine have gained momentum.

One million bottles

The Netherlands now has around 150 serious wine estates. Collectively, they cultivate about 300 hectares of vineyards, from which a fat million bottles are produced. Compare this to areas in France and it is not yet a drop in the ocean. But the trend towards more and better is crystal clear. By far the most wine comes from the south and east of the country, with the province where it all started as the frontrunner: Limburg. Yet there is now no province where wine is not made, from Texel and north-eastern Groningen to deep into
the Achterhoek and the very tip of Zeeland. Pioneers are springing up everywhere to take the plunge into growing grapes and making wine.

Two currents

Pick up a few Dutch bottles and you will see a striking number of unfamiliar grape names on the labels. Solaris, regent, cabernet cortis, johanniter, pinotin, helios and riesèl are names most wine drinkers will not recognise. What about this? The classic wine grape, Vitis vinifera, originates from the warm south. As a result, in wetter climates, this grape is not very resistant to fungal diseases, for example. For this reason, crosses with other varieties have been carried out to breed a grape with more resistance.

Usually, these grapes are called hybrids because they share DNA from both the classic wine grape and other grapes. But sommelier and advocate for NL wine Jan-Jaap Altenburg prefers to talk about 'modern grapes'. Classic versus modern. Fair enough. Altenburg clarifies: 'In the south of the Netherlands, think of Limburg in particular, you mainly see classic grapes. Think riesling, pinot gris, auxerrois, chardonnay and sometimes a blue grape like pinot noir. Elsewhere in the country, modern varieties predominate. Incidentally, it is good to realise that both grapes are genetically very close: 99 per cent of the DNA matches.

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