WASHINGTON — Seven years is a long time. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American spends roughly 4.6 years in the same job. The hamster doesn’t fare much better, with just a four year average life expectancy. And if a rabbit is really, really lucky, six years would be considered a good run.
So the fact that I have been fortunate enough to participate in the Wine of the Week segment on WTOP radio for the last seven years is genuinely remarkable … unless, of course, you compare that to old Zinfandel vines, which can bear fruit well into their seventies. But I digress.
For the last seven years, I have been privileged to share with listeners each week the discovery of unknown gems, delicious bargains and splurges for a few special occasion wines. In total, I have tasted and recommend over 1,400 wines! I am also lucky to have met the wonderful people I get to work with in the studio as well as the many interesting people I have met through the world of wine. This is a great gig.
To celebrate, I thought it would be fun to revisit some of my favorite recommendations over the last seven years. A kind of “where are they now” retrospective review. While it was definitely tough to narrow it down — after all, 1,400 wines is a lot of territory to cover — I certainly had fun reviewing notes and picking a few sentimental favorites.
Of course, it only makes sense to start off with a wine that started it all. At the beginning of my inaugural broadcast on Aug. 7, 2009, I suggested that listeners consider drinking their wine naked — as in naked chardonnays. These are a style of wine that are vinified and aged in stainless steel tanks and therefore, do not receive any exposure to oak. Without any influence from the oak, naked chardonnays allow the full, natural flavor of the fruit to shine through. The 2014 Four Vines Naked chardonnay from the Santa Barbara in California is still an excellent example. It has a dazzling bouquet of Gala apples and white peaches. Mouth-filling flavors of apples, nectarines and ripe pear are built on a medium frame and the finish is long and impressive. The naturally abundant acidity keeps the entire experience fresh and crisp. And because they don’t spend a lot of money on expensive oak barrels, they can keep the cost down … way down. $10
Sometimes, you can fall in love with a wine because you fall in love with the winemaker. Such was the case last year after meeting third-generation Italian winemaker Luca Bosio. His wines were featured during the March 6, 2015 segment. While am not technically “in love” with Luca, his wines are definitely worth swooning over, particularly the 2011 Luca Bosio Vineyards Barbaresco DOCG. The Nebbiolo grape is one of the red-wine stars of the Piedmont region, and gets star treatment in Luca’s version, where it shows toasty aromas baking spices and earthy tones of bramble, thanks to the 24 months it spends in oak. It has great structure that supports dark raspberry, black plum and cassis flavors and an underpinning of chocolaty notes on the smooth finish. The tannins are refined and have continued to mellow throughout the aging process and become more rounded and smooth. $37
I had the pleasure of having dinner with renowned Australian winemaker, John Duval — once the winemaker of the famous Grange Hermitage — back in 2012, which resulted in a segment dedicated to the 2007 John Duval Plexus GSM on the Jan. 4, 2013 show. Well, the 2012 John Duval Plexus GSM still stands out as one of the classic Australian blends from the Barossa region. Made from a blend of 52 percent Shiraz, 29 percent Grenache, and 19 percent Mourvedre (GSM), this wine is still one of my favorites of the land Down Under. The current version features dazzling scents of blackberry, cassis, sweet earth and rose petals. Full-throttled flavors of blackberry, black cherry and hints of vanilla are well-balanced over the entire palate. Prominent notes of coffee and mint-chocolate cookies slide in on the lengthy finish. $38
One way to celebrate any anniversary is with a bottle of Champagne. The Nonvintage Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Blanc de Blancs Brut was featured on the Wine of the Week broadcast from Sept. 23, 2011. This authentic Champagne is a labor of love of Olivier and Didier Gimonnet, who farm and harvest their chardonnay grapes from their own 28 hectares located in the Côte des Blancs region of Champagne. This beautiful bubbly boasts flavors of creamy lemon and nectarine that are elegantly woven into a round, balanced wine with wonderful structure and tiny, precise bubbles. A touch of brioche is a pleasant highlight at the end of the beautiful and graceful finish. And since it is a nonvintage wine, it never goes out of style! $50
