Paolo Scavino Barbera d'Alba
Sunday, January 13, 2008

On New Year's day Isabell and I walked from our hotel near the Vatican to the fun, but low-key area of Rome called Trastevere. We had dinner reservations at an osteria called Ferrara. Upon being seated we were given two books, both about six inches wide. They were the white and red wine lists respectively. It took us nearly ten minutes just to page through the books. We settled on a barbera from the Piedmonte region, taking a breather from Tuscan wines. The 2001 Paolo Scavino Barbera d'Alba was an excellent wine that we enjoyed throughout dinner. Unlike many of the Tuscan wines we had, this barbera was more smooth than dry, more dark berry than cherry, and had a nice floral aroma. I looked into Paolo Scavino a bit more after we had this wine and discovered his well respected as an excellent winemaker of barberas and barolos.