Also with your HEMA smoked sausage

If you look up anything about wine, you might just end up at AndGrapes. A website and Instagram account by a young team that talks enthusiastically about winemakers, travel and food. Annemiek Hummelink is the founder.
Text: Marjolein Schuman | Image: private image Annemiek Hummelink

What a fine online wine magazine! How did you come up with the idea?

'How nice to hear! I studied journalism and dreamed early on of having my own platform or medium. About six years ago, I really fell in love with wine; I had loved good food for some time. What struck me is that the world of wine is wonderful, but sometimes inaccessible. And so the idea for AndGrapes. An upbeat, approachable platform that celebrates craft, but always with a wink. Think disco balls, chips, colour and humour.'

Do humour and wine go well together?

'Absolutely! What is drinking wine without having fun? And also if you want to learn something: with humour, it sticks. We want people to hang on our every word when we tell them something. I remember that in geography at school I had a teacher who told everything so seriously and boring that it almost put you to sleep.'

Handy that search bar: if you type in 'acid', you get lessons on acidity as well as tips on sauerkraut.

'You choose how deep you want to go. Above all, we want you to discover what you like, and why. Wine is something to enjoy. Not just with your oysters or steak, but also with your sauerkraut or HEMA smoked sausage. And we also help you gain that self-confidence: how do you pronounce grapes, what do you do when someone gives a hard time about the wine list? Just being yourself, that's enough.'

Tasting and judging, where did you learn that?

'In my student days, I drank everything wine. But when I started travelling in South Africa, everything changed. Our Airbnb hostess, still a friend, took us to Beau Constantia. The surroundings, the wine, the cheese board I still dream about... That's where I really fell in love with wine. I started taking courses, WSET and SDEN, switched my socials to wine, and went full steam ahead.'

Entrepreneurship is in your blood, you can also be hired?

'From AndGrapes was born The Harvest Studio. With this, we help other brands stand out with original wine content. Because we were increasingly asked: 'Can you also help us with socials?' What I like best: no standard solutions. No copy-paste campaign. What makes people still talk about your wine brand or restaurant at the kitchen table in the evening?'

What is a FEBO wine wall?

'We are also regularly invited to tastings and events. For instance, we gave blending workshops during the Night of Wine, which was a great success. At other festivals we stand with the FEBO wine wall. Then you tell someone which wine goes with his chicken or cheese soufflé, and meanwhile you stand behind the airfryer yourself. That is really the most fun to see: that people get so much pleasure out of learning about wine'.

Sounds like a busy life.

'Definitely! Besides AndGrapes, I run The Harvest Studio with my partner but also interviewsuitgetypt.co.uk. I work full-time with wine and food, a dream life. Every day is different and that's what makes it so much fun.'

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