The wines of Maison Alex Gambal
The wines of Maison Alex Gambal, at Beaune, are a favourite chez nous. While they are rarely wines of great emotion, they are almost always pretty and pleasurable.
I’ve tasted several wines from the 2006, 2007 and 2008 vintages I see excellent consistency. Some special wines have emerged.
The Bourgogne Rouge Cuvée des Deux Papis is excellent for the appellation: multi-dimensional, great as an aperitif wine and a wine to have with a meal. The Bourgogne Cuvée des Deux Papis 2007 is an exceptional pretty wine, pure pinot on the nose with a fine structure and refreshing acidity on the mouth. I recommend decanting it or opening it ahead of serving (even open it, double decant and reseal a day before hand). With air, an underlying meatiness develops, adding complexity to the wine.
The Bourgogne Cuvée des Deux Papis 2006 is fuller with riper red fruit characters. The wine, though, has the same traits as the 2007: an excellent wine for the appellation.
The Bourgogne Blanc Cuvée Prestige is an equally impressive wine: made with selected fruit that is grown in Bourgogne vineyards or has been declassified. The Bourgogne Blanc Cuvée Prestige 2007 is good now but I feel it needs another year, there being just a hint of reduction about the nose and palate. The Bourgogne Blanc Cuvée Prestige 2005 is ready to go now. It drinks well by the glass but I found the acid a little lacking and thus the wine doesn’t seem to me to be that well adapted to food.
The Saint Aubin Les Murgers des Dents de Chien 1er Cru is a showy wine, always drinking well but with surprising underlying complexity. A Saint Aubin Les Murgers des Dents de Chien 1er Cru 2002 was delicious with lemon curd, cream, vanilla and a smoky mineral character in the back ground. The Saint Aubin Les Murgers des Dents de Chien 1er Cru 2007 is but a pup and yet the bottle evaporated when I opened it with friends. It shows excellent acidity and fruit richness to balance it, an beatiful wine.
The Chassagne-Montrachet Clos St Jean 1er Cru drinks well young while it’s counter part, the Maltroie demands more time. The Chassagne-Montrachet Clos St Jean 1er Cru 2007 is drinking nicely already but will reward continued cellaring. Even the Chassagne-Montrachet Clos St Jean 1er Cru 2008 looked ready to go and I’m looking forward to tasting it out of bottle.
The counter part of this wine is the Chassagne-Montrachet La Maltroie 1er Cru. This seems to need more time in bottle to show. The 2007 and 2008 show great potential but remain closed for me.
This year, Geraldine Godot takes over as chief winemaker.
Alex maintains a blog, which you can read here: http://www.alexgambal.com/blog/. The house has a web page here: http://www.alexgambal.com/blog/.
