(Too Many?) Italian wines in Bellingham with Photos

We hosted a fun tasting last night. Typically, a dozen people show up, each with a couple of bottles. Last night both numbers nearly doubled. We started with whites blind, then reds. With that many people and bottles, a blind tasting can get a little cumbersome, at least for me. My guesses were so far off the mark it was embarrassing. There were too many wines to take notes, but the take-home summary for me was:

  1. The whites were all good. I don’t drink enough Italian white wines
  2. The ‘52 Borgogno Reserva was a beauty. A nose of soy sauce and iodine (in a good way) with sweet red fruit still dominating the palate. Still strong at 70, as I hope to be (too soon).
  3. I thought I didn’t like “modern” Barolo, but the ‘96 Paolo Scavino Bric del Fiasc was elegant and delicious. The ‘05 Aldo Conterno was fresh and nice too.
  4. The 1964 Dessilani Bonarda from the Fara region in Piedmont was a revelation. The freshest 50+ year old wine I’ve ever had. If that was a representative bottle, that’s a grape that can stand with Nebbiolo, Tempranillo and Chenin Blanc as a wine that can age for decades.
  5. We were lucky with the quality and condition of the wines. Only the 1995 Tignanello was bad (corked).
  6. I like well made Nerello Mascalese. Those bottles had a lot of similarities to the Nebbiolos, but with a touch of Burgundian character. Some seem to age well.
  7. I wish I had started buying Alta Piedmont wines earlier.
  8. I think about a dozen bottles is my limit before I start losing focus and get palate fatigue.


    Photos are in random order; no time for sorting.
    8D2405AA-2252-4D9E-978D-64422EE57F82.jpeg
    63DA87ED-C722-4B01-9BEC-7E5E3F210F75.jpeg
    2007284D-18A5-4E34-A8EC-94300F6A59B0.jpeg
    D7EB0FDE-8B83-4BAD-A5DA-84C4ED5EDB58.jpeg
    F59079F0-40D4-4000-A328-F0D52EB5031D.jpeg
    858FB15B-7D62-40B9-8EA7-06FF11901F98.jpeg
    657D00C4-A6A2-45ED-B7C2-2CC28D0939D6.jpeg
    866FD2FB-D617-44D8-9665-E1583998A8E0.jpeg
    63DA87ED-C722-4B01-9BEC-7E5E3F210F75.jpeg
    F59079F0-40D4-4000-A328-F0D52EB5031D.jpeg
    D7EB0FDE-8B83-4BAD-A5DA-84C4ED5EDB58.jpeg
    676CCE0A-08E7-4677-87CB-C7B7B8D8C2DF.jpeg
    0557242F-732C-494D-A0F6-1F84EF67EFDF.jpeg
    01B7F826-3078-498E-AD66-E01824F60DB4.jpeg
    E438C3C1-E86F-4D24-991E-391AACCB6B53.jpeg
    1D45B25D-26EA-4AC9-8639-ADF6E031387D.jpeg
    83E69B9A-6637-4A32-A933-8F8B8A66F6D1.jpeg
    A9AC304B-9E32-4AFC-983B-8E4F37578F00.jpeg
    1498C216-6D87-4E33-9573-F5C89E6BD2E6.jpeg
    D9E17EAC-577E-42C4-90E6-06DA08F44151.jpeg
2 Likes

More photos
BAFD6158-2C8E-4D22-B023-2D2E49B5D5F3.jpeg
1B1EA846-9B17-4139-86D1-6E0F757D8742.jpeg
9660848D-A184-4BC4-A738-CB476D2AA07D.jpeg
2F3C8E72-4B90-4D39-9129-B183E8F3797B.jpeg
94676402-6CFA-46B6-9911-897F2D9E613A.jpeg
D6E7499A-4515-4C23-9151-E7D5FBCAD5DF.jpeg
DEAD9C37-6313-4430-A4D8-8E2497FC9F10.jpeg
27355B3B-8ADE-4731-96C6-4A115C72849C.jpeg
4A5F7349-E152-45F9-BA47-5A439836D2FE.jpeg

Warren I agree that I (we) should be drinking more Italian whites as they have such mouthwatering acidity and and flavor and work so well with food. We hav been gorging on Pecorino lately. By the way, my ankle seems to be quite well, thanks to you ! See you soon…

1 Like

There’s never “too many” wines at a tasting with friends, family, and lovers of wine…sounds like a special time, with some great people & nice wines. Thanks for sharing…

1 Like

Warren, did this bottle say that it was Bonarda specifically? I’m asking because Fara is normally mostly Nebbiolo with some Vespolina and Uva Rara (also called Bonarda) in the blend.

1 Like

Thanks for sharing Warren. We had the 52 Borgogno from Lopa to celebrate my mother’s 70th in February. What a wine!

Was about to ask the same. Nebbiolo typically has the lion’s share of the blend, with the other at ~ 15% each. Vespolina also very decent for ageing.

p.s. lovely sunset

yes, I don’t think that’s unusual, and as for guessing my occasional miracle guess shouldn’t disguise my normally limited competence at the guessing game

Seems like there’s a lot of this excessive consumption of Italian wine going around: Barolo magic