In The Netherlands it is allowed to drink at any age of 16 within domestic environment. Outside that environment it is 18. As to find at Wikiand our government website: "De leeftijdsgrenzen gelden niet voor schenken van alcoholhoudende dranken in de privésfeer." The translation is as mentioned before " The age limit does not apply to consumption of alcoholic beverages in private settings." Alas, by law it is prohibited by youngster under the age of 18. As I am Italian of origin, I grew up with my father drinking Chianti at the dinner table. You can imagine it did not take long for us to drink the same, ofcourse heavily water diluted, nevertheless my first encounter was at the age of 8...