Ciao Tutti!

This weekend we will taste a new wine to our collection, the Rodon Chiaretto di Bardolino DOC ($15.95) from the Le Fraghe winery in Cavaion Veronese, a province of Verona. Winemaker Mathilde Poggi’s earliest childhood memories are of hearing the grownups conversing about vines and wine. When she was old enough, she joined her family after school to help harvest the grapes, which instilled in her a lifelong passion for winemaking.

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the Rodon Chiaretto di Bardolino DOC ($15.95) from the Le Fraghe winery in Cavaion Veronese.

When relatives later divided the family’s property in the early 1980’s, at age 22 (!),Poggi decided to create her own winery in 1984 to focus on the indigenous grapes of the Veneto, Corvina, Garganega and Rondinella. 

Since 2009, the winery has been producing under the organic wine certification. The geography from Monte Baldo and the Val d’ Adige to the north with Lake Garda’s Mediterranean climate imparts a unique terroir to her wines. The Rodon Chiaretto is a blend of Corvina (80%), and Rondinella (20%).The wine is named “Rodon” from the Greek word rodon (pink) because the wine’s maceration lasts six-eight hours to give the wine its pink color.  

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Matilde Poggi

Today, Mathilde Poggi has become a force in Italian wine and is considered to be one of Italy’s most respected producers for her elegant wines in Bardolino, one of the oldest appellations in Italy. In addition to managing her estate, she has served as President of the Italian Federation of Independent Grape Growers since 2013. 

The Rodon Chiaretto di Bardolino’s color is cherry red, with fragrant aromatics, notes of wild rose, strawberries, crisp palate and a lengthy finish. As we count down to the end of the hot days of August, enjoy Chiaretto all through a meal or pair with antipasti including young cheeses, zuppa di pesce, delicately flavored meats and egg dishes.  

Come join me Friday from noon to 5:45 or Saturday from noon to 4:45 to taste this refreshing rose’.

Cin Cin!

Jenn

Contributor Jennifer Martella has pursued dual architecture and real estate careers since moving to the Eastern Shore in 2004. She has re-established 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 afternoon.

Ciao Tutti!

This weekend at Piazza Italian Market we will taste a new white wine, the Latour a Civitella IGT 2020 ($29.95) from the Sergio Mottura Cantina in Civitella d’Agliano, Lazio. The estate was purchased in 1933 by a relative of Mottura’s and thirty years later twenty-one year old Sergio took over management of the estate. The design of a porcupine in various poses was chosen for Mottura’s label because it “symbolizes the family’s commitment to quality with respect and care for the environment”. When the estate ceased spraying pesticides and herbicides, the porcupine reappeared in the vineyards. 

Noted wine authority and writer Joseph Bastianich (son of Lidia) gave the highest compliment to Mottura by declaring “There is a white heart in the center of Italy: Sergio Mottura, undisputed Master of Grechetto”.  The estate has 120 hectares of vineyards of centuries old vines and a heritage of biodiversity.  

The birth of Mottura’s Grechetto began in 1993 when Mottura joined a group in Germany of thirty producers from countries all over the world who were represented by the same German importer. The importer hosted an event on a restaurant boat floating along the Berlin canal to celebrate Robert Mondavi’s 80th birthday.  The group decided to use the opened bottles from the afternoon tasting for the dinner. Mottura’s Grechetto “Poggio della Costa” 1992 was placed at Louis Fabrice Latour’s table. Latour later sought out Mottura to express his admiration of the wine and offered some of his wood barriques to the young Mottura.

Fast forward to 2020 when another company, one of the five Grand Crus of Bordeaux, Chateau Latour, contacted Mottura to request that the “Latour” name be removed from Mottura’s labels. He complied and beginning with the 2020 harvest the wine was renamed “La Torre a Civitella”. In 1993, this wine was the first white wine from Lazio to be awarded Tre Bicchieri from Gambero Rosso. In 2012, Sergio Mottura was named “Winemaker of the Year” by Gambero Rosso.

After learning about those accolades, I am very eager to try this wine as the Grechetto grape is one of my favorites- I love its elegant, intense aroma with notes of white fruit and hazelnut, velvety palate, with a persistent and slightly tannic finish. Come join me Friday from noon to 5:45 or Saturday from noon to 4:45 to taste this wine from the “Master of Grechetto” and see if you agree- 

Cin Cin!

Jenn

Piazza Italian Market is located at 218 N. Washington St., suite 23, in Easton, MD

Contributor Jennifer Martella has pursued dual architecture and real estate careers since moving to the Eastern Shore in 2004. She has re-established 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 afternoon.

Learn to be a steward of the land this fall with the University of Maryland Extension’s General Forestry Course.  The online course features full-color photos and graphics and will run from August 26 through December 9, 2024. Registration is now open, and interested participants can register online at extension.umd.edu/forestry-course.

This is a non-credit course with no formal classes ‒ work from the comfort of your home using your own woodlot, a friend’s, or a public forest. The course covers ways to protect your trees from insects, diseases, and fire; how to, step by step, create a forest inventory and a stand analysis; and covers the details of the forestry business, including tax nuances and the sale and harvest of forest products. Ultimately, the course exercises help you develop the framework for a stewardship plan for your forest.

