Virtual Wine Tasting with Ronnie Sanders from Vine Street Imports

"I just rescued some wine. It was trapped in a bottle."

I host a wine rescue here every night at Wine Watch!  On Wednesday night we have been hosting virtual tastings now for almost a year.  We have just added a studio audience option last month where you can come and participate live as we record the presentation for our Instagram and zoom viewers! 

This is the first virtual tasting we have conducted with a wine importer and I have known Ronnie Sanders since he started Vine Street Imports so it will be great to catch up with him while we taste thorough some new releases from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Italy. 

Virtual Tasting Wednesdays at Wine Watch

We are hosting virtual tastings every Wednesday on Zoom and Instagram live which will be posted to Instagram TV.  So, if you can’t make it at 6pm to chat with Ronnie Sanders , Wednesday April 7th, you can tune in any time after that by checking out the video posted to Wine Watch’s Instagram page.  The virtual tasting packs are up on our web page under the gift box selections and you can purchase them before the event and taste along with us or purchase them any time after the event until the wines are no longer available and taste the wines and watch the interview at your leisure.

For those that would like to attend in person and be part of the studio audience on the day of the event the price is $45 + tax and there are only 10 seats available to our studio audience the day of the tasting.  There will be a few small bites served but this is not a dinner.  For reservations to be part of the studio audience please call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

Virtual Wine Tasting featuring The Wines of Vine Street Imports
With Special Guest Ronnie Sanders
Wednesday, April 7th
6:00pm

Virtual Wine Tasting 4 Pack for Vine Street Imports - Wine Watch
Price $120

2018 Dandelion Vineyards Enchanted Garden of Eden Riesling
Price: $22.25       Your Price: $19.58
Flashes of yellow, gold, and green. Subtle hues yet hints of brilliance. A panoply of citrus combined with polished steel leads an aromatic charge directly to your olfactory bulb. Who needs smelling salts when you can raise such a glass of riesling. Behind the heightened aromaticity hides some plaintive notes of fruits tropical and exotic. Texture and weight - or its effortless weightlessness - is the first impression. Mineral water ‘non-gas’, mineral salts, talcum, and an attenuated austerity. Yet from the mid-palate comes a roundness and richness of riesling fruit, in a tiny cluster of quantum power. Sharp and righteous acidity arrives at the back palate to sweep all before and away, as if a tide taken at the height.
This white wine’s purity and acidity and citrus personality waits for elaborate and yet simple, honorific fish dishes. Nori roll with salmon, sashimi, the world’s simplest and freshest rice paper roll; an oyster just before the Vernal Equinox; a prawn boiled for one minute in sea water… Or alone in a glass with a view of the Sea.

2019 Craven Wines "Karibib Vineyard" Chenin Blanc
Price: $31.50       Your Price: $27.72
Chenin Blanc is a variety that Mick has always wanted to work with but was waiting for the right vineyard to land in his lap. Towards the end of 2015, Mick came across a beautiful site up on the Polkadraai Hills. The terroir in this unique pocket is characterized by hilly topography and subsequently varying elevations, providing sites on elevations from 60 to 400 meters above sea level. Besides the differences in elevation, the layered soils vary from granite-based on the higher elevations to the more lighter, sandy soils in lower lying areas. Planted in 1982, this east-facing block is grown on lovely, weathered granite soil. Initially trained on a single wire, it has been 'let go' over time and now grows more like a bushvine. Mick refers to it as a "faux bush vine" vineyard. All in all, this was the perfect site in Mick's eyes.
The grapes are whole-bunch pressed to 500L barrels, where the juice is left to ferment naturally. The wine completes malolactic fermentation and stabilizes itself, and is then left on the lees for approximately 4 months before its first racking. It spends a total of 9 months in barrel before bottling. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered, with nothing added during the winemaking process apart from a dash of sulphur.

