Wine of the Week by Jenn Martella: Bruncu Boeli Cannonau

Editor’s Note: While Spy readers have read and enjoyed Jenn Martella’s architecture and design articles for almost ten years now, very few are probably aware of her life-long love and passion for Italian wine. And for almost the same among of time she’s been writing for the Spy, she’s also been the wine expert at Piazza for the same number of years. 

Once a week, Jenn puts her skills to use by penning a delightful review of one of the outstanding wines available at the Italian deli in Easton and we found it so rich in both description and history, we decided to share this with our readers as well. 

This is the second week of our Christmas countdown of wines to accompany your beef, pork or fish entree. Last week’s red wine was well received and this week we feature another red to accompany a pork entree. We will taste the Bruncu Boeli Cannonau DOC from the Cantina Osvaldo Soddu winery in Sardinia.

Another reason I chose a Sardinian red is the current keen interest in “Blue Zones”.  I watched the Netflix series “Live to 100: the Secrets of the Blue Zones” and I was riveted by the four regions in the world, Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia; Ikaria, Greece; Nicoya, Costa Rica; and Loma Linda, CA and why they have the highest number of people who live to age 100 or more. One of the factors is the consumption of red wine in general and cannonau in particular which is dry and high in tannins. The latter is believed to prevent aging and disease because of its being very high in antioxidants. Many of you have inquired about the cannonau wine so we have placed “Blue Zones Wine” decals on our Cannonau wines for your convenience.

Sardinia is the second largest Mediterranean island and has a culture all its own; native Grazia Deldedda was the first Italian woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in recognition of her folklore stories. Heavily influenced by a long list of conquerors, including four hundred years under the rule of the Spanish House of Bourbon, Sardinia remains inscrutable as the stone nuraghi, granite totems left by the Neolithic Sardinians that still dot the hilly landscape.

Cantina Osvaldo Soddu is a young micro-winery that produced its first bottling in 2019. Their distributor sought them out for their commitment to native grapes, sustainable farming, minimum intervention and personal involvement from planting to bottling. WInemaker Osvaldo is the consummate host and his tasting room is a tree house where visitors can commune with nature while relaxing on seating crafted from wine barrels as they sip a taste of Cannonau. Osvaldo also serves cheeses, cured meats and the local “carasau” bread made by other residents of this small village of 2,500 residents. I would enjoy living there since for generations,nearly everyone grows grapes for personal consumption-my kind of people!

Come join us for a taste on Friday from noon to 5:45 and Saturday from noon to 4:45 for a taste of the nectar that may start you on your way to becoming a centenarian!