A solid stop if you want a proper, structured cheese tasting while in Amsterdam. Located in a…read morehistoric canal house along the Singel, it's a nice alternative to the typical fast-paced cheese shops in Centrum. The guided tasting takes place downstairs in a small, classroom-style setting. You're given a score sheet, a small guillotine slicer, and a lineup of six cheeses--ranging from younger Wyngaard varieties to their heavily aged Reypenaer VSOP and XO Reserve (which has those nice, crunchy protein crystals). Each sample is paired with a wine or port and a bit of specialty mustard. The staff is knowledgeable and keeps things moving at a good pace, explaining how the natural aging process in their historic Woerden warehouse shapes the flavor. The shop upstairs carries all the cheeses from the tasting, along with slicers and accessories if you want to pick something up on your way out. It's an informative, well-organized hour that gives you a genuine appreciation for artisan Dutch cheese.

As far as cheese tasting goes, Reypenaer is a must when in Amsterdam. Highly recommend making a…read morebooking/reservation. Food: Cheese! Paired with wine. You'll get about 6-7 cheeses to try. Cost: €17.50 per person. Overall: Tastings are limited to roughly 20 people each time, and they last about an hour. You'll get a sheet to document the cheese names, what you taste, smell, age of cheese, etc. You'll also get an education on cheese, and how these are made. They take cards, and you'll get a discount to purchase cheeses in the store if you're interested.

Impressive selection of wines and some select, high quality spirits. The store has a beautiful…read morebackyard that can be rented for private events. They also host wine tasting classes and can create custom wine tasting parties and courses.

If you're a cheese lover like me then this store will be an absolute paradise…read more It took all I had in me not to roll those wheels back to our hotel. Honestly, the notorious Amsterdam staircases are what prevented that from taking place lol. Old Amsterdam makes some of the finest cheeses in the world today. They've been around a long time and are still extremely relevant in the dairy world. So much flavor and goodness in everything they produce. The store isn't large but they have a lot to offer. It's easy to move about inside. Employees are friendly. The samples flow freely.

You're going to see this exact same review 3x for all 3 shops as all 3 were equal in all areas…read more How much did we like it? Well enough to spend an additional 15min having our cheese swabbed in airport security. Yes, I took back an entire tote bag filled with a variety of cheeses (13 kinds) & yes, I took it as carry-on luggage. Yes, you CAN do that, though you may want to allow extra time for additional screening, as a bag full of cheese looks suspicious on the scanner. (Let them know ahead of time, so they flag it as odd contents and things go more smoothly) Tasting cheeses are readily available and you can taste literally EVERYTHING before you buy. Why then, with a bag filled with cheese do I give them 4 stars? Because it truly caters to tourists which resulted in higher pricing. Still, you buy KNOWING it can all fly back with you. For this particular shop, I highly recommend the vintage edition- the oldest cheese they sell- I bought 3 of them and already regret not getting more. While the brand is available stateside, that particular vintage is not.

Next time you will find yourself stuck on the Meent manoeuvre your way out of the high street and…read moreonto this quiet lane. Follow the smell of lavender and take a seat on the bench. Soon other fruit flavors will enter your nostrils and before you know it you will have walked inside a great little winery. Sigurd the shopkeeper and owner of an enormous smile will only be too happy to show you the great collection of wines they have. He is a walking storyteller, knows the quirky details of every bottle, and spends his free time visiting the old and new wine houses. On my last visit I discovered they have a fantastic sake collection as well with some of the best tasting sakes around if you are into the stuff. It is a social thing they will say which is why on Fridays they sometimes crack open a bottle or two and share it with you and others in a casual tasting affair. But this is the cool thing, no matter how small or how big the budget, you will leave with something delicious and a tale to tell your friends. As seen on I Know This Great Little Place in Rotterdam (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.571215479583766.1073741878.103845866320732&type=3)

Hmmm oké, deze winkel wordt door studenten misschien niet heel druk bezocht. En aangezien ik een…read morestudent ben is het niet persé logisch dat ik van deze winkel genoeg weet om iets geloofwaardigs te schrijven, maar dat is wel zo. Studenten die snakken naar alcohol trekken sneller een sprintje naar de Albert Heijn dan naar de Gouden Ton. En tja, deze zuiplappen hebben de volgende morgen dan waarschijnlijk een fikse hoofdpijn (en ze zijn ook niet helemaal bankroet, elke nadeel heb z'n voordeel). Maar als ik een perfect remedie tegen katerhoofdpijn zou moeten aanbevelen, zou ik iedereen naar de Gouden Ton sturen. Het heerlijke aan de Gouden Ton (ton) vind ik natuurlijk de wijntjes, uiteraard, maar die krijg je door het goede advies van de eigenaar, die altijd in de ton te vinden is. Ik ben er wel eens binnen gelopen met de vraag: 'eeeh, ja, ik zoek iets voor m'n vader, die is jarig'. Geweldige klantenservice levert deze goede man, hij wist me een perfect wijntje mee te geven om m'n vader blij mee te maken. In elke prijsklasse heeft de ton eigenlijk wel wijn liggen, vanaf ongeveer vier en een halve euro. En denk niet dat die goedkope wijn puur bocht is, ik heb ze laatst geproefd, en het was goddelijk.