2016 Auntsfield Estate Pinot Noir Single Vineyard Marlborough
Price: $40.00       Your Price: $35.20
WINEMAKER NOTES: This wine was made with a minimalist philosophy, designed to enable the characteristics of the grapes and the vineyard to be revealed. The fruit was hand-harvested, hand-sorted, gently destemmed and gravity-fed to tank. Fermented with a combination of indigenous and cultured yeasts, careful hand plunging was utilised to gently extract flavours and tannins from the skins. Maturation occurred in French oak barriques for approximately 10 months.

2016 Ellena Giuseppe Barolo del comune di La Morra
Price: $42.00       Your Price: $36.96
(92 Points) "Here's a great value for Nebbiolo watchers. The Ellena Giuseppe 2016 Barolo del Comune di La Morra shows the precision and focus of the vintage with soft tannins, bright fruit flavors and balanced acidity. The bouquet is redolent of wild berry, cassis, tilled earth and blue flower. Skin maceration times are long, at up to 60 days in stainless steel, and the wine completes its final 24 months of aging in both barrique and botte. This Barolo represents a blend of fruit from the Ascheri cru and other sites in La Morra. Some 13,000 bottles (approx 1,000 cases) were released." Wine Advocate

Wine Watch invites you to participate live on ZOOM at 6pm EST on the 7th of April, simply click the link below at 6pm and you will be admitted to the party.

Andrew Lampasone is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Virtual Wine Tasting with Vine Street Imports
Time: Apr 7, 2021 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

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A bit about our Host:

Ronnie Sanders' gifted palate and visionary spirit has made Vine Street Imports a flourishing presence, since its debut in 1999. Sanders, born and raised in South Jersey, acquired a passion for fine wine at a young age. Although Sanders' love for wine was apparent early, his career in wine importing was not immediate.

Sanders attended the University of Hartford in Connecticut, completing his studies with a Bachelor of Arts in business. Upon graduating, he worked with Materials International, a family-owned textile importing company. In the mid 1990s Sanders began exporting California wines, and ambitiously formed Far East Wine Traders, exporting wines to numerous regions of Asia where he purchased fabric, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia.

While exporting wines from the United States, Sanders' dream of importing rare wines became a reality through a newly formed partnership with Michael Twelftree of Two Hands Wines in Australia. Their collaboration was a leisure pursuit until Sanders began working for Vine Street Imports. His goal of importing and distributing wines from the emerging regions of Washington State, New Zealand, and Australia, was the driving force behind creating the Vine Street Imports brand.

Much of Sanders' expertise is attributed to his dedicated travels all over the world and his commitment to discovering the finest wines. His ventures have included trips to Italy, France, India, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Malaysia and the entire United States. Sanders both conceived and launched a private wine label known as the Lost Highway Project, with Parker scores ranging from 93-96. When selecting which wines to carry on this label, Sanders considers maturation and blending as well as the discovery of the finest wines for the connoisseur, expert enthusiast and novice

Vine Street Imports Philosophy:

In this ever changing wine world that we live and drink in staying true to core values while still progressing is often difficult. Hedonistic fruit bombs, high acid/low alcohol, natural wine, orange wine, heavy ML/Diacetyl, etc…these are all examples of ‘wine trends’ that thrived at some point over the last 20 years. Many find it easy to jump off of one fad and on to another while ultimately sacrificing the culture of a portfolio. Vine Street Imports has always looked to be a leader in the realm of fine wine. As thus we continue to strive to lead in packaging, marketing, quality, provenance and satisfaction.

The passion for quality and value are an ever consuming desire that is at the core of Vine Street Imports. FACT: There is a lot of wine in this world. ANOTHER FACT: There is a lot of great wine in this world. AND ANOTHER: Every portfolio has many of these great wines in them. We just hope to have SOME of these great wines and many really, really good ones.

We have many school night wines that over-deliver on their price as well as reference point standards for their respective varietals and regions. It is this equilibrium that keeps a portfolio honest and ultimately successful. We have attributed our wine selection process to working with tremendous people in world-class wine regions and ensuring that the fruit of their labor is not compromised by only using refrigerated shipping and storage methods. This approach ultimately is based on four fundamental truths, or “noble truths” that define what makes a Vine Street Imports wine.

