(PART I) From the source to the ranch.
Napa can make a lot of people think of big wineries, big wines, themes, collections, palatial buildings, and what I can only refer to as WINE+. My visit with Tom Gamble from Gamble Family was WINE- (minus). No winery, no tasting room, and on the surface, little more than wines and vines (and a heck of a dog). Our visit with Tom Gamble was amazing. To do it justice, it needs to be covered in two posts.
I first came across Tom Gamble's wines at this year's HIGH Museum Wine Auction in Atlanta. His 2007 Sauvignon Blanc (Then bottled under the name "Source Napa") was perhaps my favorite wine of the week. It screamed balance, care, and respect. My friend Bob actually dragged me to the Gamble table and said "try this!" (This is poured as a by the glass wine at Napa's Ubuntu)
With a couple of days in Napa, lady Dirty and I made an appointment to meet up with Tom Gamble and Elsbeth Sarao at his property.
Just driving up to Tom's house / property / ranch, we were awestruck... An old farmhouse between Yountville and Oakville with land that stretches to the downside of the curvature of the earth.
We started in his dining room and tasted through a few of his wines. I was impressed. I came in focused on Sauvignon Blanc, and left thinking about Cabernet. 2008 Gamble Family Sauvignon Blanc (organic and wild yeast)
-Pure fruit, giant acids, medium bodied, ALIVE! At first is was almost jolting (most wine at 9AM comes with a little jolt). Freakishly tasty, but I wanted to give it a little time to settle. With some air, it became crazy delicious.
2005 Gamble Family Paramount
-A balanced red Bordeaux blend, that perhaps struck me off guard. Solid without rough-edges, fruit, but pepper and earth... A wine that made me think I don't drink enough of stuff like this. Clearly CA, but the CA I'm looking for.
2005 Gamble Family Home Cabernet Sauvignon
-More fruit than the Paramount, but laced with rock, stone, and sun. Luscious but not sticky. We let this sit open for awhile as well. When revisited, it became quite something. Rock, dust, fruit, and depth.
I could wax poetic, and think of crazy stuff to say about Gamble's wines, but I just really like them. They are a farmer's wines.
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After the initial tasting, we saddled up for a hayride. Yes a hayride. Pulled on a trailer on the back of Tom's ATV to tour the property.
(Part II-- A hayride, a home, and history.)
