Z Wines USA

South Africa has been producing wine for 350 years, and it’s safe to assume they’ve learned a thing or two by now. Roy Goslin and Dianne Ferrandi, with Z Wines USA, are Minnesota’s South African wine ambassadors that can share their century-old secrets with you – via your glass.


Photo by Chris Bohnhoff

Growing up in South Africa, Dianne’s parents owned vineyards, where she learned at a young age to discern good wine. Roy was raised by a family of caterers and hospitality managers and eventually ran a restaurant of his own in South Africa. Knowing wine isn’t their hobby, it’s their life’s work. And their familiarity with the grape itself is only half the story.

The South African producers and growers have been a part of their family for years, and they were excited to share their family’s passion when they moved to America in 1998. If you’ve met Roy and Dianne, you know their technical knowledge of wine is immense (food pairings, cellaring, storage temperatures, etc.), but what makes them stand out is their connection to the soil in which every grape in their bottles were grown.

Allowing small producers to enter their product in the market because they’re not large enough to sell in big-chain stores is important to Z Wines. It comes as a surprise to many how these unique wines come at a great value. “Finding the diamond in the rough,” they like to call it. And diamonds they are. Their Paarl Hills Chenin Blanc has a light, crisp finish that pairs with scallops, shrimp, shellfish, and even most of the whitefish out of our lakes, and the Campus Oaks Sauvignon Blanc allows easy drinking alongside a vinaigrette salad. For summer barbequing, their award-winning Bush Camp Our Daily Red provides an ideal table-side companion.


Photo by Chris Bohnhoff

To Dianne and Roy, distributing wine is more than the bottle, the variety, and the vintage that gets them excited. It’s the stories that come with each bottle. “The stories are what make the wine real,” they said. They know the growers’ stories because frequent trips abroad has kept them a part of their lives.

As Sample Circuit sponsors, Roy and Dianne are available for you to pick their brains about wine in an environment where you can ask as few or many questions as you like. They said the most important part about wine-tastings is the opportunity to find out what you like, not necessarily following what everybody else says is good. Recognizing the various tastes among wine drinkers, Z Wines aims to explore right alongside you, explaining what it is you’re tasting and why. As with anything in life, discovering something new requires a step out of your normal comfort-zone. Tastings at the Sample Circuit give you that opportunity, with guidance along the way. (If you can’t meet them personally, find their wines here.)


Photo by Chris Bohnhoff

So next time you’re at the Sample Circuit, stop over, have them pour you a glass, and let them tell you a story. (Mention Paul de Villiers – that’s a good one.) And who knows, maybe you’ll find that diamond.

-Melinda Feucht