The cost for this forestry course is $150.00. Included in the cost are copies of the supplemental readings: A Sand County Almanac, The Woodland Steward, American Forests: A History of Resiliency and Recovery, a small pamphlet entitled “What Tree Is That?” and Common Native Trees of Virginia Tree Identification Guide. Users receive a flash drive of the paper version of the text and appendices. A certificate of completion is awarded when all assignments are completed.

To learn more about the course and what it entails, go to extension.umd.edu/forestry-course.  There you can read lessons from the text, preview an exercise, read through detailed course information, and more.

For more information, contact Andrew Kling at the University of Maryland Extension Western Maryland Research & Education Center at 301-226-7564, or via email at [email protected].

The University of Maryland Extension programs are open to any person and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, national origin, marital status, genetic information, political affiliation, and gender identity or expression.

Ciao Tutti! 

Today is the beginning of the hot nights of August so this weekend at Piazza Italian Market we are offering a Hot Sale of a light red wine, the Toscana L’Ideale Ciliegiolo IGT($14.75) from the Marco Salustri winery in the heart of  Toscana’s picturesque Maremma area.  

Salustri left his family wine business to pursue his passion for his favorite of Toscana’s indigenous grapes, Ciliegiolo. The noted wine writer Ian D’Agata considers Ciliegiolo to be one of Italy’s “most underappreciated grapes” since it was often used in the past as a blending wine. Salustri was convinced that in Maremma’s  inland areas with their hot, sunny, dry climate, Ciliegiolo could acquire the prominence it deserved and he is credited with making that happen.

Salustri ‘s azienda has been certified organic since 2012. The winery is located on the slopes of Mt. Amiata, in the hamlet of Poggi del Sasso, near the medieval town of Cinigiano. His vines, ranging in age from eight to fifty years, thrive on the sandstone soils that are 300-400 meters above sea level.  L’Ideale is Salustri’s main wine that resulted from several vinifications of Ciliegiolo clones from his family company’s vines that were then propagated through grafting.  

Emily and I tasted this wine earlier this week and since “ciliegiolo” means “cherry”, we liked its dark fruit flavor, juicy acidity to pair well with food, good balance and slight tannin. L’Ideale would be perfect with an antipasti platter of salumi and sheep cheeses from Piazza, as well as kebabs on the grill. The bonus is since this is the last of this vintage, our distributor offered us a deep discount which we are passing on to our customers!

Come join me Friday from noon to 5:45 or Saturday from noon to 4:45 while our supply lasts!

Cin Cin!

Jenn

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

Contributor Jennifer Martella has pursued dual architecture and real estate careers since moving to the Eastern Shore in 2004. She has re-established 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 afternoon.

Ciao Tutti! 

This weekend at Piazza Italian Market we are tasting the Chianti Classico DOCG ( ($25.95) from the Istine Winery in Radda In Chianti, Toscana. The black rooster decal on the bottle’s neck designates this wine as being from the original Chianti Classico designation whose boundary was determined by a race between knights from Siena and Firenze and that boundary still exists today. Istine’s three vineyards are located in Castellina in Chianti, Gaiole in Chianti and Radda in Chianti. Even in warm vintages, the family’s 20 hectares thrive in the high altitude and rocky soils of their three vineyards.

Chianti Classico DOCG ( ($25.95) from the Istine Winery in Radda In Chianti, Toscana

The story of Istine begins in 1959, when Bruno Fronti established an agricultural business to provide earthmoving, green management  and vineyard planting services. The second generation of the Fronti family expanded the business to include growing their own grapes. By 2009, Winemaker Angela Fronti oversaw the production of Istine’s first 3,000 bottles of Chianti Classico. She quickly became a rising star who has never rested on her laurels.  

Angela Fronti

Angela Fronti’s high energy management style soon led her to be one of the first to join the nascent FIVI (the Italian federation of Italian Winemakers), founded the year before her first vintage. The FIVI symbol is shown on the neck of Istine’s wines to show she “cultivates her own vineyards, vinifies her own grapes, bottles her own wines, sells under her own responsibility, with her own name and label“.  

Sangiovese is Toscana’s greatest grape and some wine experts consider it one of the world’s best red wine grapes. Angela Fronti’s organic Chianti Classico is 95% Sangiovese and 5% indigenous grapes of Toscana. The result is its bright medium red color, classic aromas of sour red cherry and strawberries with a bright acidity to accompany food and a long finish. Pair with traditional Toscana specialties such as sausages and beans, Bistecca alla Fiorentina, or burgers and pasta with meat sauces. 

If you have not yet tried this Chianti Classico DOCG, come join me Friday from noon to 5:45 or Saturday from noon to 4:45. 

Cin Cin!

Jenn

Piazza Italian Market is located at 218 N. Washington St., suite 23, in Easton, MD.

Contributor Jennifer Martella has pursued dual architecture and real estate careers since moving to the Eastern Shore in 2004. She has re-established 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 afternoon.