Forward… to the past

 March 2021 – By Marijke Winnubst for Buurtkrant 7

The ominously empty red carpet, at number 59 of the Damrak, has been home to Design & Wine for several months. 

The brand new pop-up store, stage for local designers and craftsmen and wine tasting room, promises: 'a place where an Amsterdammer can feel at home and where Dutch wine, art and design are for sale.' 

The circular economy entrepreneurs owe the use of the modernly designed space to an anti-squat organization (monitored and inhabited) and Stadsgoed Amsterdam, which, for a loan fee, is making a surprising attempt to revive the old glory, given the reinstated advertising on the side wall from ± 1900 from a 13th depot of a well-known wine trade at the time.

So my first question is: which came first: design or the wine? Rose Groot (29), trained as a product designer at the Willem de Kooning Academy (Rotterdam), mentions Diederik Walhof (31), trained at the Hogere Hotelschool – sommelier and vinologist in the making, who opened her first pop-up shop in the van Hallstraat on the festive opening served wine from Dutch soil. His hospitality and philosophy perfectly matched her concept of craftsmanship, innovative, local and sustainable.

On the wall is a colorful crocheted carpet of kilos of Amsterdam waste textiles (clothing), next to robust sawn and sanded planks with knots, veins and annual rings of Amsterdam trees, blown over or cut down due to illness, now waiting for a new life as a table top, a shiny cabinet made made of zinc next to an elegant wardrobe on legs by Rose Groot herself, which saves space because the clothes hangers are placed diagonally. On the table is a miraculous box that turns out to be a 3D printer, making a connector for a pleated sliding door for her closet.

Just like the 'urban winery' Chateau Amsterdam, where Diederik used to give tours and tastings, and where modern and classic wines are produced with grapes from European winegrowers, wine tastings from Dutch wineries are also organized on Damrak.

Here, the participants in tastings are challenged to translate their personal taste and experience into an image under the guidance of the sommelier and the image designer. With the results of all notes, a wine is developed especially for Design & Wine in which image and taste must be expressed on the label.

As far as wine tasting is concerned, I unfortunately have to disappoint Diederik. It's like cycling in the air with terms like: elegant, wood, chocolate, green and impetuous, naughty, subdued or nutty, grape variety, and the domain/mountain sunny or dark side... My sense of smell, taste buds and analytical skills do not go beyond tasty or not tasty and alcohol, unless I'm pretty intoxicated and let my imagination run wild.