Since our decision to expand the Dutch Wine Apprentice team we gathered a nice group of wine writers that have successfully covered different wine events, wrote background articles and reviewed interesting wines.
As one of our goals is to create a diversity in wine content we believe that we can always benefit from new writers who bring in creativity and knowledge, and therefore we are happy to announce two new writers today.
By welcoming Martijn and Michelle we add two members that each have their own expertise and experience when it comes to wine. Martijn is a serious restaurant entrepreneur and professional sommelier and Michelle is a self-trained wine lover who made it her mission to educate others and teach them what wine is about and which great stories can be found behind each label.
We are happy to work with both wine lovers and will let them introduce themselves to you.
My name is Martijn Coenen, and I recently joined the DWA crew. I am 33 years old and since I was young I knew wanted to work in the hospitality branche. I attended the “horeca ondernemer” study at one of the famous Dutch hospitality schools “De Rooi Pannen” in Tilburg, and expanded my wine knowledge with some wine training along the way (amongst others I completed SDEN 3 and WSET 2).
Wine just intrigues me because there is so much work and effort put into by the winemaker, it’s just magical to see what is coming out of the bottle every time! So many different styles, grape varieties, producing countries and flavours, wow! I think people don’t realize enough how much work it is to “produce” a single bottle of wine, and I would love to bring that message over. Also, that is why I hate the word “huiswijn” on a wine list and would never use it!
In July 2019 I opened a fine dining restaurant in Boxtel, Restaurant de Koetsier, together with my wife Ayesta. (she is the chef). I am the sommelier and Head of Service. We got listed in the Michelin Guide after our first year in business, and are featured in the “Lekker 500”, which keeps us motivated to select the most beautiful and best wines for our wine list!Â
I specialize in German wines and love Riesling in all its diversity and styles. I personally attended the “Generation Riesling” Buddy Exchange twice, which means I went to a German winemaker to help in the winery for a few days. Getting my hands dirty and learning about the wine making process along the way.
I enjoy making some nice food pairings with the wines we sell by the glass, as well as keeping the wine list exciting and big enough. Maybe good to know: I also have a weakness for magnums! In the meanwhile, I am still learning a lot in the world of wines, and I hope my knowledge and food pairing experience will come in handy at Dutch Wine Apprentice.
I also share my knowledge and tasting notes on my Instagram account. It is so much fun to taste great wines and teach people more about wine.
Martijn’s personal Instagram profile is @wijn_metmartijn
My name is Michelle and I love wine. By day I am a Project Manager for the coolest Branding Agency in the Netherlands but by night I am a wine lover!
My love for wine started some years ago by simply drinking wine, trying different grapes and searching for the types I like. This interest gave me the urge to learn more about wine, so I started an SDEN 1 course to learn more about the winemaking process and learn how to differentiate the most common grapes. It was not long before I noticed that I wanted to share the knowledge I gained with people around me. Even if I saw that they were not really interested, I wanted to educate them. In the meantime, I grew my wine knowledge and passed SDEN 2, currently studying for SDEN 3.
So far, my favorite wines are from Italy (Veneto, Tuscany, Puglia) or Southern France (Languedoc-Roussillon, Southern RhĂ´ne), but I can also really enjoy a classic New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, South African Pinotage or Chardonnay from US. I love to learn new things and discover the lesser known grapes and regions.
For Dutch Wine Apprentice, I will mostly review wines so I can hopefully help you to choose the best suiting wines for your wine-moments. Â
Michelle’s personal Instagram profile is @mies_winejournalÂ
We want to thank Martijn and Michelle and are looking forward to collaborating with them to share our love for wine. Stay tuned because we will have more writers joining our platform soon!
If you are interested in joining us feel free to contact us directly, via the contact section of our website or by reaching out to us on our social channels.
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