Wijngaard Dassemus

Nothing predestined Ron Langeveld, the theoretical Mathematics graduate from the prestigious Leiden University, to winemaking. After a career in Telecom business, he quits to pursue his dream: winemaking? Nope. Canoeing!

His goal was nothing less than qualifying for the Olympics, but after 3 years of full training he had to come to terms with reality. His efforts were not in vain though. Out of this experience a parallel emerged. Enters Winemaking.

Much like in professional sport, winemaking involves training the grapes all year to perform at their best for the final goal, the wine itself. All in the spirit of Fair Play which translates to “ecological” in the wine domain. In fact, over the period of a decade or so, Ron has isolated those varieties that can really handle the Dutch climate without the need for any treatment of any kind. Focusing only on disease-resistant hybrid grape varieties (the so-called PIWIS), he not only farms organically but also without any copper or Sulphur sprays.

As Simon Woolf notes: “his vines【are】some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. There is none of the white powdery coating that is commonly found sometimes even in biodynamic vineyards after they’ve been sprayed with Sulphur.”

Weeding is done mechanically. Only the removed herbs as well as organic manure from their own goats and chickens are used for fertilization.

Bordering a nature conservation area, the vineyard is located in the southern Dutch province of Brabant in the historical village of Chaam, whose name dates back to the 5th century.

The eponymous Wijngaard Dassemus – which started in 2004 – is named after a hamlet in the surrounding area.

And then in 2017, Ron Langelveld along with Wine importer Marnix Rombaut and award-winning wine writer Simon Woolf – author of Amber Revolution – joined efforts to produce the first genuine Orange Dutch Wine from Souvignier Gris.

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