 Four “Noble Truths” of Vine Street Imports' Wines

Flavoricity – A somewhat made up word that comes to be when you are trying to define what is so delicious about a given wine and you’ve had one too many swigs. This should be the single most important character of any wine. We don’t really care if the wine has notes of sandalwood, brambly blackberries, garrigue or any of that über-adjective driven nonsense. If the wine does not taste good then why would we want to represent, buy or sell it?

Balance – We could talk about this subject until the sun comes up and there would still be ongoing debates. Balance in our view is the point where alcohol, fruit, tannin and acidity work harmoniously with the texture to create the structure of a wine. If a wine is out of balance young, it will remain that way as it ages…and the inverse applies.

Precision – Are the ubiquitous flavors of the grape delineated and apparent? We view precision not just in reference to flavor but also as a characteristic in wine that is carried over from the precise nature of soil. The French would call this ‘terroir’ but we refer to it as ‘precision.’ Does the wine taste like the habitat of the vine? Those singular flavors are representative of the individual nuances from soil content, geographical exposure, elevation, grade, etc. Basically the unexplainable flavors and aromas in wine.

Clarity – If those flavors and aromas are muted or discombobulated then what good are the bright fruit and subtle tertiary notes? Clarity is our view that it is a more pleasurable to drive with a clean windshield just as it is more enjoyable to drink a wine that reflects that same idea. Where precision is about a sense of place on one hand and precise flavors in a wine on another, clarity allows this all to be enjoyed.

The rest of the wines from these four producers available in Florida

A bit about Agricola Ellena Giuseppe

Agricola Ellena Giuseppe is located in the prized commune of 'La Morra'. The property is 15 hectares with five under vine and eight hectares of hazlenuts. From 1966 through the mid-2000s the Ellenas sold fruit to local co-ops and that all changed with the changing of the guard and young Mateo taking over the property with his father in 2009.
Today, three generations work side by side weaving tradition and innovation. Mateo worked for both Elio Altare of La Morra and Giacoma Bologna of Rocchetta Tanaro brings a bit of style from both of these producers fusing modernity with classic.
The viticulture is quite traditional and was the first thing Mateo went to work on. They converted the vineyard to organic viticulture and low yields obtaines with multiple shoot thinnings. In the cellar everything is vinified the way it ‘should be.’ The younger wines are given soft handling with higher temperature ferments and shorter time in oak, if it sees wood at all. The Baroli are macerated for 60+ days on the skins and held traditionally in botti with a bit of barrique. Primary and malolactic ferments are carried out with indigenous yeasts and the rackings are limited in order to lessen the use of sulfur dioxide.

Ellena Giuseppe Barbera d’Alba 2019
Price: $20.25       Sale $17.82
The Barbera hails from a single vineyard, aptly named ‘Paradiso’, situated at 650 feet in elevation, located in the La Morra area of Piedmont. Whereas many Barberas will get hammered with oak, often time new oak, Matteo is wanting to show the freshness and varietal character of Barbera though the use of a majority stainless steel. The grapes are picked at optimum ripeness and entirely destemmed. The juice sits on skins for 7 days and fermentation occurs naturally. After a gentle pressing it is transferred back to tank for malolactic fermentation to occur naturally. Half of the wine is then racked into 2nd passage barriques for 12 months of aging.

A bit about Dandelion Vineyards

At Dandelion Vineyards, it really starts and ends in the vineyard. Why the lonely dandelion as the sit in mascot of the winery? Because the belief is that this pesky little weed is the heart and soul of the vineyard. They sprout with the first site of life in the soil and air and they are eventually refolded back into the earth to become food for the vines.
Dandelion Vineyards was started by Bulgarian born winemaker Elena Brooks and her husband Zar. They grow their own grapes as well as source fabulous old vine fruit from some of the finest family vineyards in Barossa, McLaren Vale, and Eden Valley.
Serious stuff, certainly. Proper fun, absolutely. The lifelong search to appreciate and understand the essence of wine, its terroir, leads Zar & Elena on a vinous treasure hunt, following the Dandelion's Wishing Clock if you will, that always inspires.
Dandelion Vineyards are proven plantings that have stood the test of time. They grow our own grapes and source from the best of family vineyards. The wish is to nurture the unique character of these vineyards and express their terroir in through fermented grape juice.
The belief is that in order to variety, vintage and vineyard highlights requires an enlightened approach. Separating single sites, and even single soil types, vine by vine if need be. Dandelion Vineyards is a unique fusion of vineyards and vignerons. Their wines represent decades of experience, blending the fruit of heirloom vineyards with the finest traditions of artisan winemaking. It is the combination of old vineyards and young winemaker and a couple of mates to help out in between that makes for the ideal winery.

