Just a little patience and then the five friends and owners of vineyard Avendorp in Schagen will start with their very first trial harvest. Since 2020, there are about 1700 grape vines on a piece of land. Some of it will now be harvested to make a ‘trial wine’ for the first time.
The foundation can’t wait to get started with their own grapes for the first time. The processed wine is not sold, this first batch is intended to get an idea of what kind of taste the grape growers can expect. “Here we really look at what the grape does on our soil, what is the development and how fast the sugars grow,” says Bas Westenenk of the Avendorp foundation.
Only a small part is harvested during the trial harvest. Most of the 1700 vines have been pruned, so now have no fully grown grapes. This is done so that the grapes will get even better at the real harvest next year. “But there are a number of rows that have not been pruned,” explains Bas Westeenk. They will be harvested soon.
In the video below Bas Westeenk explains how to measure that the grape is ready to be picked (text continues below the video):
The grapes are harvested at the Schagen vineyard for the first time – NH Nieuws
Setbacks
The five winegrowers don’t mind setbacks, as Bas Westeenk thinks about the past few years. The vines are growing exactly as hoped. “We were told that actually ten percent of the planting would not make it, but we have not had that. Everything pops out,” laughs Bas Westenenk when he looks around.
The gentlemen just need a little patience, because the first Schagen wine is said to be in the store in the spring of 2024. And what we can expect is, according to Westenenk, something very different from the wine, mainly Southern European, that is available in the supermarket. “The style is a lot fresher, they don’t understand that in Southern Europe, so leave that to us,” Westeenk jokes.
The Avendorp Foundation is partly financed because part of the vines have been adopted by interested parties. That adoption is valid for five years, after which the tendrils can be re-adopted. There is already a queue for the adoption, but donations are always welcome, according to the foundation. More information on https://www.avendorp.nl/
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