Sjaak Nan

For a quarter of a century, Sjaak has run Nan Wijnen in Amsterdam-Zuid. Before that, he spent decades running a delicatessen, where food and wine went hand in hand. "It felt natural to eventually shift my focus entirely to wine," he says. Today, the shop carries around 450 wines from France, Italy, Spain, Argentina, South Africa and beyond.

Why Wine Stays Interesting

"What's fascinating about wine is that it's a living, breathing thing. The same grape variety, planted in different soil, under different weather conditions, and cared for by a different winemaker, can taste completely different. When you first plant vines, the grapes aren't even usable for the first three or four years — they need time to grow and mature. And then there's the unpredictability of nature: a cold snap in early spring, or a hailstorm that strips the blossoms and wipes out the harvest. It can be brutal, but that's also what makes wine so compelling: all those variables, all those risks, and the adventure of it coming together in the bottle."

Helping People Choose

What he enjoys most is guiding customers. "A lot of people come in and say: 'I don't know anything about wine.' Or they're in a bit of a panic because their boss is coming to dinner, and they don't know what wine to serve. I ask what they usually drink, what they like. If it's chardonnay, I suggest something close but different enough to surprise them. It's fun getting people to step out of their comfort zone a little bit. The best moment is when they come back and say: that was spot on."

Price, he insists, is no guarantee of pleasure. "What matters is good quality for a reasonable price. Just because a wine costs three times as much doesn't mean it will taste three times better. It's all about the context. If your 19-year-old daughter is throwing a party for twenty of her friends, what's the point of opening an expensive bottle?"

One of his most memorable bottles was a Pétrus 1995, an iconic Merlot from Pomerol. "It costs around €5,000 a bottle, and a customer specifically asked for it after a financial windfall. We opened it carefully together. But in the end, the real pleasure was that it became a wonderful evening in good company."

Travel, Memory, and Taste

Much of his wine knowledge came from travelling. "France and Italy are still my favourites, because there are so many wine regions and therefore so much variety. My family always complained that wherever we went on holiday, I wanted to visit a winery. On both sides of the Andes they use meltwater for irrigation, which was fascinating to witness."

At home, Sjaak's tastes remain simple. "A glass of bubbles to start, like champagne or crémant. With fish I like a crisp sauvignon blanc, like a Pouilly Fumé. With a richer meal, a Burgundy chardonnay. It depends on the moment." And when he eats out, there is one clear favourite. "Zoldering in the Utrechtsestraat. For me, that's one of the best wine lists in the city, if not the best."