Ciao Tutti!

Since today is July 4th, Piazza will be closed so our weekly tasting will only be on Saturday. We will be tasting a new Rosato to possibly add it to our collection, the Marangona Riviera Del Garda Classico DOP Chiaretto ($22.25, 12.5% ABV). 

The Marangona winery is located in Pozzolengo, Lombardia, very near the southern shores of Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake. The lake is a natural heat reservoir and the towering Alps protect the basin around the lake from the cold winds from the north, which produces a Mediterranean climate. “Marangona” was the name of a bell that was rung to signify the end of the workday and the farm still has this bell.  ‘Chiaretto’ is derived from the word ‘chiaro’ (pale) and is required by DOC law on rosato wines produced on the shores of Lake Garda. 

Winemaker Alessandro Cutolo and his wife, Laura, are the fourth generation of the Cutolo family to run the estate, and their organic vineyard covers 30 hectares.

The Marangona Chiaretto is 50% Gropello, 30% Marzemino, 10% Barbera and 10% Sangiovese.   This mix results in classic aromas of rose petals, strawberries, and raspberries, minerality that gives it structure and juicy acidity. A perfect beginning to your July 4th feast that also pairs well with seafood and grilled salmon, chicken or pork. 

The Marangona Riviera Del Garda Classico DOP is a limited production so come join me Saturday from noon to 4:45 to taste this delicious Rosato!

Cin Cin and Happy Fourth of July!

Jenn

Piazza Italian Market is located in the Talbot Town Shopping Center at 218 N. Washington St., suite 23, in Easton, MD

Contributor Jennifer Martella has pursued dual careers in architecture and real estate since she moved to the Eastern Shore in 2004. She has reestablished her architectural practice for residential and commercial projects and is a real estate agent for Meredith Fine Properties. She especially enjoys using her architectural expertise to help buyers envision how they could modify a potential property. Her Italian heritage led her to Piazza Italian Market, where she hosts wine tastings every Friday and Saturday afternoons.

Stephanie Wooton, chair of the Chesapeake Bay Herb Society Garden Committee, will present a clinic on garden pests, diseases, and problems at the society’s July 10 meeting.

Now retired, Wooton has worked in several nurseries including Garden Treasures and Unity Nursery here on the Shore.  Born in Germany, she spent her youth in many countries due to her father’s diplomatic career.  She obtained a degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin before moving east where she married and raised two sons.  Work at a garden center in Frederick led Wooton to pursue her horticulture degree from the University of Maryland, College Park.

These days she says she continues to “play (toil!) in my own garden with two (un)helpful cats.”

The society usually meets the second Thursday of each month at 6 p.m. at Christ Church, 111 S. Harrison Street, Easton.  Meetings include an herbal potluck dinner, a short business meeting and a presentation on an herb-related topic.  The theme for the July meeting is herbs of Argentina (bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, and tarragon).

CBHS was formed in 2002 to share knowledge of herbs with the local community.  The group maintains the herb garden at Pickering Creek Audubon Center.

For more information, call 301-452-2813 or visit the society’s Facebook page.

Ciao Tutti!

This weekend at Piazza Italian Market, we will bring back a favorite red wine from our Valle d’Aosta wine dinner several years ago, the Rouge de Vallee ($20.50, 13% ABV) from the La Kiuva winery in  Pied de Ville, a small hamlet within the town of Arnad. The French names are indicative of this small region’s first settlers, Celts and Ligures, who were later overwhelmed by the Roman Emperor Augustus. The Emperor gave the region its name  (Valle d’Aosta = Valley of Augustus).  After enduring three other invaders, Valle d’Aosta joined the Risorgimento and became part of Italy. Today, more than 50% of Aostians speak Italian, Aostian French and Valdotain, an ancient Provencal dialect, hence the French names of the region’s indigenous grapes. 

The Valle d’Aosta shares its border with France to the west, Switzerland to the north, and Piemonte to the south and east. Valle d’Aosta is a very mountainous regions that contains four of  Europe’s top peaks, Mont Blanc, Monte Rosa, Gran Paradiso and the Matterhorn.  Valle d’Aosta has a central valley that spans over 50 miles and other individual valleys that branch off the main valley. The mountains surround the plains where La Kiuva is located.