2020 Dandelion Vineyards Wishing Clock of the Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc
Price: $20.25       Sale $17.82
Whole bunches from our most distinctive Sauvignon Blanc vineyard - Bill & Vicki Borchardt’s, in the heart of the Adelaide Hills, atop Teakle’s Hill, Woodside were hand selected and picked on the 3rd of March in the cool of early morning then destemmed in small batches without crushing the fruit. Gentle pressing followed.
The result is a pure expression of fruit - a style that is somewhere between Casablanca Valley (Chile) and Marlborough (New Zealand). High-pitched aromas of lime pith, white pepper, green tea and mint. Bright and sharply delineated, with good floral lift to its bitter lime, grapefruit and herb flavors. Tight, dry and light on its feet but there's good depth here.
Distinctive lifted fresh Sauvignon fruit purity, outrageous lift of grapefruit mixed with fragrant gooseberries. A burst of fresh, radiant almost incandescent scents of fizzing limes lemongrass, Thai mint and lemon rind. Three dimensional and high impact, mouth-filling pithy grapefruit juice and fresh layers of mineral like flavor in the middle palate before a long zesty citrus tinged ‘juicy fruit’ finish.

2020 Dandelion Vineyards Pride of the Fleurieu Cabernet Sauvignon
Price: $ 22.25     Sale $19.58
This Pride of the Fleurieu Cabernet was grown in the family's pride and joy, overlooking the Finniss River wetlands, Tony Brooks and Prof. Barbara Santich's dry grown Stranger's Reach vineyard cooled by the Great Southern Ocean and Lake Alexandrina where low rainfall and deep alluvial soils encourage Cabernet to populate or perish.
Selected bunches were hand picked by family and friends in the third week of March and gently crushed into open top fermenters. After 14 days fermentation the wine was then basket pressed into some new but predominately older French Oak Barriques for 18 months maturation and then bottled with minimal winemaking artifact, to capture the essence of the vineyard and will reward cellaring and decanting.
The nose is scented blueberries, cassis and anise aromas with baking spice, cedar and blackberry notes. Rich, deep, full-flavoured, blueberry, black plums, figs and milk chocolate flavours. Tobacco, spearmint and soft powdery Cabernet tannins softened by smooth, mouth-filling fruit before a really extended finish.

2018 Dandelion Vineyards Lionheart of the Barossa Shiraz
Price: $ 22.25     Sale $19.58

The Lionheart of Dandelion Vineyards is our old vine Barossa vineyard. These ancient, gnarled vines, many over a hundred years of age, are not only surviving but thriving on their own roots in some of the oldest soils on the planet.
In the first week of March whole bunches of Shiraz were hand harvested, then gently crushed and naturally fermented in open fermenters for eight days, hand plunged twice a day, before careful basket pressing into new (25%) and older French Oak Barriques to finish fermentation. After 18 months maturation and a racking in the same oak, we bottled our Lionheart vineyard without filtration or fining, to capture the essence of Carl's vines. Dandelion Vineyards Lionheart is ready to drink and will reward cellaring and decanting.
Lifted blue fruits, blood plum, ripe blackberries and Christmas pudding-like spice flow out of the glass with spicy pepper, and hints of bramble and dark chocolate. Generous mouth filling sweet blackberry, raspberry and plums cover the palate with lashings of sweet spice. Firm but fine tannins and dark chocolaty nuances continue throughout the lengthy palate with youthful finish.

