Curious by Nature: Mathias Thorstein Breinholt
Mathias Thorstein Breinholt. Image: Anne Køster
There is something disarming about talking to Mathias Thorstein Breinholt. He is open, relaxed and quick to laugh — the kind of person who makes a conversation feel like catching up with an old friend. But ask him about competitions, and something shifts. The focus sharpens, and the tone changes. “When I’m in a competition, I’m a different person,” he says. “My mindset just shifts completely. It’s not something people are used to seeing from me.”
It may be precisely that duality — the relaxed host and the methodical competitor — that brought him to the top of the Copa Jerez national final in June 2026 at The Samuel in Hellerup. Together with chef Alexander Johnsen from Scheelsminde in Aalborg, Mathias won the competition and earned the right to represent Denmark at Copa Jerez Forum & Competition in Jerez in May 2027 — with a shot at a historic third consecutive international title for Denmark.
From Psychology to the Floor
Mathias grew up in the North western part of Jutland, and it was not wine that first caught his attention. It was people.
“I was very much intrigued by psychology — by how human beings work and think,” he says. But his school background did not meet the entry requirements, and while he was catching up on classes, he worked as a waiter. And stayed.
“When I came to Aarhus, it was just a little bit more funky and hip — people were more curious. And since then, I have not looked back.”
He was 18 when he first stood behind a service station. 21 when he moved to Aarhus. Today he is 32 — and finds it difficult to imagine another life. “It is very much a lifestyle. I have never doubted that this was what I wanted to do.”
Wine — and the Person who Opened that World
The interest in wine did not come on its own. It came through a person.
At his first job in Aarhus — at Marselis Hotel — Mathias met a colleague named Mathias Sandvej. “He just took me by the hand and showed me the world. One day he poured me a glass of Philippe Bornard's Savagnin. I had never tasted anything like it. It was wild, alive, oxidative, and completely unlike what I thought wine could be. I was completely lost. What is this? Is this even wine? That glass changed everything.”
"We want people to feel at home, to feel secure. You can come in a T-shirt and shorts. You can laugh out loud. We are very much not putting limitations on what a fine dining experience has to look like."
From there, the door was open. “I used all my money on eating and drinking. I could not get enough. I wanted to see everything.” And then there was Restaurant Domestic — the place he has returned to again and again, and that is now partly his.
Domestic: Like Coming Home to a Dear Friend
Mathias has been connected to Domestic almost from the very beginning. He was there one year after the restaurant opened, took a detour through Fru Larsn, Moment and Novel — but came back when Novel closed and someone said something that stuck: “You are really very much a Domestic boy.”
“And I just thought — yes. Of course I am.”
Today he is restaurant manager and co-owner. He is proud of both. And he is focused on bringing Domestic back to its roots: an experience that feels like visiting a close friend who has spent the entire week preparing for your arrival.
Toke Fiedler Terkildsen and Mathias Thorstein Breinholt. Image: Anne Køster
“We want people to feel at home, to feel secure. You can come in a T-shirt and shorts. You can laugh out loud. We are very much not putting limitations on what a fine dining experience has to look like.”
The menu is built exclusively on Nordic ingredients — no lemon, no vanilla, no pepper — and the drinks pairing, which they call a beverage pairing, includes cocktails from Danish spirit producers and is gradually moving toward an all-Danish lineup.
“We don’t call it a wine pairing, because then we can decide whatever fits best. People don’t expect a cocktail with their course — and that is exactly the point.”
Sherry: The Love that Took its Time
It was not love at first sip. Mathias remembers his first encounter with sherry clearly — it was Ditte Susgaard, his former mentor at Domestic, who poured him a glass before Saturday service.
“I look at it and think — what is this? And she just looks at me and says: You will drink this until you like it.”
He laughs. “And it took a while. But then it started to open up.”
Today, sherry is one of the things that fascinates him most. He describes it as wine in its most complete form — where terroir is not just about soil and climate, but about the buildings the wines are aged in, the influence of the sea, the intervention of human hands. “I have never seen anything like it anywhere else in the world. It is mind-blowing.”
"It is a good club to be part of. But we should not be snobby about it. We are all just people who love wine — and that is actually the whole point. That you meet each other on that level."
He drinks Manzanilla and Fino young and fresh — “think of it like an IPA: the older it gets, the more it loses the point” — and finds it the easiest entry point into the category for curious guests. Sherry does not feature permanently on the Domestic menu card, but appears in the extended beverage pairing, and whenever Mathias and Alexander Johnsen meet, sherry is always on the table. “We simply cannot sit down without it.”
DSF — and What it Meant to Be Accepted
Mathias Thorstein Breinholt. Image: Anne Køster
Being accepted into Dansk Sommelier Forening did not happen on the first attempt. Or the second. It took three tries over five or six years, and Mathias remembers the wait for an answer with unusual clarity.
“I had completely written it off. Thought — it is not my time. And then Kim Thygesen calls. It had taken him two months. And I just completely broke down, because it meant so much.”
For Mathias, DSF is not just about the title. It is about the community — and about the association becoming something broader than a Copenhagen club.
“It is a good club to be part of. But we should not be snobby about it. We are all just people who love wine — and that is actually the whole point. That you meet each other on that level.”
He makes use of the association’s masterclasses when he can, and singles out a session with Nicolas Joly as one of the most memorable. “He is just a character in himself. The kind of encounter that actually moves you.”
The Role Models — and What They Taught Him
Asked about role models, Mathias names two quickly: The OG Søren Ledet and Peter Pepke.
“They are just rock stars. They have this quiet confidence that comes from knowing exactly who they are. They follow their own path with curiosity and conviction, and despite everything they have achieved, they still listen.'“
He recalls conversations with both where he afterwards thought: they just talked to me like I was a normal person.
“That is because they are also waiters. They understand what it means to stand on the floor. That is what I admire.”
What Comes Next
Beyond the trip to Jerez in 2027, where Mathias and Alexander is presenting Denmark at Copa Jerez, Mathias is looking into the WSET Level 3 qualification and is considering — a year or two down the line — entering Årets Tjener.
“But only if I am ready. And only if I am going to do it properly. I will not do it halfway.”
Asked if he could give this conversation a headline, he thinks for a moment.
“Something about being curious. And not putting up barriers. The world is not one fixed path — and the more we learn about it, the better we understand each other. Wine and food can help with that. Because those are the things we all need in our lives.”
Alexander Johnsen and Mathias Thorstein Breinholt. Image: Anne Køster
Mathias Thorstein Breinholt is sommelier and co-owner of Restaurant Domestic in Aarhus. He will represent Denmark at Copa Jerez Forum & Competition in Jerez in May 2027, alongside chef Alexander Johnsen from Scheelsminde in Aalborg.
