About AWA

We are Fransje van Santen and Wouter Aalst. Besides being partners in the academy, we are also married and proud parents of twins Tijs and Dide. Fransje has a background in production work and Wouter is a horeca entrepreneur. The experiences we have gained in the past are now very useful in the management of the academy. When we decided to set up Amsterdam Wine Academy in 2019, it was a strong wish to provide our lessons in our own locations, equipped primarily for teaching. We are happy that we now have three such locations in De Pijp. Here the design is done with teaching as the absolute focus. There is high quality glassware from Grassl, a large clearly visible screen and the right lighting. We have the ambition to make AWA the prefered educational platform for Amsterdam and around. Therefore we expanded our team in 2023 with Puck Sellmeijer. She is helping us in improving quality and securing growth towards the future. 

In addition to AWA, we are also the entrepreneurs behind wine bar Paskamer in de Pijp. This is where we sit in the morning, when the business is still closed, with a cup of coffee behind our laptops. We also go for the highest possible quality in the wine bar; there is a very well-trained and hospitable team with a great deal of knowledge. We are very proud that, at the start of 2023, Paskamer was awarded ‘Wine bar of the year’ in the Netherlands. Paskamer is open seven days a week and is therefore the ideal place to practice wine tasting at the end of the afternoon. Our employees are used to providing feedback to our students. You can also eat well at Paskamer, which is why it is advisable to make a reservation if you want to come in the evening.

We hope to welcome you at our academy and our wine bar.

Cheers!

Fransje and Wouter