Ciao Tutti!
This weekend begins Piazza’s countdown to Easter and we will once again offer a special holiday menu and over the next two weekends we will offer wine suggestions for your consideration to accompany your Easter feast. This weekend we will taste the Etna Rosato DOC Tenuta delle Terre Nere, from one off Italy’s most exciting areas for exceptional wine, the slopes of Mt. Etna in Sicily. I love Greek and Roman mythology and to the ancient Greeks, the god Hephaestus and the Cyclops Polyphemus labored in the forge of Mt. Etna where the pair made thunderbolts for Zeus, the chief deity who was god of the sky.
Sicily’s history of wine has grown exponentially from its early reputation for producing bulk wines. The tide began to turn in the early 2000’s, when a Belgian, a Tuscan and an American named Marc de Grazia arrived in this most unique terroir to fulfill their individual visions of high quality wine. Marc de Grazia sought softness and elegance for his wines and he was convinced that soils on the northern steep slopes of Mt. Etna’s with its mixture of rock, volcanic tufo (ash) and lava, paired with the dramatic diurnal temperature shift could create powerhouse wines. His vision led to his becoming the founder and owner of Tenuta delle Terre Nere in 2002 and in 2009, he founded Marc de Grazia Imports and became Italy’s most storied exporter of high quality Italian wines.
Being a doting father, de Grazia’s inspiration for the Etna Rosato was his three year old daughter, Elena. Like many ” ragazzine” (little girls”) she liked the color pink and her father painted the cellar pink to her delight. That inspired him to add a Rosato to his collection of stellar white and red wines. In 2007, he created a Rosato that “has the body of a white and the soul of a red…is joyful without being frivolous; that has tension without being austere” and conveys the joy of a young girl. His Rosato is 100% Nerello Mascalese, an indigenous red grape of Sicily that pairs well with fish, ham, poultry, soups, salami figs and melon, bread, olives and cheese.
Piazza Easter Menu: Let Piazza’s Chef Chris’ Easter menu do the cooking for you so you can spend more time hiding Easter eggs and enjoying your raggazzine’s and ragazzini’s hunt before your Easter feast!
Visit https://www.piazzaitalianmarket.com/shop-special-meals/p/easter-dinner to order one item or the entire menu by emailing Leanne Young at [email protected].The deadline for orders is 5:00 pm on March 23rd and the pick up time is 9:00 am to 3:00 pm on Sat., March 30th.
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 an agent for Meredith Fine Properties. Her Italian heritage led her to Piazza Italian Market, where she hosts wine tastings every Friday and Saturday afternoons.
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