Tight aromatics, but there are glimpses of the concentrated core of fruit. Seems more acid-forward than the Vosne, but there’s more gas so it’s tough to say. Finishes very well though…
Comments for this entry
Gambal Alex
2008 Gambal Alex Chambolle-Musigny Les Charmes
2008 Gambal Alex Clos de Vougeot
2008 Gambal Alex Chambertin
2007 Gambal Alex Chambolle-Musigny Les Charmes
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose shows a little savoury smokiness over a deeper, but tighter fruit core. In the mouth, your first impression is of something not entirely substantial, yet there is an extension into the the finish and width in the mid-palate that suggests much more. The acidity is very well judged and with extended aeration (say 2 hours) the palate fills out a little, demonstrating intensity and some minerality.
2006 Gambal Alex Bourgogne Chardonnay
I might have written elsewhere that there’s a ‘deliciousness’ to chardonnay (sorry white burgundy!) that can really perk you up – particularly if you’re tasting at 9:00am! I recall a tasting about 1 year ago at Maison Alex Gambal, before we dived into the 2007s we tasted Alex’s most basic bourgogne blanc – a 2006 – it just hit the spot! For somebody of limited will-power there was absolutely no doubt that ‘on the spot’ I would order a case – not unexpectedly I have cases dotted around the Côte d’Or only waiting for my next visit – well, that and some cash of-course! I finally got around to picking it up (amongst other things) when I visited to taste the 2008s about 2 weeks ago. So, one year-on, how does this wine show? The 2006 vintage has endowed it with a little extra richness but it remains perfectly well balanced. Clearly then, this wine has only one obvious flaw – I bought it to use as a nice summer aperitif, but I’ve already drunk two bottles – it seems unlikely that any will survive to see the official starting date for summer time – clearly it’s not fit for purpose then!
2007 Gambal Alex St.Aubin Murgers des Dents de Chien
Pale greeny-yellow. Effusive, wide, fresh but there’s a serious core – even if the layers above do much to obscure it. It’s hard to talk of texture because the acidity, ‘augmented’ by a hint of petillance, means that the wine doesn’t hang around on your tongue for long. Plenty of extra dimension in the mid-palate and the fruit has a very nice tang to it. Slowly lingering flavour. This wine certainly exhibits the rawness of youth so needs a little cellar time to settle down but I’m sure the wait will be worth it – on day two everything was much more composed!
2006 Gambal Alex Chambolle-Musigny Les Charmes
The colour is a medium, medium-pale lemon-yellow. Dense, though not lush, aromas that are supported with citrus fruit elements. In the mouth it’s round with nice concentration and in the mid-palate shows the typical extra dimension of this cuvée. It’s fair to say that (in the 2006 vernacular) that this is a little plump, but the acidity is enough that it doesn’t become wearisome. Nice length. Another good showing.
2006 Gambal Alex Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses
Started high-toned and diffuse – ouch, what’s happened here? – but 10 minutes in and the glass brings an ever-widening and ever-deepening palate of notes; deep, full, lightly sugar-coated cherries, swirling releases higher tones too – that’s more like it! In the mouth the first sip is also a little disconcerting, but following the path set by the nose, it fills out very nicely indeed – a broad range of flavours that amply fill the mouth. The fruit has none of the slightly distracting savoury element found in the Chambolle Charmes, but seems just a hint less ripe (no issue, just an observation), like-wise the tannin is finer, but clings a little harder to your gums as you exit the mid-palate for the finish – it just about falls short of being called astringent – how about astringent-ish(?) Very long, though just now much of that length is barrel flavour. A very different kettle of fish to the 2005 which was a fulsome and brazen ‘drink me now’ type of wine – this one should be allowed to slumber – if I had any more ‘bottles’ I’d make another test in about 2016, but I don’t, so the magnums will have to wait until 2020!