This is an extract from an article I wrote for my website, Tastes, Tannins & Travels by Amsterdam Foodie, about wineries worth visiting in the Netherlands. For Substack, I’ve just focused on the tour I did of South Limburg’s wine producers, but you can read the complete guide here.
First, a quick recap on Dutch wine
The Netherlands’ wine industry is very young, dating from the 1970s and starting out in Limburg. It began to boom in the early 2000s, and today there are vineyards in all 12 provinces and over 200 producers nationwide. Needless to say, they generally specialise in cool-climate grape varieties and hybrids, but global warming (the stonkingly hot summer we’ve had in 2026 being a case in point) is starting to challenge those generalisations. If you’d like to learn more beyond my nutshell summary, you can get an overview of the Dutch wine landscape here.
Wineries in Limburg
With the Netherlands’ largest concentration of vineyards and the longest history of winemaking in the country, the southernmost province of Limburg is the most logical place to start exploring Dutch wines. It also has hills! If you plan to visit a few of these wineries and don’t want to drive (sensible), I suggest renting an e-bike. South Limburg also offers so-called Routes des Vins (perhaps in French due to the province’s proximity to its Belgian neighbours), which are helpful itineraries through Dutch wine country.
Apostelhoeve
Planting vines since the 1970s and now with three generations of winemakers working together, Apostelhoeve is the pioneer of Dutch wine – and it shows in both the quality of the wines and their ubiquity (if you’ve only drunk one Dutch wine, it likely came from Apostelhoeve). Gilbert Hulst’s grandfather started out with cool-climate grape varieties like Auxerrois and Riesling, but the family has subsequently moved these vines to less sunny sites, reserving the south-facing slopes for grapes like Pinot Gris, Viognier and Chardonnay. As well as the rolling vineyards, touring Apostelhoeve takes in the sparkling-clean, high-tech facilities (wine geeks like me will be enthralled by their state-of-the-art filtration machine) plus the atmospheric courtyard and tasting area.
Guided tours last 1.5 hours and include a tasting of three wines, accompanied by ham and cheese. Visits are available year-round by appointment and cost a minimum of €300 for groups of up to 12 (unfortunately, there’s no possibility to join a group tour as an individual at this point).
Domein Holset
While Apostelhoeve may be the pioneer of Dutch whites, Domein Holset’s winemaker Kirsten Abels is the clear expert when it comes to Dutch sparkling. I’ve tried several of Holset’s traditional-method sparkling wines, and they certainly give Nyetimber a run for its money. Perhaps my favourite so far has been the “Dame” Brut Nature 2021: an elegant, complex, Chardonnay-based bubble that’s both bone-dry and as delicious as a pear and vanilla sponge.
Holset’s estate is on the opposite side of South Limburg from Apostelhoeve (Holset is in the southeast rather than southwest), and is home to another delightful courtyard plus a boutique hotel which looks like an idyllic place to stay. They offer guided tours in Dutch at various times of day depending on the season (check Holset’s website for details) from €32.50 per person. But you can also just stop by the shop and tasting room during opening hours and order a glass to taste or a bottle to share.
Wijngaard St Martinus
Just a short bike ride from Holset, Wijngaard St Martinus is reported to be the oldest red wine producer in the Netherlands (and competes with Apostelhoeve in terms of size). What differentiates St Martinus is Stan Beurskens’ focus on sustainability and innovation: since 2014 he’s run his own Wijnkenniscentrum (wine knowledge centre) alongside the vineyard, partnering with universities like Wageningen to trial new grape varieties and techniques aimed at cutting out systemic pesticides.
Tours run Wednesday to Sunday at 12.30 and 15:00, last about two hours, and include a three-glass tasting paired with regional snacks (from €35 per person). Whether you want to take a tour or just taste a glass or two on the premises, be sure to make a reservation. St Martinus is well-known and gets very busy, especially during the holiday season. (We learned this the hard way.)
Wijngoed Fromberg
Around 12 kilometres from St Martinus, Wijngoed Fromberg has none of the crowds but all of the charm. It’s a much smaller operation, but no reservations are needed and there’s a lovely terrace – canopied in trees – that’s ideally suited to drinking wine on a hot day. The tasting setup works well: you can order a flight of three sparkling or three still wines, allowing you to taste more than if you were to order individual glasses. And while the quality of the wines is not as high as those from the heavy-hitters I’ve mentioned so far, Fromberg does give you an opportunity to taste some lesser-known grapes like Bacchus and Reichensteiner. Plus, their Brut Pinot Noir (sparkling rosé) is very drinkable.
Want to find out more about wineries to visit in the rest of the Netherlands? Read my complete guide over on Tastes, Tannins & Travels by Amsterdam Foodie.