Oops, a Kiwidutch Apology is in order…

I need to apologise to you my dear Readers, I don’t profess any technical proficiency in anything at all, and often when I’m posting I get rather tied up in knots.

I started making posts in “Draft” format, but if you edit stuff and then just want to quickly update I found to my dismay that it was all to easy to forget to press “draft” again, and it would publish, Ready or not!. (Grrr)

Then I switched to using the “Publish On” scheduling feature that allows me to queue ready-made completed posts and publish them at the time and date I want. I find it better  than “draft” but not perfect … one aspect I constantly have troubles with is the date layout in the dashboard : it’s  Month, Day , Year method in the style that North Americans will be well used to but which confuses the hector out of me since I’m used to Day-Month-Year.

Since I’m trying to schedule posts I often have to look twice or three time at the, and even then, it happens semi regularly that I think I’m setting up  a draft post in for 6 August  (06-08-10) and instead it’s on 08-06-10 and worse, it posts immediately!!! (ouch!)

Today I did it again!!!… Yes, I quickly removed it when I saw it later, but my humble apologies for posting these little blips of posts that I really wasn’t intending the world to see (before they are ready at least).

Aggggh, I WILL try and get better at (not) doing this I promise.

Apologies again…

Now…

… back to Blogging!

Domein Hof Te Dieren Wijngaard, A Dutch Vineyard…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Summer in The Netherlands means a range of end-of-school-year activities, Social invitations, visitors and travel near and far around the city we live in.

Whilst delivering Kiwidutch daughter to a holiday event  in the Veluwe in the East of The Netherlands recently we stumbled upon several interesting places that we wanted to explore on the return trip.

This is how we came to be visiting the Domein Hof Te Dieren Wijngaard just outside the village of Dieren.

The Domein Hof Te Dieren building was first referenced in literature 1168, with an attached farm.

By 1647 it had evolved into it’s most well known structure, and the historic estate become a “jachtslot” (hunting castle) and was well used by Prince Willem II but in 1795 it burned down.

In 1822, it was rebuilt but burned down a second time in the closing years of World War II.

There has been subsequent talk of rebuilding it yet again but nothing has come of this plan to date.

Today this is the Netherlands largest walled vineyard, it’s total area of 3 hectares enclosed on three sides specifically built to provide a warmer climate.
The North and West winds are almost totally screened out and the wall gathers the warmth of the day and radiates it out at night.

The first grape harvest was in 2005. There are 10 organic grape varieties, 6 for wine and 4 for consumption.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

On set Sunday’s in the month, the vineyard hosts a market of locally made items… ( sadly we missed it by one day)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Cool coat hangers in the hallway..

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

And beautiful flower head by the entrance…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The vineyard also offers tours and wine tastings for groups up to 15 people.

We buy a bottle of red and a bottle of white to take home with us.  We’ve tried the red,  it’s a full fruity taste, but personally for us it has rather a too strong acidic after-taste. It’s drinkable but not one of the best wines we have ever had. Still, it was nice to have tried wine from a Dutch vineyard and to see what it’s like.

Domein Hof Te Dieren Wijngaard  // Youp en Riet Cretier  // Arnhemsestraatweg 16    // 6953AX  // Dieren   // Tel: 06  223 99 642    // Website: http://www.domeinhoftedieren.nl/index.htm (Dutch language only)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)