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Surprising Sicilian Wines
The Surprising Wines of Sicily THE CULTURE OF WINE Sicily, the largest Mediterranean island, is one of the oldest wine-producing regions in Italy, and the world
by Vittorio Vettori
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As we know, every region of Italy produces wine, diverse from the wines of other regions. We often read, or hear about the wines of Tuscany, of Piedmont, and of the Veneto, but not much is said of the wines of the other Italian regions, which produce splendid, impressive and surprising wines. Take Sicily. Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, is one of the oldest wine- producing areas in Italy, and the world.
The Greeks, about 3.000 years ago, had named Italy “Enotria” – the land of wine – because of Sicily’s abundance of vineyards and the richness of its wines. The dry, warm climate of the island, with much sunshine and moderate rainfall is ideal for wine production. Plus, Sicily enjoys the breeze of the Mediterranean Sea, which imparts its beneficial maritime elements to the vineyards.
Today Sicily boasts one of Italy’s most dynamic wine industries with many splendid modern wines: dry, lively and lovely, which have made a positive and surprising impact on markets around the world, and among numerous wine lovers.
It is true, Marsala wine, popular throughout Italy and Europe since the 18th Century, has proudly put the wines of Sicily on the map of the world's best
Dopo la bella esperienza della scorsa stagione, la Casa Italiana ripropone il corso di giornalismo radiofonico rivolto ai giovani aspiranti reporter della comunità italiana di Washington.
Il laboratorio – coordinato dalle giornaliste Manuela Cavalieri e Donatella Mulvoni – è rivolto ai ragazzi di età compresa tra i 12 e i 16 anni.
“La scorsa edizione – spiega Paola Corneo, direttrice della Casa Italiana Ente Promotore – ci ha dato la possibilità di scoprire un gruppo di studenti affiatato, curioso e intraprendente. Ecco perché abbiamo deciso di riproporre l’esperimento anche quest’anno”.
Il prezioso lavoro della classe pilota è disponibile negli archivi del primo podcast in lingua italiana della capitale - “Radio DìDC” – a cui è possibile wines. But today we must recognize other impressive wines of Sicily.
Nero d’Avola, for example. Nero d’Avola grapes are the most widely planted red grapes in Sicily. They produce a wine of deep color and flavor with moderate structure, and soft to medium tannins. This wine, Nero d’Avola, is the new “noisy Sicilian baby” in the market, and best of all, is quite available and affordable.
Nerello Mascalese is another favorite wine of this magnificent island, a “child” of the volcanic soil of Mount Etna. It is a dry, soft, pleasant wine, with a good vein of acidity. Lovely.
Grillo and Inzolia are two very popular white wines of Sicily: they are refreshing, stylish, delightful and food friendly.
Two well known brands of Sicilian wines are Corvo di Salaparuta and Regaleali. These wines, basically ordinary wines, red and white, with their consistent quality, have become best sellers abroad, and are among the world's most loved wines.
Etna Bianco and Etna Rosso are also two new exciting and affordable wines. Both are the “youthful sons” of the island, reflecting tradition and innovation.
Cerasuolo di Vittoria is another Sicilian wine worth trying: it is a blend accedere direttamente dal sito www. casaitalianaentepromotore.org.
Intanto a partire dal prossimo 14 ottobre, una nuova squadra di giornalisti in erba si cimenterà con il mondo della of Nero D’Avola and Frappato grapes. A dry, youthful, red wine with a bright cherry flavor. A very enjoyable wine.
Worth mentioning is a wonderful masterpiece of wine, from International grape variety: Planeta Chardonnay, a single varietal Chardonnay. It is an iconic wine of Sicily that has conquered the heart of Chardonnay lovers around the world. A little expensive, but worth every penny.
And let’s not forget the spectacular, aristocratic wine Duca Enrico, a real Sicilian gem, produced with 100 percent selected Nero D’Avola native grapes. Certainly not an ordinary wine, it's the pride of Sicily around the world. A wine for special occasions.
Faro wine is another proud “son” of Sicily: an ancient wine, but still very much “alive” today. An interesting red wine produced with predominantly Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccino and Nocera grapes .
This is only a glimpse of the vast selection of the wines of Sicily. But before we depart from this brief panorama radio. Il progetto si svilupperà in due sezioni. Il primo segmento - via Zoom - sarà peculiarmente teorico e didattico. Gli studenti impareranno i fondamenti del giornalismo e scopriranno come
of Sicilian wines, we need to mention Zibibbo wine: simply magnificent, luscious and admirable. Unfortunately, this wine is enjoyed mainly by the locals, and a few lucky visitors.
