1999 Alex Gambal Clos Vougeot

Alex Gambal is a domaine in Beaune founded in 1997 by Alex Gambal, an American. Gambal was helping run his family’s parking lot enterprise in Washington D.C. in the 1990s when he and his wife first visited France and became entranced with Burgundy and Pinot Noir. In 1993 he spent a year as an apprentice to a Beaune wine broker and in 1998 he made his first Burgundy from purchased pressed juice. In 2003 Gambal bought vineyards and now uses his own grapes to make very limited quantities of Grand Cru, Premier Cru and Bourgogne Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Gambal’s wines have routinely earned compliments from reviewers including Robert M. Parker Jr., who notes that Gambal is “producing increasingly good wines.”

Clos de Vougeot is a walled vineyard that dominates the tiny commune of Vougeot in Burgundy’s Nuits-St.-Georges. The 124-acre Grand Cru vineyard includes a historic chateau that in 1945 was purchased by the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, an organization devoted to promoting the traditions of Burgundy and its wines. The impressive chateau is the organization’s headquarters. Clos de Vougeot was established as a vineyard by Cistercian monks in the 12th century, then sold off to private owners after the French Revolution. The vineyard is unusual for a Grand Cru in that it includes land that runs down to the main road. The soil is light limestone with sand. Principal landowners are Chateau de la Tour, with 13 acres; Meo-Camuzet, 7.5 acres; Rebourseau, 5.5 acres; Louis Jadot, 5.3 acres; and Leroy, 5 acres.

This red wine is relatively light and can pair with a wide variety of foods. The grape prefers cooler climates and the wine is most often associated with Burgundy, Champagne and the U.S. west coast. Regional differences make it nearly as fickle as it is flexible.