Interview with Job Seuren
He has recently been named Sommelier of the year in Netherlands by Gault et Millau. He is also a big fan of Bordeaux Grands Crus. Job Seuren was the perfect choice to give a masterclass for the tasting of the 2021 Vintage in Amsterdam. Let’s meet him
Hi Job, nice to meet you. Could you tell us more about you? How did you become a sommelier?
The funny thing is that I wasn’t educated as a sommelier originally. I was studying international relations at the university and I needed a job to afford my studies. So, I started working in a wine shop. I became more and more interested in wine and started to work in the trade. After a few years, I decided to remain in the wine industry but I wanted to try something different. I applied for jobs as a sommelier and began to work. Then I became the sommelier of De Librije a 3 stars restaurant in Zwolle. I did that for a couple of years before going to a wine bar in Amsterdam. 5 years ago, I started a restaurant called Zoldering which is a bistro in the city center of Amsterdam with a huge wine list and a lot of Bordeaux Grands Crus. 3 years ago, we got a Michelin Star. And very recently, I personally received the award of best sommelier of the year from Gault & Millau.
Could you tell us more about the masterclass you’re preparing for the presentation of the 2021 vintage in Amsterdam?
In the morning we’ll be doing a special masterclass for the younger sommeliers who don’t have a big experience of Bordeaux Grand Crus. We will organize a tasting with some aged wines, namely 2010 and 2011, to explain the differences between the different appellations, styles and give them the keys to understand and experience Bordeaux Grands Crus. Afterwards we’ll take everyone to taste the 2021 vintage. It will be a very exciting moment for me because except from Chateau D’Yquem, I haven’t been able to taste wines from this vintage so far. I will discover them live on stage!
" Bordeaux is the basis of my wine life. That’s why I’m really glad to do this masterclass with UGCB. "
Which part played Bordeaux in your wine education?
Bordeaux is the basis of my wine life. That’s why I’m really glad to do this masterclass with UGCB. My parents have a house in the South of France, that’s where it started 20 years ago. And when I got educated as a sommelier everything was about Bordeaux! So for me Bordeaux is truly the basis of my wine education. And from there, it went to other regions.
Do you have some great memories involving Bordeaux wines to share with us?
I remember one of the first trips I took to Saint-Emilion with my father when I was 18. We drove around, visiting the chateaux. I even remember that we still stood next to one of the pillars of Ausone that doesn’t exist anymore! Since then, every time I go to France, I buy one Bordeaux bottle to keep in the cellar for 15 years. That’s how the collection started bit by bit. I think the first wine I bought was a dame de Montrose because Montrose was the last name of a friend of mine. Chateau du Tertre was also one of the first wines I bought to take home. Today I have lot of Bordeaux Grands Crus in my cellar
Arthur Jeanne