Now, let's go on a tour of Sicily, enjoy the stupendous island, its friendly people, and its delicious, luscious, modern,
A Casa Italiana torna il laboratorio radiofonico
ancient and rare wines. Salute! utilizzare gli strumenti del mestiere. A questo ciclo di lezioni seguirà un segmento pratico. Gli studenti scenderanno in campo e realizzeranno una serie di interviste guidati e sostenuti dalle insegnanti.
Anche quest’anno ci saranno tanti ospiti e personaggi interessanti della vivace comunità della Circoscrizione Consolare di Washington, DC.
Le trasmissioni realizzate saranno ancora una volta ospitate dalle frequenze dell’emittente italiana Radio MPA, una delle più seguite della provincia di Salerno, disponibile anche in streaming online.
Le puntate, poi, arricchiranno la sezione podcast della Casa Italiana. Per informazioni ed iscrizioni: info@ casaitalianaente.org.
Sunday Mass at Holy Rosary Church Continues with Limitations A second Sunday mass is added for the month of September
With the steady increase in attendance at the live Sunday mass at Holy Rosary Church, a second mass will be held during the month of September.
The new Sunday mass schedule is: 10:00 a.m. (Note the change from 10:30 a.m.), in Italian; and 12:00 noon in English.
The schedule will be reevaluated at the end of September, based on attendance lev els. The number of attendees at each mass is limited, in accordance to guidelines from the
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grandparents lived in a modest house; her grandfather made deliveries for a furniture store in New Jersey, and loved to fish off a bridge in South Jersey. She recalls seeing dozens of rockfish on their kitchen counters after a good haul.
Her late parents, Donald Jacobs and Bonny Jean Godfrey, were from different sides of the track. Her maternal grandparents owned a drugstore where her grandfather was the pharmacist. They were solidly middle-class and both were college graduates. The idea of their daughter marrying the son of an immigrant did not appeal to them.
In the end, however, Mrs. Biden said her parents followed their hearts and eloped. For the first year of their long marriage, they lived separately and secretly as husband and wife.
Mrs. Biden has said that despite her maternal grandmother’s initial lack of confidence in her father, he became a successful man. He served in the Navy during World War II and used the G.I. Bill to pay his way through business school. He eventually became a bank manager and bought a nice home in Pennsylvania, while his wife cared for Jill and their four other daughters.
As Mrs. Biden said in her 2018 book: “We lived the American Dream, a life where military service guaranteed educational opportunities and where, in one generation, the son of an immigrant could join the middle class.”
She went on to say: ”My parents’ love story, and the sweet life they built Community College). His America is still their America; a place where you yourself and your family.”
Two masses will be held in September: 10:00 a.m. in Italian, and 12:00 noon in English.
Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.
To attend the live mass, register by contacting the parish office at 202-638-0165. Reserve by the Thursday before the Sunday mass you wish to attend. Masks or appropri ate face coverings are required, as is the use of hand sanitizer, located at the entrance to the church.
Sunday masses will continue to be streamed on the Holy Rosary Church Face book page.
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
September 20, 2020. The Abruzzo and Molise Heritage Society will host a Zoom meeting with Joseph (Sonny) Scafetta, Jr., about Italian-American pro-baseball play ers with roots in Abruzzo.. October 3, 2020. The blessing of pets in honor of St. Francis. October 19, 2020. Italian American Open 2020, Westwood Country Club, Vi enna, Va. A Lido Civic Club fundraiser for Casa Italiana and other civic programs . October 31, 2020. NIAF Virtual Gala
Jill Biden’s Italian Roots: Her Grandfather Was Born in Sicily
honoring Dr. Anthony Fauci and others.
