A faint, superficial note of toasted oak first hits one from the glass of Gambal 2007 Chassagne-Montrachet, after which ripe white peach and fresh lemon take control with considerable brightness that - when underlain by chalky, stony notes - makes for a relatively austere performance, dramatically contrasting with that of Gambal's village-level Puligny. Still, it displays promising energy and sheer persistence of salt-tinged citrus, and would be well worth revisiting on any given day, not to mention in the course of 2010.
American Alex Gambal (for more of whose improbable story, readers are referred to issue 171, and for more about whose 2007 harvest, consult the introduction to this report) has established a solid reputation for his negociant firm both within France and abroad. And like so many negociants of both the bootstrapping and well-established sorts, he is seeking to benefit from every possible opportunity to access top-quality fruit or vineyards, and at the same time to purchase vineyard land I promising but less-celebrated locations. After a collection of 2006s that showed the precarious, borderline blowsy side of that vintage, it is a pleasure to report on a far more entertaining not to mention elegant crop of 2007s. Gambal was very sparing and early with batonnage, and tends to rack all of his wines out of barrel in mid-summer, bottling one portion before the next harvest, and leaving his more concentrated crus (or any that were especially late to undergo malo) in tank until February.
Various regional U.S. importers
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