Nordvest Stories: From Classrooms to Cellars - the Story of Christopher Melin

When I first discovered Nordvest years ago, there weren’t many places that stood out the way Vin de Table did. It was one of the first spots I noticed before even moving here — a real wine shop on Frederiksundsvej, not a kiosk shelf or supermarket corner. It sold natural wine before that was common in the area, and there was something about it that made it pop out from the street.

Later, when my husband and I moved to Nordvest, it became one of our go-tos. Sometimes we’d stop by for a bottle to share on a Friday night; sometimes we’d stock up for a few weeks across the city at Rosforth & Rosforth in Christianshavn. But Vin de Table was always more like shopping on our home turf.

When we started looking for our wedding venue — determined to keep it local — it all came full circle: For our first stop, we visited Rødder. During that visit, Esben from Rødder mentioned that the other part of the space they occupied belonged to Melin Vin — the company behind Vin de Table. Suddenly, the dots connected. We met with Christophe, one of Melin Vin’s partners, who led us through a tasting that became one of our favorite wedding memories. So when I started this Nordvest Stories series, I knew I had to talk to the person who started it all: Christopher Melin.

I met with Christopher at Melin Vin’s space on Bispevej. He arrived by bike from Nørrebro, where he lives, and handed me a croissant — a thoughtful touch for a morning interview. We sat down with breakfast, the smell of freshly baked pastry in the air, and talked about how this all came into being.

The Past

“My first education is as a school teacher,” Christopher tells me, smiling. “And during my studies, I was working in a wine bar, and I ended up spending more hours in the wine bar than I did at my studies.”

Before wine became his world, he tried working with food more broadly. “I also didn't want to go into the wine business as a company,” he says, “because I felt it was a bit like a red ocean — too many players, too many cooks. So I started up a grocery shop.” The shop, Din Baghave, was in Østerbro. “I did that for half a year together with another person. It was super fun and really a nice project, but it was also burning my candle at both ends. We would pick up the vegetables ourselves on the countryside in the morning three times a week.”

Eventually, he realized it wasn’t sustainable — mentally, physically, or financially. “I left the company because it was not economically sustainable,” he said. “Then I spent a couple of months licking my wounds, finding out if I should be a teacher or what. And then I decided to go to this wine fair with the possibility of starting up a wine import.”

He started small: “I bought a pallet of wine, kept it in my own basement and sold it steadily while I was working in the restaurant industry,” he said. “I was also working in restaurants at Relæ and Manfreds, and studying food science. I think I was testing the waters a bit. I found out that it was fun. There was a market. I could actually do it.”

Melin Vin began in 2011, with early storage in Nørrebro, under the current Friheden restaurant. Those first years weren’t without challenges. “I had a break-in twice with two weeks in between, and I had like 2400 bottles of wine stolen,” he recalled. “That was a big knockback, especially because I didn’t have insurance for the first one." Lesson learned. "But the guys actually got caught." I ask him if he ever got his inventory back but unfortunalely not. He does laugh telling me, one time, he "found about 40 bottles in a kiosk in Hillerød.”

After that, the company moved its storage and office to Nordvest, where Christopher began to feel the pull of the area. “Then I got the opportunity to move further up the street at Dortheavej,” he says. “Then a couple of years later, we moved here.”

At the time, Christopher says he did not feel like Nordvest was the lively, community-driven area it is today. “Nordvest was kind of like the outskirts for me,” he says. “Living in Nørrebro for many years — it was kind of this scary, industrial, ugly area, to be honest. I remember very well going here for the first time, being a bit depressed about it because there were big trucks and it just didn’t feel… But you also have to imagine this was 2014.”

When his partners suggested opening a shop, Christopher wasn’t convinced. “My partners at the time were really into opening a shop,” he said. “I wasn’t — until I saw this one shop that was an old Skjold Burne.”

That particular location — and its history — changed his mind. “Skjold Burne was a chain of shops. They would buy bulk wine and bottle them in Denmark and sell them quite cheap,” he explained. “This chain became immensely popular — at some point they had 250 shops across the country." But the chain started declining as it did not keep up with the trends. Christopher says he often thinks about this and want to make sure they do not get in the same state of mind: "We have to keep up with the time”, he mentions.