Ambassador to Italy.” In 2009, Irish Catholic Joe Biden became the first non-Italian to win an award from the Sons of Italy Foundation. He joked that his name has “something missing there – it’s a vowel,” and spoke about growing up in Delaware, adding that “my self-consciousness about not being Italian goes all the way Photo by Tony Powell. for the Emassy of Italy back to my childhood,” Describing his friends in grade school, Biden listed ten boys with Italian names and eight more on his high school football team. Then, he named nine staffers who helped him run for public office, and the names of the two priests closest to him, all of them with Italian names, and of course, his wife Jill Giacoppa Biden. Mrs. Biden’s Italian heritage was Dr. Jill Biden, Mrs. Laura Denise Bisogniero, Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero, 2013 noted in an August 20, 2020 article in together, has always seemed like desof Italian Culture in the United States. that Dominic Giacoppa was born in tiny to me. But fate didn’t change the Joe Biden was quoted as saying, “Ev1898 and died in 1984, and that he was course of my dad’s path. He was able to ery year is the year of the Italian in my from Gesso, near Messina. It concludes provide a better standard of living for us house,” he told the crowd, “I’m always by saying, “In Italia è venuta col marito because America offered him the opporreferred to as an Irish politician — but nel 2011 per i nostri primi 150 anni: tunities he needed to do so. I see reflecI was smart enough to marry Dominic probabilmente le piacerebbe tornare da tions of his grit and determination every Giacoppa’s granddaughter.” First Lady, Donald Trump permettendo. semester in the faces of my community He added, “There’s only one office A mangiare la pignolata messinese, college students (at Northern Virginia my wife Jill ever aspired for me to hold: magari.” can work hard and make a difference for Brian R. Della Rocca, LL.M. (Taxation) Oggi magazine. The article mentions
When Mrs. Biden was the Second Partner - Compass Law Partners Lady, she and her husband the Vice Phone 240-454-1013 President were invited by then-Italian Web: www.Compass-Law.com Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero to atEmail: BDellaRocca@Compass-Law.com tend an Opera Night event at the Ital48 Maryland Ave. Suite 400, Annapolis, MD 21401 ian Embassy in 2013, as part of the Year 51 Monroe Street, Suite 408, Rockville, Maryland 20850
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The Pleasures of the Passing of Time
This month I will turn 65. We are all and I ache more easily, but at the same familiar with the Italian expression “Eh! time I find myself more and more busy La vecchiaia è una brutta carogna!” and motivated. I simply cannot fathom Answered by, “There is only one way slowing down voluntarily. not to get old!” Someone once sent me a cartoon
Sixty-five used to be the “pension with this saying: “God put me on this age,” when you qualify for Social earth to accomplish a certain amount Security, Medicare, and so on. The of goals. Right now I am so far behind reality is that, today, the majority of that I will never die!” But reality always people continue to work, be active and catches up with us. productive well after reaching “pension What I appreciate about the passing age.” There are those, of of time is the experience course who look forward to retirement. I have a friend What I apprecithat the years have gifted me. To be able to learn who for many years worked ate most about the from my mistakes so that in an office and finally retired. A few weeks later, I met him and asked: ”So, passing of time is the experience that I can avoid repeating them, and to put into practice what was how is retirement?” He the years have successful in the past are answered: “Life in jeans!” He was free from having to gifted me. benefits of getting old. Another element that put on a suit every day and makes my “age” more he could slow down and gratifying is the many relax. However, after a few months of friends that I have acquired. As a priest life in jeans, he went back to work as a for 38 years, I have worked in different part-timer. parishes and missions and in each and
Of course I am not thinking of every one of them I have friends with retiring; I am too busy to even consider whom I keep in touch. it. Obviously, there are moments when The gift of experience and friends, I realize that the years are passing by. then, is what makes the passing of the I have already lived many more years years enjoyable and something to look than my father did; when I receive the forward to. I would like to close with list of priests of my religious family who a sentence that I once saw in a store passed away in a specific month, I am window: “People don’t stop playing always surprised at how many of them because they get old; they get old I knew. because they stop playing.” So, keep the
I realize that I get tired a little sooner game going, because I am playing!
--Fr. Ezio Marchetto
Pope Francis Tweets
Community Announcement: Funds Available to Help Members Impacted by Coronavirus
Casa Italiana Sociocultural Center, Inc. has established a #WeAreOneCommunity Coronavirus Emergency Fund.
Contribu tions will benefit members of the Italian American/Italian community in our metro area who may need financial assistance at this difficult time.
To date, more than $6,000 has been
donated. To make a contribution, please donate at the #WeAreOneCommunity Go FundMe account. Or, write a check payable to CISC, Inc., in dicating its purpose, and mail to: CISC, Inc., 595 Third St. NW, Washington DC 20001. To request assistance, contact the Coronavirus Charity Committee at: dsantoli@ioniallc.com. Confidentially will be strictly maintained.
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