Dandelion Vineyards Legacy Barossa 30 Yr PX 375ml NV
Price: $24.00       Sale $21.12

The wish is to nurture the unique character of these extremely old (X.O.) Pedro Ximinez vines, to capture them perfectly from barrel. The 'Legacy of Australia' is vigneron and lifelong champion of old vines and fortified wines, Carl Lindner.
Traditionally grown and vinified, the now rare Pedro Ximinéz was first fortified by his family in 1944 and now averages 30 years of age. This wine is hand blended and bottled without fining or filtration. The total residual sugar is 175 grams per liter...though the high acidity makes this a remarkable wine for a cheese course or savory dessert.
Amber-orange. Toffee, candied orange and cherry pit on the nose, with a hint of smoke and slow-building spiciness. Juicy, palate-staining red fruit and molasses flavors show surprising energy and a touch of gingerbread. Very sweet but also focused, with strong grip and spice notes on the long, clinging finish.

A bit about Craven Wines

Craven Wines is a winemaking collaboration between husband-and-wife team Mick and Jeanine Craven.  Mick is an Aussie currently working as lead winemaker at Mulderbosch during the day;  Jeanine is South African, and they met in California 'dragging hoses' in Sonoma for harvest in 2007.  After both having taken to the text books at their respective universities, they decided to hit the road, see lots of things, work in lots of places and try and learn as much as possible from this massive wine world.  After travelling across the world together for four years and learning about wines in Australia, Europe, the States and South America, the couple returned to South Africa in late 2011.  They feel Stellenbosch has such an amazing array of sites and terroir, and that it is perfect for what they want to do, which is making site-specific, honest wines.
"We chose South Africa, as we think there is a lot of potential here to make amazing wines. We live in Stellenbosch and our hearts are here in this town, which is why we only make wines from the Stellenbosch region as we want to be within a heartbeat of the vines.  We want to make wines which are interesting, both stylistically and by varietal, but also wines which have a sense of place and express where they come from. We have isolated particular vineyard sites, for their unique soils and micro-climates, where we work with the growers to ensure that we get the best results from the particular sites. All our wines will come from single vineyards around Stellenbosch."        - Mick Craven
 In the vineyard the 'less is more' attitude is implemented.  They are 'working toward organics' but that term, according to Mick, makes him want to vomit as it is completely overused and rarely implemented.  If he were to label their farming it would be “fucking rad ass farming.”
In terms of ‘winemaking’ Mick likes to keep things as simple as possible as well; He feels the best methods are being hands off, while still being very hands on.  In other words, paying serious attention to the wine but not manipulating it.  There is no use of cultured yeasts, enzymes, fining agents, etc. throughout the winemaking process.  They only use older, larger, oak barrels.  Essentially a minimal amount of SO2 (which is a dear friend) is the only additive. - Credit to Jamie Goode

2020 Craven Wines Pinot Gris
Price: $27.75       Sale $24.42

Pinot Gris isn't exactly an abundant grape planted in Stellenbosch, but it is something Mick and Jeanine have a lot of fun working with. Although a lot of the wine drinking world think and assume it is a 'white grape' it is in fact a lovely coppery/dark rose skinned grape. They identified this incredible site, called the Newlands Vineyard, farmed by Deon Joubert, on an easterly slope facing back toward Stellenbosch. It is a relatively young block, planted in 2005, but showing tremendous balance and intensity. It ripens extremely early and it almost always the first fruit in.
With this 'color thing' being the case, one cannot waste that beautiful color, so in the cellar it is fermented like a red wine on the skins. The fruit was hand-picked around 21.5 brix in early February and destemmed but left whole berry. Fermentation occurred naturally on the skins in open top fermenters with light pumpovers and gentle punchdowns throughout fermentation. Due to severe drought conditions in 2018, the skins were quite tannic. So Mick only left the juice on skins for 6 days this year to keep the tannins in check. After six days, the free run was racked off and the skins were gently pressed to barrel. Following eight months in old French oak tonneau the wine received one racking to tank with no additions throughout the lifecycle other than a small amount of SO2. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered.
A floral top note before red cherry, Pink Lady apple, watermelon and a hint of earthiness. Medium-bodied with dense fruit, fresh acidity and nicely grippy tannins.

