Ciao Tutti!
This weekend at Piazza Italian Market, we will taste the Otto Uve Gragnano Penisola Sorrentina Rosso Frizzante DOC ($21.50, 11.5% ABV) from the Salvatore Martusciello winery in Pozzuoli, a municipality of the City of Naples in Campania.
“Otto Uve” (Eight Grapes) is named for the number of grape varieties that comprise this wine, including the best known Aglianico and Piedirosso grapes. Gragnano is considered to be the quintessential red wine of Naples and the idyllic pairing for authentic Neapolitan pizza.
Pozzuoli is the main city on the Phlegraen Peninsula, famous for its Campi Flegrei, the 24 craters and volcanic structures underneath the Bay of Naples. The ancient Romans believed that the gaseous Solfatara crater was the gateway to the Underworld to the domain of Vulcan, the God of Fire. The area’s sandy soil that covers the volcanic rock protected the area’s vines in the late 19th century when the disease phylloxera swept through Europe’s vineyards and decimated the grapes.
Salvatore Martusciello began working at his family’s Grotta del Sole vineyards and he soon became known for his dedication to preserving and extolling Campania’s indigenous grapes that had been almost forgotten. His dedication led to his becoming the champion of wines from the Campi Flegrei and Vesuvius. In 1991, he left his family’s estate and with his wife Gilda, established their own vineyard. Salvatore is a very hands-on winemaker and he even delivers wine to customers so he can explain to them the wine’s special characteristics that he loves so well!
Their Otto Uve Gragnanao is not your traditional red wine. Slightly fizzy, best served chilled, fruit forward (strawberry, raspberry), light tannins, balanced acidity. Perfetto to pair with Piazza’s cured meat and cheese platters; fried foods, and my fave pairing, Piazza’s pizza on Friday!
If you have not yet tasted this refreshing red wine, come join me on Friday from noon to 5:45 or noon to 4:45 and take home a Piazza pizza!
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.
