This weekend at Piazza Italian Market, we will taste the Costomolino Vermentino di Sardegna DOC  2023 ($16.25) from the Argiolas winery in Serdiana, near Sardinia’s southern tip. Vermentino is one of Sardinia’s indigenous grapes and has a typical  profile of prominent minerality with bitter almond, notes of ripe stone fruits and a bit of saltiness.

 

Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean and its range of ecosystems from mountains, rocky coasts, woods, plains and long stretches of uninhabited territory makes it a micro-continent. The ubiquitous bush macchia covers the rocky ground that adds its unique scent to the island’s terroir.

Founder Antonio Argiolas inherited seven acres of land from his father in 1938 and he was the first Sardinian winemaker to embrace modern viticulture and quality over quantity. His sons, Franco and Giuseppe, replanted the vines in the 1980’s to reduce yields with a focus on indigenous grapes. Antonio lived to celebrate his 102nd birthday, and his lifestyle personifies the attributes of the Netflix series “Live to be 100, Lessons from the Blue Zones” discovered in Sardinia, one of the Blue Zones featured in the series. He and his sons’ hard work resulted in Argiolas being recognized today as Sardinia’s foremost wine producer.

Our shelf notecard for this Vermentino include its being the winner of a blind tasting sponsored by the New York Times for the wine’s outstanding full-bodied texture, notes of ginger and lemon. Vermentino is my go-to for seafood but it is also great paired with pesto, sautéed veggies and anything with garlic. The Argiolas Vermentino is one of Piazza’s best sellers but if you have not yet tasted this delicious white wine, come join me Friday from noon to 5:45 or Saturday for a taste (blindfolds will not be provided).

 

Cin Cin!
Jenn

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Piazza Italian Market is located at 218 N. Washington St., Suite 23, in the Talbot Town Shopping Center 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 medium-bodied red wine to our collection, the Voliero Toscana IGT 2021 ($18.50), from the Uccelliera estate in Toscana. Andrea Cortonesi is the estate’s founder who bought land in 1986 from a neighboring estate whose owners were his friends and former employers. His first vintage was 1991, with a production of only 500 bottles! The Voliero Toscana is 85% Sangiovese and 15% Syrah.

Cortonesi is a multi-tasker who also is the proprietor of the Casato Ristorante Wine Bar near the Campo in Siena. The distinctive Voliero label was born from Cortonesi’s restaurant role. While researching the best products for new menu items, a friend of his brought Cortonesi grapes from his vineyard in northern Montalcino and suggested Cortonesi could make a wine solely for the restaurant which became Voliero. “Uccelliera” translates as “birdcage” and the sketch of a freed, feathered, flying woman that adorns the wine’s label also slyly refers to the higher altitude vineyards where the grapes for Voliero thrive.

What began as a wine for a local restaurant changed when wine critic Antonio Gallioni, an American wine critic, visited the Uccelliera estate in 2010 and quickly spread the word about his discovery. Although Cortonesi had no plans for exporting his wine, it quickly became a cult favorite and it is now available through importers.  Uccelliera is still a young estate. In 2024, it is only its 11th year of production, and its annual production is 600 cases. Clearly, Cortonesi values quality over quantity.

Emily and I recently tasted this wine with our rep, and we liked its fruity nose, soft tannins, and pithy, fruit-expressive finish. Come join me Friday from noon to 6:45 or Saturday from noon to 5:45 to see if you agree!

Cin Cin!

Jenn

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Piazza Italian Market is located at 218 N. Washington St., 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.

Talbot County Garden Club welcomes guest speaker, Jessica Bonilla, director of Horticulture at Washington D.C.’s Hillwood’s gardens, on October 22nd  at 11 AM at the Talbot County Free Library in Easton.  The event is free and open to the public. 

Bonilla tends to thirteen acres of formal gardens at the grand estate rebuilt by Marjorie Post in the 1950s. The garden is sectioned into outdoor rooms that are designed to extend the home’s porches and terraces.  Each room is meant to complement the mansion’s interior space and offers both privacy and a connection to adjacent gardens through subtle transitional features, encouraging an intuitive flow from the French parterre to the rose garden and onto the Friendship Walk. 