Given the scarcity of land, La Kiuva (lah-kee-OO-vah) is a cooperative of over 50 grower members who tend about 15 hectares of vineyards. They named the winery “Kiuva” which means in the local dialect “sheaf of leaves”. The sheaves are gathered in the fall for feeding livestock throughout the winter. “Kiuva” also playfully refers to the Italian phrase “chi uva” or literally “who grape”. The vineyards cling to the steep slopes of granite and quartz, stabilized by ancient stone terraces.  Every day, the coop members climb up the steep slopes of some of the highest vineyards in the world, harvest the grapes by hand and laden with bins heavy with fruit, they make their way down the slopes to the winery. It is backbreaking work.

The combination of the highest altitude, fresh alpine air currents and streams, subsoils, and the steep terraced pergola vineyards delivers fresh and highly complex wines such as Rouge de Vallee. This red wine contains the region’s indigenous grapes of 70% Picotendro (local Nebbiolo clone), 30% Gros Vien, Neyret, Cornalin and Fumin. 

I looked back at my notes from our Wine Dinner where I had jotted down ruby red color, moderate intensity, bouquet of red fruit and delicate notes of spices, smooth taste and tannin. Pair with Piazza’s cured meats and aged cheeses, grilled meats, pasta with tomato based sauces but its best match is Piazza’s mushroom soup! Emily tasted this wine again recently and wanted to bring it back into Piazza’s collection.

To get your mind off the extreme heat, re-watch Stanley Tucci’s segment on Valle d’Aosta (I remember his getting off the funicular and being surrounded by breathtaking snow-capped mountains) then come join me Friday from noon to 5:45 or Saturday from noon to 4:45 for a  taste of this refreshing red wine!

Cin Cin!

Jenn

Piazza Italian Market is located in the Talbot Town Shopping Center qt 218 N. Washington St., suite 23, in Easton, MD

Contributor Jennifer Martella has pursued dual careers in architecture and real estate since she moved to the Eastern Shore in 2004. She has reestablished her architectural practice for residential and commercial projects and is a real estate agent for Meredith Fine Properties. She especially enjoys using her architectural expertise to help buyers envision how they could modify a potential property. Her Italian heritage led her to Piazza Italian Market, where she hosts wine tastings every Friday and Saturday afternoons.

Ciao Tutti!

Last month at Piazza Italian Market, we tasted a dry white wine from one of my fave Sicilian wineries, Cantina Assuli, located in  the far NW part of Sicily. Recently, Emily and I tasted another of their white wines, the Dardinello Sicilia DOC Zibibbo 2023 ( $15.99, 12.5% ABV), which we will be tasting this weekend. “Zibibbo” is Arabic for “raisin” as Sicily is closer to Africa than it is to mainland Italy. In Sicily, “Zibibbo” is the name given to the Muscat of Alexandria grape variety, which is eaten fresh, dried into raisins or vinified into sweet or dry wines. 

Dardinello Sicilia DOC Zibibbo 2023 ( $15.99, 12.5% ABV)

Like Assuli’s other artistic and imaginative labels, “Dardinello” is the brave and courageous Saracen knight who was killed by the character Rinaldo in Ludovico Ariosto’s epic poem Orlando Furioso that was later turned into an opera. 

Assuli’s 130 hectares of vineyards are near Trapani on the Mediterranean Sea

Assuli’s 130 hectares of vineyards are near Trapani on the Mediterranean Sea. Perhaps like no other region of Italy, Sicily’s unique climate relentless sun, breezes scented by the Sea and the intense minerality of the soil combine to impart a distinctive taste to its  wines, under the watchful eye of Assuli’s Winemaker Lorenzo Landi. 

Assuli is now managed by the third generation of the Caruso family. Their portfolio of 100 organic indigenous grape varieties includes Grillo, Insolia, Lucido, Nero d’Avola, Perricone, Syrah and Zibibbo.  

What I like about Zibibbo is its freshness, notes of peach and other citrus fruits, and its balance of both minerality and salinity.  Not surprisingly, Zibibbo’s best pairings are seafood, especially shellfish and grilled fish as well as Piazza’s Brie and Camembert cheeses. Come in from the forecasted weekend heat and join me Friday from noon to 5:45 or Saturday from noon to 4:45 to enjoy a taste of this refreshing white wine!

Cin Cin!

Jenn

Piazza Italian Market is located in the Talbot Town Shopping Center at 218 N. Washington St., suite 23, in Easton, MD.

