Zuid-Holland

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• In the south-west, the soils consist of Holocene marine clay and marine sand deposits, often overlying a peat subsoil, and along the Lek and old watercourses of the Rhine such as the Oude Rijn of river clay over river sand, sometimes mixed with peat.
• In the centre of the area, Holocene soils occur in scattered patches, consisting of peat over marine clay deposits and of marine clay and sand with intercalations of peat.
• Along the coast there are dune deposits of sand, within which a strip of marine sand mixed with clay or peat is frequently found — the so-called geestgronden (higher, free-draining sandy soils).
• The climate has an average annual rainfall of 879 mm and 1,675 sunshine hours per year, based on averages for Rotterdam/Valkenburg.
• The average annual temperature is 10.3 °C, rising to 16.9 °C in summer, with a diurnal temperature range in September of 7.9 °C.

• The climate makes it possible to achieve the stated yields and ripeness levels, expressed in a fresh, full, fruity wine with green notes and, in the red wines, red fruit as well.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Netherlands

Sources

• Specification (EUR-Lex, single document)
• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PGI-NL-A0965
• Official trade body site — Vereniging Nederlandse Wijn Producenten (VNWP)