Activin Wine Group, Bert de Boer's versatile family business, is always looking to the future. Since a few months, for example, it has been possible to take a journey through Argentinean vineyards of Bodega Norton with VR glasses at Albert Heijn or during dinner at the company's own restaurant Hofstede Meerzigt in Zoetermeer. Another successful concept is The Winelist, an online department store of wines.

Top wines

Not just any wines, no, top wines. Joost de Bruijn, director of business development at Activin, says: "Wine lovers are increasingly looking online for information, besides, it allows us to be available to our relations 24 hours a day."

Domaine Fournier

One of the houses they represent is Domaine Fournier, the company of Joost van der Does de Willebois, former stockbroker and Hague resident. He bought a winery in the Loire and started his own wine company. A few years ago, he got into talks with the Fournier family and got the chance to buy this iconic winery in the Loire.

The former chairman of Euronext Amsterdam was excited when he was approached about The Winelist. "In a wine shop I quickly get lost, I prefer to look online. At The Winelist, you can choose by country, year, region, flavour, grape, yes even by desired temperature. But that's not the only reason, Fournier is served in top French restaurants with two and three stars, so we were looking for a top importer who knows how to market our brand in the Netherlands. Activin Wine Group can do that."

Pouilly Fumé

In the chic lounge of Hotel Des Indes, De Bruijn pulls out three wines from Fournier. Glancing at the Pouilly Fumé, which was given a 9 by wine specialist Harold Hamersma: "In the Netherlands, there is an increasing demand for wines from the Loire. People are a bit done with fat and full. At lunch, people eat more light dishes like fish."

Joost de Bruijn (right, Activin Wine Group) and Joost van der Does de Willebois (Fournier)

He picks up a Sancerre. "This one goes very well with it too: juicy fruit, light herbs and minerals. Delicious. By the way, the whole region is putting itself on the map very well at the moment, but we then look for the best player in such an area. Every day we play the Champions League. And you can see that in the figures. More and more restaurants are choosing Fournier. In The Hague, we supply, among others, MamaKelly and Glaswerk in the Binckhorst, hotel-restaurant Savarin and Heeren van Huygens, as well as the recently opened French restaurant Amélie on Javastraat. If you want to taste all of Fournier's wines, you should visit our own restaurant in Zoetermeer." 

The Winelist

By the way, The Winelist's premium segment is not just for weekends, De Bruijn presses us. "We have wines for every moment of the day."

He points again to the Sancerre. "You pay not only for the wine, but also for excise duty, packaging, transport, storage and, of course, for the winemaker himself. So we don't talk about wines. I find that so derogatory. The winemaker has worked on it with blood, sweat and tears. When you see how much love they put into it. It gives me goosebumps."

'We have 120 fields ranging from a quarter to half an acre'

Fournier owns more than 60 hectares of vineyards in the most prestigious appellations, such as Sancerre, Pouilly Fumé and Menetou-Salon, and is available in more than 68 countries. Van der Does de Willebois: "Unfortunately, I cannot say that I look out romantically over my vineyard, because we have 120 fields, ranging from a quarter to half a hectare. That size is necessary to maintain quality."

2019 was a good year according to The Hague winemaker. "Initially, we thought the warm weather would produce small grapes with lots of sugars and alcohol. But in the second half of the harvest, we were saved by a sudden rainfall. Our machines could not go up the mountain as a result. So the grapes were able to absorb the leaf moisture and gained 20% more volume.

Mother Nature

A gift from Mother Nature. Then, before the grapes crunched, we harvested quickly." The result was great: the yield was higher, the alcohol content was lower and the finesse in the wine increased.

Joost de Bruijn of Activin Wine Group prefers to eat oysters at Fournier's Menetou Salon

Right, then finally a trick question: which wine from Domaine Fournier do the gentlemen themselves like best? "Yes, I can't answer that, can I?" sputters Van der Does de Willebois. "That's like asking which of my four sons is my favourite. No, I can't."

Menetou-Salon

All eyes are now on De Bruijn, who has to think about it for a moment. Then, with a smile: "I choose Menetou-Salon, from the relatively small appellation area Côtes de Morogues. The clay soil there provides finesse, light acidity, a soft and full flavour. What I eat with it? Oysters! The Menetou-Salon costs €19.75, which is very good value for money."

"That is also what I strive for," adds Van der Does de Willebois. "We want to surprise people with our wines. Nothing is worse than a sneeze. The first sip should immediately invite a second one."

Would you also like to try some of The Wine List? Then click here.
For an order of 75,- euro, you get a 20,- euro discount and free delivery. 

www.winelist.nl