Contributor Jennifer Martella has pursued dual careers in architecture and real estate since she moved to the Eastern Shore in 2004. She has reestablished her architectural practice for residential and commercial projects and is a real estate agent for Meredith Fine Properties. She especially enjoys using her architectural expertise to help buyers envision how they could modify a potential property. Her Italian heritage led her to Piazza Italian Market, where she hosts wine tastings every Friday and Saturday afternoons.

Ciao Tutti!

This weekend, we will taste a new wine to our collection, the Verdicchio Di Matelica DOC ($19.50, 13% ABV) from the Societa Agricola Bisci winery in the commune of Matelica, Le Marche. The Wine Expert Ian D’Agata, who wrote the tome “The Native Grapes of Italy” considers Verdicchio to be the greatest white grape in all of Italy. It is a rare grape that is indigenous to Le Marche with miniscule quantities grown in Argentina and Brazil.

Le Marche, between Umbria and the Adriatic Sea, is five times longer than it is wide. Matelica enjoys a distinctive microclimate of ample sunlight, constant breezes and dry nights due to its setting in the Alta Valle dell’ Escino, the only valley in Le Marche that lies parallel to the Adriatic Sea, nestled between the Natural Park Monte San Vicino and the towering Sibillini Mountains.

Bisci was founded in 1972 and contains 25 hectares, 18 of which are planted with Verdicchio grapes. Bisci is now run by the second generation, brothers Mauro and Tito. 1998 was their first vintage from vines dating from 1978 and in 2019 the first certified organic wines were produced. Their Verdicchio di Matelica’s award winning vintages were 2008, 2011, 2016 and 2019. In 2018, Gambero Rosso chose the Verdicchio di Matelica 2018 as its Tre Bicchieri winner.

Emily and I tasted this Verdicchio with our rep recently and we liked it for its clear scents of peach and white flowers, fresh taste and good balance, with the bitter note in the finish that is characteristic of this grape. This is a great aperitivo for summer evenings, with Piazza’s Marcona almonds, prosciutto and aged cheeses, or pair it with fish or white meat ntrees.

Come join me Friday from noon to 5:45 or Saturday from noon to 4:45 to taste this fascinating white wine!

Cin Cin!

Jenn

Contributor Jennifer Martella has pursued dual careers in architecture and real estate since she moved to the Eastern Shore in 2004. She has reestablished her architectural practice for residential and commercial projects and is a real estate agent for Meredith Fine Properties. She especially enjoys using her architectural expertise to help buyers envision how they could modify a potential property. Her Italian heritage led her to Piazza Italian Market, where she hosts wine tastings every Friday and Saturday afternoons.

Ciao Tutti!

This weekend at Piazza Italian Market,we will taste a new wine to our collection, the La Lupinella Superiore DOCG ($21.50, 13.5 ABV) from the Bitossi Winery’s Sant’ Ansano vineyard in Toscana. This wine area contains the Montalbano Hills and has long enjoyed a reputation for producing great wine that led to its being recognized as early as 1796 as a prestigious wine area.  “Lupinella”  is named for a local wildflower and the eye-catching label was designed by an American artist, Don Carney. The “Lupa” (wolf) image pays homage to . the legendary she wolf. In Roman mythology, she rescued the twins Romulus and Remus who were abandoned in the Tiber River and nursed them until a shepherd found and raised them. The twins grew up to found the city of Rome. 

La Lupinella Superiore DOCG ($21.50, 13.5 ABV) from the Bitossi Winery’s Sant’ Ansano vineyard in Toscana

The Bitossi family has been in Toscana since the 16th century where they first became renowned ceramic artisans. The clay soil of their land is the common denominator of both the raw material that is spun to create their ceramics and the amphoras in which their wines are now made. Artist Don Carney also designed several tile patterns for the family. I have several pieces of Italian ceramics so I was fascinated to learn that since the early 1920’s, some of the most important Italian and international designers such as Aldo Londi and Ettore Sottsass have collaborated with Bitossi in their laboratories in Montelupo Fiorentino.

In the late 1970’s,Vittoriano Bitossi acquired parcels of land SW of Florence that would become his vineyards, in the commune of Vinci (birthplace of Leonardo). Like many other winemakers, he began making wine for his family and for local consumption until the mid-1990s when Bitossi sought distributors and importers for their wines. 

