My name is Joachim Niclasen. I have worked with wine since 2007 when I got a job in a local wine bar. I was soon managing the place and stayed there while I finished my studies at the IT University in Copenhagen.
In 2011 I handed in my thesis about future web-based business models in the wine industry. I immediately began putting the theory into action and created what I called Vinkollektivet (The Wine Collective), an online platform and offline community among small Danish wine importers. That was fun!
In 2014 I started to import wine myself. I called my company Vinhacker (Wine Hacker) and tried to live up to the cheeky name by turning things (price structures, communication strategies and preferred segments) upside-down. This was also the time I really fell in love with natural wine. Though I don’t consider myself a ‘hacker’ anymore I can still appreciate the mindset that made me enter the Danish wine industry.
In 2018 I launched a natural wine subscription called Kaoskassen. 2018 was also the year that I hooked up with my business partner, Troels.
In 2019 I took the first baby steps towards learning to grow and make wine myself, when I co-created and joined a 18-month course in collaboration with Danish natural wine producer, Garbolund.
2019 was also the year I started experimenting with the idea that had lived inside my head for year: Creating a place for winegrowers to connect directly with their fans, making a better life for themselves and their fans along the way.
2020 was (despite the pandemic) a very positive year. I took Libre.vin from a crazy idea to something that was actually functioning – and seemed to make people happy.
So here we are – 2021 – Libre.vin is still a baby. But it’s growing and learning fast!