Kappy's Fine Wine & Spirits on Rt. 1 in Malden recently hosted a Burgundy Tasting with the wines of Alex Gambal.Alex, who was born in Washington D.C., traveled to Burgundy in 1993. He found a great passion for this wine and eventually created a négociant-éleveur business. He currently vinifies about 90% of the wines he bottles. His portfolio of wines range from regional AOC to Grands Crus AOC. The wines are produced from either Pinot Noir or Chardonnay grown in the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits.
They will not produce more than 5,000 cases in any year in order to maintain a high level of quality, to preserve their mission, and remain humble and respectful of the land. All of the wines are made in an artisanal manner in small lots by hand. They bottle by gravity without fining or filtering our reds and only lightly fining our whites.
You can find some more detailed information on Alex Gambal, plus tasting notes, in the May 31, 2008 issue of Wine Spectator, their Special Report on Burgundy.
I tasted five of his wines at the tasting. There would have been more wines available but there had been some shipping problems in France.
Alex did mention that the 2005 wines probably needed at least five years of cellaring before they were ready to drink. The 2006 wines though were more ready to be drank now though they would also cellar well for a long time.
First up was the 2004 Bourgogne Chardonnay "Cuvée Prestige" ($32.99). This was a very good wine with lush fruit flavors, especially peach. It also had some touches of minerality and a very nice crispness. A typical Old World style Chardonnay where the oak only enhances the wine rather than overpowers it.
Next was the 2006 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Folatieres ($116.99). This was a very good vintage for Puligny. This wine is made from old vines and vinified in 20% new oak. Lemons are the predominant flavor on this wine, along with a streak of minerality. This wine has good acidity and a very long finish.
The 2005 Bourgogne Pinot Noir "Cuvee les Deux Papis" ($28.99) was made from grapes from their own vines. They had bought parcels in Montpoulain, Condemaine, Longbois and Les Petits Prés (which was classified as Volnay Village before the AOC.). Only 850 cases of this wine were made and it was vinified with about 10% new oak. This wine had a light red color with a pleasant nose of dark berries. On the palate, there was plenty of delicious fruit, dark cherry and raspberry, plus a touch of spice, maybe some cinnamon. It had a decently long finish and was an excellent example of Old Style Burgundy. I very much enjoyed this wine.
The 2006 Savigny les Beaune "Vieilles Vignes" ($35.99) was very light red in color and had a closed nose. I found the wine to be too tight and not as tannic as the '05 Pinot. It did not impress me but I would have liked to taste it after it sat and breathed for awhile.
The last wine was the 2006 Chambolle-Musigny ($59.99). Only 100 cases of this wine were made and it saw 25% new oak. This was an exceptional wine with lots of complex flavors, lush fruit and an amazing nose. A hedonistic effort that will only get better with time.
Kappy's Fine Wine & Spirits
325 Bennett Highway
Malden, MA
Phone: (781) 321-1000
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Burgundy wine
(French: Bourgogne or Vin de Bourgogne) is wine made in the Burgundy region in eastern France.[1] The most famous wines produced here - those commonly referred to as Burgundies - are red wines made from Pinot Noir grapes or white wines made from Chardonnay grapes. Red and white wines are also made from other grape varieties, such as Gamay and Aligoté respectively. Small amounts of rosé and sparkling wine are also produced in the region. Chardonnay-dominated Chablis and Gamay-dominated Beaujolais are formally part of Burgundy wine region, but wines from those subregions are usually referred to by their own names rather than as "Burgundy wines".
Burgundy has a higher number of Appellation d'origine contrôlées (AOCs) than any other French region, and is often seen as the most terroir-conscious of the French wine regions. The various Burgundy AOCs are classified from carefully delineated Grand Cru vineyards down to more non-specific regional appellations. The practice of delineating vineyards by their terroir in Burgundy go back to Medieval times, when various monasteries played a key role in developing the Burgundy wine industry. The appellations of Burgundy (not including Chablis).
Overview in the middle, the southern part to the left, and the northern part to the right. The Burgundy region runs from Auxerre in the north down to Mâcon in the south, or down to Lyon if the Beaujolais area is included as part of Burgundy. Chablis, a white wine made from Chardonnay grapes, is produced in the area around Auxerre. Other smaller appellations near to Chablis include Irancy, which produces red wines and Saint-Bris, which produces white wines from Sauvignon Blanc. Some way south of Chablis is the Côte d'Or, where Burgundy's most famous and most expensive wines originate, and where all Grand Cru vineyards of Burgundy (except for Chablis Grand Cru) are situated. The Côte d'Or itself is split into two parts: the Côte de Nuits which starts just south of Dijon and runs till Corgoloin, a few kilometers south of the town of Nuits-Saint-Georges, and the Côte de Beaune which starts at Ladoix and ends at Dezize-les-Maranges. The wine-growing part of this area in the heart of Burgundy is just 40 kilometres (25 mi) long, and in most places less than 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) wide. The area is made up of tiny villages surrounded by a combination of flat and sloped vineyards on the eastern side of a hilly region, providing some rain and weather shelter from the prevailing westerly winds. T
he best wines - from "Grand Cru" vineyards - of this region are usually grown from the middle and higher part of the slopes, where the vineyards have the most exposure to sunshine and the best drainage, while the "Premier Cru" come from a little less favourably exposed slopes. The relatively ordinary "Village" wines are produced from the flat territory nearer the villages. The Côte de Nuits contains 24 out of the 25 red Grand Cru appellations in Burgundy, while all of the region's white Grand Crus are located in the Côte de Beaune. This is explained by the presence of different soils, which favour Pinot Noir and Chardonnay respectively. Further south is the Côte Chalonnaise, where again a mix of mostly red and white wines are produced, although the appellations found here such as Mercurey, Rully and Givry are less well known than their counterparts in the Côte d'Or. Below the Côte Chalonnaise is the Mâconnais region, known for producing large quantities of easy-drinking and more affordable white wine. Further south again is the Beaujolais region, famous for fruity red wines made from Gamay. Burgundy experiences a continental climate characterized by very cold winters and hot summers. The weather is very unpredictable with rains, hail, and frost all possible around harvest time. Because of this climate, there is a lot of variation between vintages from Burgundy. You can find more info at: http://www.burgundywinevarieties.com/
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