Today, Owner Marco Bitossi and Winemaker Manuela Marzi work their 10 hectares in Montespertoli and 2 hectares in Sant’Ansano. Their vineyards of Canailolo, Colorino, Sangiovese and Trebbiano are certified organic and their annual production is 2500 cases. Emily and I tasted La Lupinella recently and we liked its aromas of fresh red berries, its medium body, light tannins and long finish. La Lupinella is named “Rossa” for its variety of grapes including Sangiovese (85%),Canaiolo (15%) and Trebbiano (5%). 

We thought it was a refreshing take on Sangiovese so come join me on Friday from noon to 5:45 and Saturday from noon to 4:45 to see if you agree!

Cin Cin!

Jenn

Piazza Italian Market is located in the Talbot Town Shopping Center at 218 N. Washington St., suite 23, in Easton, MD.

Contributor Jennifer Martella has pursued dual careers in architecture and real estate since she moved to the Eastern Shore in 2004. She has reestablished her architectural practice for residential and commercial projects and is a real estate agent for Meredith Fine Properties. She especially enjoys using her architectural expertise to help buyers envision how they could modify a potential property. Her Italian heritage led her to Piazza Italian Market, where she hosts wine tastings every Friday and Saturday afternoons.

Ciao Tutti!

This weekend at Piazza Italian Market we will taste a white wine from the Langhe Nas-Cetta del Commune di Novello 2021 ($26.99, 12.5% ABV) from the Azienda Agricola Cogli  L’Attimo di Serena Anselma in Piemonte. “Cogli L’Attimo” translates as “seize the moment”, which a fitting phrase for how this wine has made its way to Piazza’s shelves. 

This weekend at Piazza Italian Market we will taste a white wine from the Langhe Nas-Cetta del Commune di Novello 2021 ($26.99, 12.5% ABV) from the Azienda Agricola Cogli L’Attimo di Serena Anselma in Piemonte.

Last year, Emily attended Vinitaly, which is the leading international wine & spirits trade fair for exhibitors, buyers and wine lovers. Emily sought out small scale producers, one of which was Serena Anselma, who asked Emily for advice about breaking into the US market. Emily seized the moment and contacted one of Piazza’s importers, Doria Wines, since they seek out artisanal winemakers. The brother and sister duo of Marco (Torino) and Cristina (DC) seized their moment and Marco visited Serena and now they represent Cogli L’Attimo!  The winery is a perfect fit to Doria Wines’ criteria of native grape varieties, sustainable farming, minimal intervention, small scale production and winemakers who are personally involved from planting the vines to bottling. 

Serena Anselma

Serena Anselma left her career of teaching languages to fulfill her dream of producing wine from her family’s old vineyards, whose grapes had previously been sold for bulk production.  In 2016, she founded her own winery on her grandparents’ land in Novello, one of the eleven municipalities that produce Barolo. Her annual production is small (about 15,000 bottles). Her winery may be less than ten years old, but it is rooted in the beautiful Langhe hills. She works with Sergio Molino, a renowned oenologist, to produce wines that are authentic native varieties since a great wine is dependent upon the quality of the grapes.  

Currently, Serena produces Barolo cru Cerviano Merli, Nebbiolo d’Alba, Barbera d’Alba, Dolcetto d’Alba, Nas-cetta and one orange wine. The native grape Nas-cetta almost disappeared, but has a new life thanks to its rediscovery by small producers in the municipality of Novello like Serena and her wine entered the market in 1994. Eight years later, it became part of the Langhe DOC. In 2010, the Langhe Nas-cetta del Comune di Novello DOC designation was created to recognize only one municipality, Novello, for the use of 100% Nas-cetta grapes. 

Emily has fond memories of this white wine’s floral and fruity aromas and its vibrant citrus flavor. Pair with fresh seafood or risottos, white meat entrees with lemon and herbs, dishes with asparagus or fennel, goat or feta cheese.  

Come seize your moment and join me Friday from noon to 5:45 or Saturday from noon to 4:45 and celebrate this new wine’s debut at Piazza!

Cin Cin,

Jenn

Piazza Italian Market is located in the Talbot Town Shopping Center, suite 23, in Easton, MD

Contributor Jennifer Martella has pursued dual careers in architecture and real estate since she moved to the Eastern Shore in 2004. She has reestablished her architectural practice for residential and commercial projects and is a real estate agent for Meredith Fine Properties. She especially enjoys using her architectural expertise to help buyers envision how they could modify a potential property. Her Italian heritage led her to Piazza Italian Market, where she hosts wine tastings every Friday and Saturday afternoons.