Bio
I was born in the Netherlands now quite a while ago.
I studied Art History and Communication Science in Amsterdam, and through a miracle, ended up with a degree. Before that was to happen, I left on a scholarship for Berlin in 1991, although previouslyI never felt any desire to go to this city.
I began studying Dutch, which was a fairly ridiculous choice, all things considered, which resulted in me going to Berlin’s Freie Universitaet perhaps twice, after that I couldn’t stand the grey concrete buildings anymore, nor could I stand the feeling that I had done all this before in a previous life.
I took up jobs in bars, which earned me a scandalous lot of money for the three days a week that i was employed. These days are now long past.
I struggled on for years writing my theses on the communication of art, a topic that was too hot for both Amsterdam Universities I was stil enrolled in, as especially the discipline of art history has been struggling for years explaining what she is a history of. As this discipline lacks a proper scientific philosophy, she was not extremely enthusiastic about cross disciplinary subjects. Somehow I pulled it off, or did they want to get rid of me?
As I was no longer part of the alma mater, I needed something else to fill the days inbetween work with and started to investigate in wine, a long road plastered with bottles. I found a job as a wine waiter in an Italian restaurant in my, now beloved, Berlin, and started travelling to London to taste at the international Wine Challenge, for which I took up holidays.
I was asked to join the first Berlin sommelier training program of the Koblenz Chamber of Commerce on a scholarship. After I had finished that, I rushed straight off to Pauillac were I worked a full harvest at fifth growth Chateau Haut Bages Liberal.
After my return to the most beautiful city (okay, after Venice…) in the world, i had lost my job as a sommelier, but i was offered the position of manager in a restaurant located in the brand new European HO of Universal Music. Nine wild months followed, with nights spent in the restaurant’s own club, were cutting edge electronic music was the main theme. You cannot imagine how privileged it feels to walk just up the stairs after a hard day’s (and night’s) work, to have your night cap in one of the coollest places in town, with breathtaking views on the river.
It was time to depart, and I cried all the way to Calais. In London I immediately started working as a sommelier, to become soon assistent head sommelier, and, after that the restaurant’s wine merchant manager. It is mostly in this role that I meet the who’s who of the wine world, but can still get excited about a glass of Lambrusco.