Valentina Passalacqua Goes Mainstream, Champions ‘Natural Wine for Everybody!’
New York, NY, May 19th, 2021 – Leading fine wine importer Ronnie Sanders of Vine Street Imports and Pugliese natural wine producer Valentina Passalacqua announced today a national importation agreement for Passalacqua brands, Calcarius and ‘9 is Enough,’ beginning this month. “There’s a big market opportunity for natural wines that deliver consistently high quality at competitive prices. Calcarius ticks all the boxes,” says Sanders. “With 9 is Enough, we can also serve wine lovers interested in delicious, low alcohol natural wine options.”
Calcarius has been in the US market previously in natural wine-focused retailers and restaurants while 9 is Enough is new to the US. The plan now is to move beyond the narrow world of natural wine into mainstream distribution. “I believe in ‘Natural Wine for Everybody!” says Valentina Passalacqua. “Young wine drinkers want great tasting, consistent, interesting wines that are made naturally and priced fairly. I’m able to meet that demand.” Valentina’s wines are consistently fresh and easy to drink with great minerality; they are representative of the land from which they’re made.
Vine Street will import the full portfolio of Calcarius and ‘9 Is Enough’ with wines in the $25+ price points. According to Sanders, Vine Street’s distribution strategy is providing thoughtfully produced wine at competitive prices in focus markets throughout the US. “Interest and demand for these wines, which was once only trendy in certain pockets of the country, has grown substantially over the last few years,” states Sanders. “We’re excited to be working with Valentina on this new venture.”
Last summer, near the beginning of the pandemic, Valentina Passalacqua was embroiled in a scandal because of false accusations by an unscrupulous natural wine competitor related to labor practices on her father’s vegetable farms unrelated to Valentina’s company. All the accusations were proven and certified to be false. Now, Valentina is starting fresh with a focus on mainstream distribution. She has also done serious soul-searching and she has decided to commit to worker’s rights issues, continuing to be ‘part of the solution.’ Valentina has made the issue of workers’ rights central to her company. For example, Valentina has integrated a labor union representative at the winery who works directly with the employees in communicating and supporting their rights within the company. She has also instituted important inclusion projects that help improve the lives of immigrants with job training and apprenticeship programs with the winery’s experienced vineyard team. And in 2020, the Valentina Passalacqua Winery was accepted into the Quality Agricultural Labor Network, a program created to certify compliance with the requirements of respectability and compliance with the provisions of labor and social legislation.
About Valentina Passalacqua – https://valentinapassalacqua.it/
Based in the Gargano natural reserve area of Puglia, Valentina Passalacqua is Italy’s leading natural wine producer. The company produces wines under three brands, each with distinctive characteristics from their individual terroirs, each respecting the traditions of the region and each the result of intensive research and experimentation. The three brands are: the eponymous Valentina Passalacqua, the hugely popular Calcarius, and the low-alcohol alternative, 9 is Enough. All wines are all natural. Distributed through natural wine channels in the past, Valentina has come to believe in the concept of ‘Natural Wine for Everybody!’ Her wines are increasingly being distributed through mainstream retailers and restaurants who want to offer their clientele high quality natural wines that express the lands from which they’re made.
About Vine Street – http://www.vsimports.com
Vine Street Imports is dedicated to bringing the most exciting boutique and artisan wines from around the globe to the US market. Their wines garner critical acclaim from major wine reviewers and can be found in prestigious retail shops and restaurants around the country. Vine Street Imports represents many of the most talented winemakers and their craft from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to Italy and England. Personality and open-mindedness are at the core of Vine Street’s mantra, as expressed with the labels, styles and varieties with whom they work. In the words of Italian Renaissance man Gabriele D’Annunzio, “Memento Audere Semper” (Remember to Always Dare).