Join Bonilla as she shares an insider’s view on Hillwood’s garden design, sculpture, and the plants that fill these spaces, plus the ever-evolving management of the grounds, including a deeper dive into the maturing Native Garden. For more details, visit https://talbotcountygc.org.

This weekend at Piazza Italian Market, we will taste one of my fave white wines, the Ribolla Gialla DOC ($23.85) from the Azienda Agricola Ronchi di Cialla in Prepetto, Province of Udine, Fruili-Venezia-Julia, Italy’s top NE region. The winery was founded in 1970 by Dina and Paolo Rapuzzi, who were attracted to the way of life viticulture offered. Their two sons Pierpaolo and Ivan grew up among the vines and both later achieved degrees in Food Sciences.

The winery takes its name from “Roncs, ” meaning “vinery cultivated hills” in the Friulian dialect. The Cialla valley with its NE-SW orientation, surrounded by woods of chestnut, oak and wild cherry trees has been the setting of viticulture since the late 15^th century. The Rapuzzi family’s current portfolio includes four white wines, four red wines, one rose’ and two sweet wines. The red wines include Schioppettino, the grape the Rapuzzis rescued from extinction. In 2016, their commitment to biodiversity in all aspects earned them certification as a “Biodiversity Friendly” company.

Ribolla Gialla DOC  is 100% Ribolla Gialla grape and I like to pair this wine with chicken or Piazza’s San Daniele prosciutto because of its elegant aromatics, plus the fruity notes of apple and pear. Now that the summer heat is over, I plan on turning on my oven again to roast a chicken after spreading pesto between the skin and the breast meat-sheer ambrosia!

I have recommended this wine to many of you but if you have not yet tasted it, come join me Friday from noon to 5:45 or Saturday from noon to 4:45 for a taste-

Cin Cin!

Jenn

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Piazza Italian Market is located in the Talbot Town Shopping Center at 218 N. Washington St. 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.

Learn about ecological friendly gardening at the Oct. 10 meeting of the Chesapeake Bay Herb Society.  Taylor Applegarth and Ted Martini will cover such topics as soil health, native plants, water conservation, pest management, wildlife habitat, biodiversity, and reducing waste.  They will explain gardening techniques in each area that help improve the environment—as well as your garden.

Taylor Applegarth has a nursery at 1709 Taylor Island Road, Woolford, Maryland. He has a Dorchester native edible permaculture farm and nursery. Taylor and his family are very active with the Cambridge farmer’s market on the Choptank and the Easton farmer’s market. He lives his philosophy of ecological friendly gardening.

Ted Martini’s horticultural career began with a lifelong passion for garden spaces and a degree in Landscape Gardening. His professional achievements include a variety of public and private landscape designs, the position of Garden Manager of an historic Public Garden, and his most recent work in the restoration of historic private gardens. Ted recently received his Masters of Science in Ecological Landscape Design.

The society will meet at 6 p.m. at Christ Church Parish Hall, 111 S. Harrison Street, Easton.  Meetings include a social period, an herbal potluck dinner, a short business meeting, and a presentation on an herb-related topic.  The theme for October is fall herbs and spices (cardamom, coriander, and saffron).

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 (410) 763-8843 or visit the Society’s Facebook page.

Bayshore Iris Society, a local affiliate of the American Iris Society (AIS), will proudly welcome the incoming AIS president, Bonnie Nichols of Dallas, Texas, to the AIS Region 4 Fall Meeting as a guest, guest speaker and iris education instructor on October 18th and 19th in St. Michaels, MD. Bayshore Iris Society (BIS) will host the event at the St. Michaels Inn, and the public is invited to register to attend. 

The two-day event is scheduled to coincide with the anticipated peak bloom time for irises that can rebloom in the fall in our area and will feature an Iris Show, iris education, a silent auction, a Patriot River Cruise, Scavenger Hunt, Guest speakers, garden tours, a plant sale, door prizes and a banquet catered by Chesapeake Landing Restaurant. 

