Our vineyard is located on sloping land in Langeveen called the Mandjesberg. Searching for a destination for this land, it became clear that the high gravel content, caused by an Esker, would be highly suitable for growing grapes. Thus the idea for Vineyard de Mandjesberg was born.
An Esker or meltwater ridge is a mound in the landscape or underground caused by meltwater under an ice sheet, such as a glacier. The mound consists of sand mixed with gravel and boulders that were small enough to be carried by the water. This makes this soil poor and extremely suitable for growing several varieties of grapes. In the Netherlands, an Esker is a rare phenomenon.
Under the guidance of winemaker Roelof Visscher of Neerlands Wijnmakerij in Bentelo, the leap of faith was taken and the first 7000 plants were planted in May 2021. The choice to use this land to grow grapes proved to be the right one; amazing to see how quickly the plants grew and a beautiful vineyard was created within a few months!
The decision to expand was therefore quickly made; another 5,000 grape plants were planted in April 2022. The first grapes were harvested in autumn 2022 and we hope to have several fine wines produced under the Eskerwijn name in the winery run by and in close cooperation with Roelof Visscher and his team.