2020 Craven Wines Cinsault
Price: $27.75       Sale $24.42

For the 2017 vintage of Cinsault, Mick & Jeanine were lucky enough to be shown some fruit from a farm they have always wanted to make wine from, Rustenhof. This great farm in the Faure area has an abundance of lovely Cinsault, amongst many other varieties. It is a dryland, bush-vine block, planted in granite and sand thus suiting their winemaking style very well. It also helps that the grower, Pieter Bredell, was a pleasure to work with.
Unlike Mick's usual red winemaking style, the Cinsault grapes are destemmed before fermentation due to the natural low acidity compared to Pinot Noir and Syrah. Whole-bunch fermentation tends to reduce acidity. Gentle pumpovers or punch downs are performed 1- 2 times a day throughout fermentation, and the wine is pressed to 500L barrels for maturation. It is bottled slightly earlier than their other red wines in an effort to express the fresher, brighter characters of Cinsault. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered, with nothing added during the winemaking process apart from a dash of sulfur.
It has a delicate cranberry and pomegranate bouquet that manages to convey the transparency one seeks in the variety. The palate is well balanced, offering black currant, raspberry and cranberry leaf, gently grippy tannin and a touch of salinité that comes through toward the edgy, chalky-textured finish.

A Bit About Auntsfield Estate

Auntsfield Estate is the home of Marlborough's first colonial vineyard and winery. The original vineyard was established in 1873 and made highly regarded wine for over 50 years. The dramatic hillside vineyard with its unique variety of soils is again producing premium wines under the guidance of the Cowley family. The proud heritage of the land is the inspiration to produce exciting handcrafted wines of balance and individuality that display the special terrior of this historic Marlborough vineyard.
They planted blocks of the property with Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, taking real care to select the best plots for each. They now have around 100 acres planted on north-facing slopes on Greywacke rock overlaid with fine clay soil which is wind-blown over many thousands of years from the valley floor. This fantastic terroir gives the wine a fine minerality with wonderful texture and definition.
In the early 2000s both sons became interested in the project. Ben gave up his career as a film camera man, retraining in viticulture and moving his young family from Auckland to the property and then Luc completed his training in oenology. The family decided to release some wine under the original label, Auntsfield Estate. In addition, the Cowleys sell fruit to a handful of high quality producers such as Pyramid Valley.
Since the first release the wines have attracted great attention from consumers and press alike, as the wines offer more complexity and minerality than many of their neighbors.

2019 Auntsfield Estate Sauvignon Blanc Single Vineyard Marlborough
List Price: $20.00               Your Price: $17.60

Cool fermentation with cultured yeast in stainless steel tanks was utilised to retain the fresh varietal aromatics. This was balanced by a portion of the fruit subjected to traditional winemaking practices; handpicked, whole bunch pressed and fermented in seasoned oak barrels, adding texture and length to the wine. The result is a hand-crafted wine combining the bright fresh fruit characters with an underlying minerality and fine structure.

2020 Auntsfield Estate Sauvignon Blanc Single Vineyard Marlborough
Price: $22.50       Sale $19.80

Intense and pure aromas of fresh passionfruit, ripe melon and lime. Notes of dried herbs, lemongrass, mandarin and blackcurrant add pungency and intensity to the aromatics. Powerful, tight and elegant on the palate. It displays intense ripe fruit flavors of passionfruit and white peach, with citrus notes of lime and mandarin pith. The palate has intense concentration and generous weight, balanced by an underlying minerality and tight structure to shape a wine with lively tension and textural balance.

2018 Auntsfield Marlborough Single Vineyard Pinot Noir
Price: $36.00       Sale $31.68

Dark cherry, blackberry and floral aromas are complimented by more savoury aromas of dark chocolate, forest floor and cigar box. The palate of this wine shows a rich silky texture which is full and concentrated. Interwoven flavours of spice, dark fruit and savoury characters are revealed by a succulent and fine tannin structure. The structure of this wine is tight, yet rich and full with seamless length.