Alex Gambal.
American vintner Alex Gambal appears to be enjoying a happy retirement skiing in the mountains of Wyoming, but the path that brought him here was anything but direct. Although Gambal is among the most successful Americans to make wine in Burgundy, the learning curve was steep and the obstacles were nearly insurmountable. The challenges and pleasures of his journey are admirably laid out in his book Climbing the Vines in Burgundy (£18.99 Hamilton Books, August 2023).
‘Archetype of a small ne?gociant house that is both demanding and trustworthy, Maison Alex Gambal, created by an American who fell in love with Burgundy, has emerged in barely a decade as one of the steadiest and most quality-oriented of the Co?te de Beaune.’ This 2015 quote, from French wine magazine La Revue du Vin de France, typifies the reception his wines received in France. Gambal’s work was welcomed – celebrated, even – in a remarkable fashion in a nation that has sometimes been chauvinistic about its local produce, his wines appearing on lists in some of France’s finest restaurants. Despite his success, however, in 2019 Gambal sold his domaine to Boisset Collection, the powerhouse wine group based in California but with it roots firmly in Burgundy, and headed by Jean-Charles Boisset.
Forty years earlier, having graduated with a degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Gambal had returned to Washington DC to work in his family’s real estate and parking business. He married young and his first child was born when he was 25, leading to a settled domestic life instead of 20-something adventures. Gambal indulged instead in vinous adventures and was taken under the wing of Washington-area wine maven Sidney Moore, proprietor of Mayflower Wine & Spirits, whose shop was a magnet for local collectors.
In 1992, Moore introduced Gambal to Burgundy impresario Becky Wasserman (Decanter Hall of Fame award recipient in 2019), who worked from her base in Burgundy to line up small, top-quality domaines with importers in the US. Wasserman offered Gambal an internship, and in 1993 he and his family arrived in Burgundy, where he set about learning the ropes of the wine trade. After three years with Wasserman (who died in 2021), Gambal attended the Lyce?e Viticole in Beaune and completed internships with Domaine de l’Arlot and Comtes Lafon before starting out as a ne?gociant.
Decanter Burgundy correspondent and DWWA Regional Chair for Burgundy Charles Curtis MW puts the questions directly to Alex Gambal.
Alex Gambal at a glance
Born 1957, Washington DC
Parents Sergius and Alyce Gambal
Education St Stephen’s Episcopal School; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Lycée Viticole de Beaune
Domaine-owned vineyards (2018*) 12ha spread over 40 parcels and 15 appellations
Annual production (2018*) 80,000 bottles
Favourite vintage to make wine ‘2005 for reds – the grapes were perfect; but for white, 2004’
Favourite terroirs to vinify Red Nuits-St-Georges, Clos des Argillières (1er cru); White Puligny-Montrachet, Les Enseignères (lieu-dit)
Alex Gambal
CC: What was it like starting a business in France back in the 1990s?
AG: My wife and I put our kids at eight and 10 years of age in the local schools, where they became bilingual, and we were in the right place at the right time. The other kids’ parents were winemakers and we would all taste together. Our business expanded rapidly, from a couple of barrels of wine to buying enough grapes to make 50 barrels. By 1999, there was so much available that I made 55 wines; now you can’t find a drop. I used to be able to make four Vosne-Romane?e premiers crus, including Beaux Monts, Malconsorts, Petits Monts and Suchots, and grands crus like Chambertin, Chapelle-Chambertin and Charmes-Chambertin, Bonnes-Mares, Clos Vougeot and Echezeaux. It was a different era; people had…
Source : https://www.decanter.com.master.public.keystone-prod-eks-euw1.futureplc.engineering/wine-news/alex-gambal-an-american-in-burgundy-535583/
