"At Wijngaard Dassemus we want to make organic Dutch wines, we just don't want to use chemicals."
Dassemus, an old hamlet
Intrigued by the life story of this winemaker we headed towards the southern Dutch province of Brabant. Dassemus, the eponymous vineyard of Ron Langeveld, is named after a hamlet in the close surroundings of Chaam. The history of this village and surrounding area dates back many centuries and the name Chaam most likely appeared in literature already in the 5th century.
Not your average career
Winemaker Ron Langeveld studied Theoretical Mathematics at prestigious Leiden University. The idea of pursuing a PhD and locking himself up for a few years with a computer and a lot of formulas was not very tempting. Instead he decided to start working in ICT, writing software for a major telecom company. A good salary, a lease car, a laptop and actually creating something for a change.
He realized soon that he was still only creating a very small piece of a big puzzle. He quit the telecom business and went after his Olympic Dream as he had been canoeing already on quite a high level since his studies. For three years he trained fulltime, but unfortunately didn’t make it to the Olympics.
Sustainable winegrowing in The Netherlands
In 2004, the idea emerged to start a vineyard in the Netherlands. There are some obvious parallels between practicing topsport and winemaking. You let the grapes perform at their best all year and work towards the harvest and the final goal, the wine itself. Ron also likes to play fair and wants to approach his vineyard as ecological as possible.
That’s why he made the choice for modern hybrid grape varieties like Johanniter, Solaris, Souvignier Gris and Muscaris for making white wines. His varieties to make red wines of are a.o. Rondo, Cabernet Cantor, Cabernet Cortis, Cabernet Jura, Baron and Monarch. The vineyard now has grown to over four hectares.
Walking and winetasting
The vineyard of Wijngaard Dassemus borders a nature conservation area and there is a beautiful walking path right behind the vineyard. The area is full of small creeks, so don’t forget your boots! Combine a good walk with a tour and tasting at the winery and enjoy some local cheese. Wines can be purchased in the bottle shop. Make sure you contact the winery beforehand.