Cees van Casteren - Master of Wine
My vintage is 1962, not a bad vintage actually.. However, until after I graduated Tilburg University (the equivalent of a Masters in Economics), I was more into beer than wine. Heck, I even was a member of the prestigious fraternity E.D.E.L., Dutch acronym for Every Day a Liter, which used to be my strict daily minimum. I then spent 14 years in fine chemicals and enological specialties (such as yeast and enzymes). In this period, I was based in both Europe (France and The Netherlands) and United States of America.
What about the passion for wine?
Well, the wine bug bit me while in the USA but it took 10 more years before I started writing about wine in 2004. Since then I published ten books and some 550 articles on wine and food (albeit most of them in the Dutch language; internationally I write for Meininger’s Wine Business International). I am also a wine educator and run my own consultancy and training business. I am Ambassadeur du Champagne, Rioja educator, WSET Certified Educato® and Master of Wine since 2012. I consider myself a generalist in wine but have spent a lot of time in the New World. I won the Prix Pommery twice and am currently Chairman of the Association of Vinologists, the main trade association for wine professionals in Holland.
I intend to tell you the story of my wine, double the reviews currently published by Goswijn and take you along to the tastings, vineyards and winemakers I visit. I hope it will become like an armchair exhibition.