Slight rise in Dutch wine production

© Hollandse Hoogte / Joyce van Belkom
In 2017, the Netherlands had 92 vineyards, four more than in the previous year. The total vineyard surface area increased slightly to 157 hectares. The province of Limburg is the leading producer of wine grapes, as shown by the latest regional agricultural figures released by Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

Slight increase in Dutch grape acreage

In 2017, wine grapes occupied 157 ha of Dutch agricultural land, 2 ha more than in 2016. Between 2003 and 2017, the grape acreage increased by an annual 9 ha on average. The vineyard surface area grew from 35 ha in 2003 to 165 ha in 2011, a record year. This was followed by a slight decline until 2015. At 4 ha, Limburg saw the largest expansion of wine grape acreage, followed by Noord-Brabant with 2 ha. The province of Gelderland saw a decline of 2 ha.

Wine production emerging in Noord-Brabant

Traditionally, Limburg and Gelderland are the most important provinces for winegrowing. A respective 32 and 23 percent of the total grape acreage was located in these two provinces last year. Noord-Brabant has been emerging as a wine province in recent years, already accounting for 13 percent of the total winegrape acreage in 2017. In 2011, Limburg covered 22 percent, Gelderland 34 percent and Noord-Brabant 5 percent of the total grape acreage. Meanwhile, Gelderland has been replaced by Limburg as the top wine producing province, mainly as a result of the 20-ha reduction in grape acreage in Gelderland as of 2010.

Largest wine producers in Zeeland province

In 2017, a Dutch winegrower had an average of 1.7 ha of farmland for grape cultivation. The average was still 1.2 ha per holding in 2003. The largest winegrowers are located in the province of Zeeland: this province counted an average of 3.1 ha of grape acreage per holding.