Not a definitive answer, but an interesting perspective from someone with a PhD in Italian:
For a second I thought you were talking about Boroli. And too bad Klapp isn’t here to jump in on this.
I think most Italians would write “due Barolo” and not “due Baroli” as in the following tweet https://twitter.com/AleZano74/status/404152581376577536
or this for sale listing: Annunci gratuiti Tutta Italia : Lavoro , immobiliare , auto usate , incontri , animali
While I do not have a PhD in Italian, in my admittedly modest experience, Italians are more comfortable using plurals without modifying a proper noun, as they appear to understand they are omitting the missing “bottles of/bottiglie di” so when someone says I tried two Barolo he means he tried two bottles of Barolo (as is made clear in the for sale listing).
We may be able to draw him out of retirement by spreading misinformation about Piedmont and white truffles. Speaking of which, did you know that white truffles are served best when grilled and then ground up into sausage? From what I’ve heard this is the traditional method of preparation in Italy as it helps masks its dirty flavors. Also - did you know that the word Barolo literally translates to “inferior to Burgundy” in Italian?
Taylor,
I think you have a career in comedy.
Where is Bill and when is he coming back?
be careful what you wish for ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
He would just insult the author of that article, and tell him he’s full of it ![[stirthepothal.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/f40faec63ca1018898a40805efbf9f0066a3d205.gif "[stirthepothal.gif]"){kind=small}
Seriously, what happened to him? IMO the forum would be the worse for the loss.
Not to mention the cryptic post from Bill Boykin, whos posts I also greatly enjoy 
Bill Klapp was shot to death by Larry Schaffer. Bill Boykin could not stand the cruelty of this act and jumped off a cliff.
Metaphorically speaking, of course.
Nice summary, Ken! And Daniel should appreciate that you just saved him many hours of reading that trainwreck of a thread.
I like the explanation. If you say “two Barolo” you are actually saying “two (bottles of) Barolo,” or the like. That way it makes sense.
I think Baroli and Barbareschi would only be something to use in English language wine discussion if those were, in the first place, the term commonly used in Piedmont. And even then, it’s kind of borderline whether you’re being respectful to the Italian language or just showing off.
Since those aren’t the term used regularly in Piedmont, that should really answer the question of whether someone should try to throw those around in English.
Unless the wines are en magnum or were en premieur, in which case I think you might as well go whole hog.
One other (completely OT, but what else is new) thing. The picture in the link shows the vines in Monforte d’Alba at (I guess) the height of summer, and I’ve seen other similar shots from the region. I can’t recall ever seeing grape vines with such a density of leaves–aren’t they usually more spread out? Is that something peculiar to Nebbiolo? TIA!
Had this discussion with Klapp before. I was of the opinion of Parzen. Klapp disagreed. I’ll leave it at that.
Does anyone say “due Refoscchi”? or “quatro Salice Salentini”? No.
Why not? It sounds perfectly well in Italian.
Nitpicking on the spelling:
“due Refoschi” e “quattro Salici Salentini”
As I wrote in another thread the only case where it really does not work is when the gender of the name does not match the ending.
Like “un Gattinara” (masculine, but the ending is an a which is almost always feminine) whose plural will always be “due Gattinara”.
But Italians do not write it that way, e.g. here: http://www.lucamaroni.com/4DCGI/Rec12_5730 (" Ottimi anche i due Salice Salentino Rosso")
The question how to do it properly Italian is perhaps of some academic interest to Italian speakers, but we’re speaking English here, so there is only one possible answer: Barolos. Anything else puts you on the same level of the inferno as the news anchors who make a big show of rolling their R’s when they pronounce Spanish names.
Keith, I don’t think it’s always a “big show.” In fact, I think it’s rarely a “show.” Many of those anchors (and others) are either completely bilingual or native Spanish speakers. It’s natural for them to roll the R’s, and it probably can feel unnatural not to do so. I know that when I pronounce French names I generally pronounce them “in french.” It’s not forced and it’s not a show, it just feels natural. There are exceptions, of course. For example, I pronounce “Paris” and “France” in english. No particular rhyme or reason to it, just some names naturally come out pronounced in french, and some in english.