When Vin de Table opened in 2018, it felt like the right decision at the right time. “Obviously, after opening, I found out: people are really eager to have something out here that is theirs,” he said. “There was so much interest — people popping in, curious, excited. That was super cool.”

He also discovered that continuity matters. “Since we took over the shop that had been there for so long, we also got the opportunity to have a lot of those old clients,” he said. “Opening up in a place that has the same kind of vibe really, really helps. Sometimes in life you just take good decisions.”

The Present

Today, Melin Vin is a tight team of four — Christopher, Christophe, Max, and Sarah — running the import business of Melin Vin, working with about 120 producers. “We deliver about 2000 bottles a week, but in June it was more like 20,000 a month,” he laughs. “It’s quite crazy, actually. How can we do that?”

Credit, too, to the Vin de Table team on Frederiksundsvej — headed by Esben (different Esben than at Rødder). They’re the front line of the neighborhood experience: welcoming regulars, guiding the curious, and keeping the shelves - and the conversations - thoughtful. More than once, we’ve benefited from their vast knowledge and followed their recommendations, which is probably why we keep coming back.

The company’s storage is now split between Nordhavn and Nordvest. The days have a usual routine. “We then line up orders from the previous day,” Christopher explains. “Each of us has clients we take care of. We bring stuff from Nordhavn to Nordvest and then dispatch from there.”

As much as the company has grown, Christopher’s approach to sustainability stays grounded. “Sustainability is many things,” he said, “but economic sustainability is also very important.” That lesson came early, back in his Din Baghave days. “You can have so much love and passion in what you do, but if there’s not an economy in it, then at some point you just run out of energy,” he says. “That’s maybe also what happened to me at some point — I wanted to grow the company to a certain size so that I could be a person that is not working all the time. It’s still something I’m working on, but we have a much more solid base today.”

For Christopher, Nordvest now feels like the natural home for the business. “It’s where our business belongs,” he said. “We’ve been here for so long and we know so many people in the area. It’s a good community — with our clients, but also with other business owners. The places and the faces are what make it a place that feels like home.”

When I asked what he likes most in the area, his answer was immediate. “I like some of the old-school takeaway places — Samosa House, Kösk Kebab,” he said. “I use the grocery shops, the Arabic ones, quite a lot. The butcher across the street, Al Akhawain — I love that they have these different cuts. You don’t find that with Danish butchers anymore.” He grinned when mentioning Flere Fugle: “Some places in the neighborhood you just can’t get around.”

He also praised newer community spots: “I love Konkylie. I don’t get to go there so much, but I love the guys and the vibe. The place really encapsulates some youth movement that I’m not part of anymore, but you can really feel the energy popping out of that place.”

The Future

Looking ahead, Melin Vin is still growing — and looking for a larger storage facility, but one that will remain in Nordvest. “If we find that, we’ll move out [of the current storage],” Christopher said. “We really want to increase the area.”

When it comes to new projects, Christopher is taking his time. “I had a dream for many years to open up something here in Nordvest.” He continues, “Now I feel like there are many others doing it. So if I should do something, it would be something different — still wine and food related. It needs to feel right. When the stars are aligned, it’s going to be. Or maybe not.”

He hopes Nordvest can hold on to what makes it special. “What is the greatest is if we can kind of not have too many chains here,” he says. “We don’t need a Gasoline Burger. I love Gasoline Burger, but we don’t need it. We don’t need a Hart Bakery.”

That same belief is why he’s resisted opening Vin de Table elsewhere. Having the same store somewhere else would take away the magic. He notes, “I want people to take the bike and take the trip to Nordvest.” I cannot say I do not agree.

In a neighborhood that’s constantly evolving, Melin Vin and Vin de Table is one of those Nordvest places with layers: my own memories, a business that truly grew here, and a shop with real history behind its doors. And it’s not the only one—so many spots in this neighborhood carry stories like that. As I keep interviewing people, I’m excited to uncover more of them. Passing Vin de Table now, I’m reminded how rich this area is—how much sits behind what you see—and it makes me even more excited to keep going.