BIS members have planted dozens of reblooming irises in their gardens, hoping to have abundant bloom for the Iris Show and the Garden Tours. The FREE Iris Show will be open to the public for viewing at the St. Michaels Inn on Friday, October 18th, from 1-3 pm. Anyone may enter irises in the show Friday morning from 10 am to 11:45 am.

The Patriot River Cruise will depart at 4 on October 18 and is included in the registration fee for those signing up to attend the full event. However, it is also open to the public and anyone may purchase a ticket for the cruise on their own as long as seats are available. 

The Silent Auction will feature up to 20 different BRAND NEW, 2024 POTTED IRISES, other plants, gift certificates, gift baskets and other items from Bay Shore Iris Society members and local businesses, including Chesapeake Landing Restaurant, Ava’s Pizzeria & Wine Bar, The Galley Restaurant & Bar, Blue Heron Coffee, St Michaels Winery, The Christmas Shop, Brackish Life, Ophiuroidea, Pemberton Gift Shop & Pharmacy and St Michaels Essentials.

The plant sale will have irises and other plants grown by members of AIS Region 4, and bidders should find lots of bargains to fill their gardens.

Everyone who completes the Scavenger Hunt on time will get a free iris!

There will be a guest speaker each night. Incoming AIS president, Bonnie Nichols, will speak about the American Iris Society on Friday evening, and internationally known horticulturist, lecturer and author, Ruth Rogers Clausen, will speak on “Perennials and Shrubs as Suitable Companions for Iris” on Saturday evening. She will also have some of her books available for purchase and book signing. 

Persons wishing to register for this two-day event should contact John Iwanski at 443-783-1594 or [email protected] ASAP. For questions about the event, contact Pat McNeal at 443-786-3668. 

This weekend at Italian Market we will welcome the annual return of one of my fave wines for fall, the Rosso del Veronese IGT (35.75) from the L’Arco Vivi di Luca Fedrigo, in the Valpolicella region of the Veneto. The winery is named for the “Arco di Giove”, the only one of seven arches dating from the 16th and 17th centuries that remain on the road to Negrar, near the winery. It is winemaker Luca’s link to his past and its image adorns his hand sketched wine labels. I thought the text “Merum ad Lapideum” might be a family motto but the Latin translation is only “a mere stone”. 

The story of Luca Fedrigo begins with his meeting the legendary winemaker Giuseppe Qunitarelli. The winemaker’s granddaughter was a close friend of Fedrigo and she persuaded Quintarelli into giving Fedrigo a job on the estate. Fedrigo began working in the garden and soon more than flowers blossomed. Fedrigo then began an apprenticeship in the winery, under Quintarelli’s supervision. The two worked side by side with each other for more than ten years as Fedrigo absorbed Quintarelli’s passionate respect for the Veneto’s terroir, indigenous grapes and tradition. 

In 1998, Fedrigo founded L’Arco by planting 2.2 hectares of vines that were surrounded by his father’s vineyards from the 1960’s. His cellar was in the basement of the old family home.  Fedrigo personally manages all aspects of sustainable production, including using natural yeasts and aging the wines in wood barrels from Slovenia. Fedrigo is a true artisan winemaker whose wines differ from year to year, depending upon the blends he uses to make the best wines he can. Testament to his vision is that his wines sell out year after year. 

Fedrigo’s Rosso del Veronese is a blend of 50% Corvina and Corvinone, 30% Rondinella,15% Sangiovese Grosso and 5% Molinara. It is fruit-forward with herbal aromatics, good tannin and acidity; pair with Piazza’s pasta or risotto with meat and/or mushroom sauces. Come join me Friday from noon to 5:45 or Saturday from noon to 4:45 to welcome back this delicious red wine!

Wine Dinner at Piazza: The next wine dinner is Saturday, October 5th-make your reservation online at 

https://www.piazzaitalianmarket.com/event-tickets/p/puglia

Cin Cin,

Jenn

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