Dutch Vineyard Open Days 2026: 36 Vineyards Open

Gates open, glasses ready. During the Dutch Vineyard Open Days 2026, 36 vineyards across the Netherlands invite the public in during September. The Dutch Wine Institute (Stichting Wijninstituut Nederland, WIN) runs the event across five weekends, with Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September as the main weekend.

The timing works in your favour. September is when the grapes build their final sugars, and on some plots picking has already started. You will not be walking past bare rows but past loaded vines, alongside growers who keep one eye on the forecast the whole time you are talking to them.

Event: Dutch Vineyard Open Days 2026
Organiser: Stichting Wijninstituut Nederland (WIN)
Participating vineyards: 36
Main weekend: Sat 19 and Sun 20 September
Other dates: Sun 6, Sat 12, Sun 13, Sat 26, Sun 27 September
Provinces represented: 10 of 12
Dutch vineyard area: approx. 350 ha, approx. 220 commercial growers

What an open day actually offers

Each grower decides what to put on, and the range is wide. One will walk you through the vineyard, the winery and the cellar and finish with a tasting. Another sets up a stall of regional produce, books a band and charges nothing at the gate. A third sells a culinary tasting at 49.50 euro a head.

That inconsistency comes with the format. These are small businesses opening their own front door on their own time and budget, not a festival organisation working from a shared script. Expect to check per vineyard whether you can book, whether you must, and what it costs.

If you only know Dutch wine from a shop shelf, an hour among the rows teaches you more than any back label. You see which varieties actually ripen at this latitude, how the vines are trained, and how much hand work sits behind a bottle grown here.

Who is taking part, weekend by weekend

Sunday 6 September

Wijngaard / Voedselbos De Zandberg, Bergeijk (North Brabant), 12.00 to 17.00. Walk through vineyard and food forest, tasting on the terrace.
Wijngaard Hof van Twente, Bentelo (Overijssel), 14.00 to 19.00. Welcome glass of Federweisser, tour of vineyard and winery, live music.

Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September

Betuws Wijndomein, Erichem (Gelderland), Sat 15.00 to 18.00. Culinary tasting with a tour of the new winery, 49.50 euro.
Wijngaard Telgt, Ermelo (Gelderland), Sat 11.00 to 17.00. Vineyard tour, tasting, a beekeeper and a salmon smoker on site, free entry.
Wijngoed Montferland, Gendringen (Gelderland), Sat 13.00 to 18.00 and Sun 13.00 to 19.00. Wine festival with music and tours.
Wijngaard By Ypma, De Rips (North Brabant), Sun 11.00 to 17.00. Tours every half hour, local food stalls.
De Druiverij, Welsum (Overijssel), Sat and Sun 11.00 to 16.30. New releases, art and the Forte Trifolium labyrinth.
Wijngaard Hoog Beek & Royen, Zeist (Utrecht), Sat 12.00 to 16.00 and Sun 11.00 to 16.00. Coincides with the national Open Monument Days.

Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September

The main weekend, with 23 vineyards.

Wijngaard Op Tiendeveen, Tiendeveen (Drenthe), Sat and Sun 12.00 to 17.00. From grape to cellar on foot, tasting in the reception room.
De Wilde Wijngaard, Lelystad (Flevoland), Sat 12.00 to 16.00. Natural vineyard with guided tours.
Wijngaard El Placer, Lelystad (Flevoland), Sat and Sun 11.00 to 17.00. Walk the rows just before harvest, taste El Placer and Wilde Wijngaard side by side.
De Holdeurn, Berg en Dal (Gelderland), Sat and Sun 13.00 to 19.00. Behind the scenes in vineyard and winery.
De Nieuwe Fontein, Culemborg (Gelderland), Sat 10.00 to 17.00 and Sun 12.00 to 17.00. Vines at the foot of the Lek dyke.
Keulenhof, Elst (Gelderland), Sat and Sun 11.00 to 17.00. Free tours at 11.00, 13.00 and 15.00, registration appreciated.
Wijndomein Auansati, Kerk Avezaath (Gelderland), Sat and Sun 14.00 to 17.00. Tours on the hour and half hour.
Wijngaard De Rijsakker, Rumpt (Gelderland), Sat and Sun 10.00 to 16.00. Free entry, free tasting.
Wagenings Wijngoed, Wageningen (Gelderland), Sun 14.00 to 18.00. Harvest party with live music, three tours, free entry.
Wijngaard Hesselink, Winterswijk Henxel (Gelderland), Sat and Sun 11.00 to 18.00. 22 different wines, food and live music.
Chateau de Peszon, Meedhuizen (Groningen), Sat and Sun 09.00 to 17.00. The most northerly vineyard in the country.
Wijngaard Bemelerberg, Bemelen (Limburg), Sat 10.30 to 15.00 and Sun 10.30 to 14.30. Small site in a Natura 2000 area, on the Pieterpad walking route.
Wijndomein Kapèlkeshof, Grashoek (Limburg), Sun 13.00 to 16.00. Free tour at 13.00, build your own tasting flight.
Vinea Cura, Helden (Limburg), Sun 11.00 to 17.00. Vineyard, winery and a petting farm for children.
Domein Holset, Lemiers (Limburg), Sun 11.00 to 17.00. Tours at 12.00, 14.00 and 16.00. Volunteer pickers welcome on request.
’t Hanik, Lomm (Limburg), Sat 12.00 to 17.00. The Laaktaler band plays from 14.00.
Wijngoed Weerterhof, Meers Elsloo (Limburg), Sat and Sun 11.00 to 18.00. Natural vineyard in the Meuse floodplain.
Hof van Baarle, Baarle-Nassau (North Brabant), Sat and Sun 12.00 to 19.00. A vineyard straddling the Dutch and Belgian border, with a vineyard trail and Sunday live music.
Wijngaard Dassemus, Chaam (North Brabant), Sun 13.00 to 17.30. Unsprayed vineyard, natural wines from newer varieties.
Domaine de Brabantse Wal, Ossendrecht (North Brabant), Sat 11.00 to 17.00. White wines, walks between the rows.
Domein Buitendijks, Raamsdonk (North Brabant), Sat and Sun 13.00 to 17.00. Village wine festival, free entry, guided tour with tasting 10 euro.
Winery & Herbs, Schijndel (North Brabant), Sun 11.00 to 17.00. Tasting, tours and an explanation of the winemaking.
Wijngaard Land & Boschzigt, ’s-Graveland (North Holland), Sat 12.00 to 17.00. Normally closed and visible only through the keyhole in the gate.

Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September

Wijngaard De Plack, Groesbeek (Gelderland), Sat and Sun 12.00 to 18.00. Tours, tasting and live music on both days.
Domaine Les Damianes, Sint-Oedenrode (North Brabant), Sat 13.00 to 17.00. Its own microclimate and a green brigade of runner ducks, guinea fowl and chickens.
Wijngaard Zonnestraal, Hilversum (North Holland), Sat 14.00 to 17.00 and Sun 13.00 to 17.00. A five-course dinner with estate wines on 26 September.
Wijndomein De Koen, Zuid-Scharwoude (North Holland), Sat and Sun 13.00 to 17.00. Vineyard walk and tasting.
Landgoed Catharinahoeve / Elmare, Waterlandkerkje (Zeeland), Sat and Sun 11.00 to 17.00.

The map is lopsided

Count the participants by province and the spread disappoints. Gelderland fields eleven vineyards, North Brabant eight, Limburg six. Together that is almost three quarters of the programme. North Holland has three, Overijssel and Flevoland two each. Drenthe, Groningen, Utrecht and Zeeland have exactly one. Friesland and South Holland field none at all.

If you live in the Randstad, the nearest participating vineyard is comfortably an hour away. The event calls itself national. In practice it is a river-country, Brabant and Limburg affair with a handful of outposts.

36 out of 220

The second caveat sits in the headline number. The Netherlands has roughly 220 commercial wine growers working around 350 hectares. Thirty-six of them are opening up, a little over one in six. The large majority of the Dutch wine sector keeps the gate shut in September.

That is understandable. An open day in harvest season costs exactly the hours you need most in autumn. It also shows how young Dutch wine tourism still is. In Alsace or Rheinhessen the open cellar is a fixed part of the business model. Here it remains an option that most producers decline.

A third point: spreading across five weekends dilutes the main weekend. Turn up on 6 or 27 September and you can choose between two and five addresses. Pleasantly quiet, and awkward to turn into a day out. For a route taking in several vineyards, 19 and 20 September is realistically the only weekend that works.

How to get more out of it

Call or email ahead. Opening hours, tour times and booking requirements vary per address and shift late, especially if picking comes early. The calendar records an intention; the grower knows a week beforehand whether it is workable.

Then choose by grape rather than by distance. Solaris, Souvignier Gris, Johanniter and Cabernet Cortis each tell a different story about what ripens in a cool maritime climate. Ask the grower why that particular variety ended up here. The answer usually contains the whole vineyard: the soil, the aspect, and what still ripens in a cold year.

Buy on site if something tastes good to you. Many of these wines are sold nowhere else, in runs that finish after a few hundred bottles. For most of these producers the open day is the busiest sales moment of the year.

Frequently asked questions

When are the Dutch Vineyard Open Days 2026?

Throughout September 2026, across five weekends: Sunday 6, Saturday 12, Sunday 13, Saturday 19, Sunday 20, Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September. The main weekend is 19 and 20 September, with 23 of the 36 participating vineyards.

Do I need to book in advance?

It depends on the vineyard. Some work on free entry and walk-in visits, others ask you to register for tours or sell tastings in advance. Always check the vineyard’s own information before you set off.

What does visiting a Dutch vineyard cost?

Anywhere from nothing to about 50 euro. Several participants charge no entry and pour for free, others ask around 10 euro for a guided tour with tasting. The most expensive option this year is the 49.50 euro culinary tasting at Betuws Wijndomein.

How many vineyards does the Netherlands have?

Around 220 commercial growers across roughly 350 hectares, spread over almost every province. The 2025 harvest came in at about 11,752 hectolitres, comfortably over 1.5 million bottles.

Is September a good month to visit?

Yes. The grapes are close to ripe and on some plots picking has begun, so you see the vineyard at its fullest and can ask the winemaker about the vintage in progress. The drawback follows from the same fact. Growers are busy in September, so programmes can change at short notice.

The full participant overview with a map is on nederlandsewijninfo.nl.