From Farmer to Full-Fledged Vigneron: Tom Gamble

The dust from the truck was visible before the truck itself, but before too long, it rambled up and out jumped Tom Gamble.

I’d heard he was a farmer, first and foremost, something he later reiterated to me, and he appeared true to the profession. Proper hat to block the sun. Work boots bearing evidence of labor in the vineyards. I’d like to think he was wearing overalls on that first encounter, but I can’t say that for certain.

On a later visit, when we met at the elegantly austere white-painted barn that holds both the tasting room and production facility of Gamble Estates, he was again in similar garb. Similar hat. Similar boots. Maybe they were both the same. Jeans and the canvas cloth vest that is part of his unofficial uniform.

Yet, in the intervening 18 months, Gamble Family Wines had evolved significantly into what is now known as Gamble Estates. And if Tom has his way, the upscaling of his business and his legacy will stand boldly beside Napa Valley’s most reputable producers creating the most-collectible wines. Yet, I encountered this same man on both occasions, a farmer through and through and visually, a flashback to a Napa of old. The real deal.

From the moment I met Tom, I admired his lack of pretense and accompanying amiable style. “I didn’t even know what a vigneron was when I started out, I was just a farmer planting grapes and selling them,” he remarked as we settled in for a few hours of conversation and wine tasting.

Tom’s family has been farming in the Napa Valley since 1916, namely grazing livestock initially. Tom’s wife, Colette, whom he describes as, “very involved but desires to be in the very back of the house,” also has family farming roots in Napa dating back to the 19th century. They are both very much of this place and continue to be. Tom’s mom still lives on the property and in the very home where he grew up. I relished a few of Tom’s stories about his rebellious youth as a punk rocker – a past we shared albeit on opposite coasts – in what was still a pretty isolated and rural place. He left for a while, but confessed he always knew that he’d come back and be a farmer.

He bought his first vineyard in 1981 and added it to his “Family Home” vineyard. Today, Tom stewards 178 acres across four different Napa Valley appellations – Oakville, Rutherford, Mount Veeder and Yountville. The diversity of these world-class sites is one reason for the incredible wines Gamble Estates is producing. The second is the business acumen of Tom Gamble, including in assiduously assembling these exact vineyard sites.

Tom speaks with great affection for what he learned from his grandfather and great uncle – namely a strong work ethic and that building a business – and a legacy – means knowing when to shift gears.

For decades, Tom didn’t just grow grapes, he studied the vineyards under his stewardship with great care and precision. His knowledge of his vineyards is truly encyclopedic and surfaces frequently, and humbly, when in conversation with him. During this time, he was refining and replanting and in a constant state of learning. He has also fully incorporated regenerative organic farming techniques into his vineyards. As evidence of early skill in his craft, some of Napa’s top producers lined up to create wines from Gamble grapes. To this day, Tom sells close to 95 percent of all the fruit grown on Gamble Estates vineyards and it remains a vital part of the business model he’s developed. As I said to a sommelier friend of mine while we were recently tasting Gamble wines together, “You may not have heard of Gamble Estates, but you’ve definitely swooned over wine made from Gamble fruit.”

With the small percentage of the fruit that Tom keeps, and with a few decades of knowledge under his belt about the very best sites, blocks, and rows on his estate, in 2005, he bottled the first wine under the Gamble name. Many of these wines were affectionately named after beloved family members under the Gamble Family Vineyards label, but in the newer expression of Gamble Estates, are named by the appellation. The previous labels are now known as Gamble’s Library Wines. They also toyed for a short time with a lower price-point wine under The Mill Keeper label, but that too has since been retired. (Note – it is quite good wine and can be found inexpensively in retailers until what remains is gone.)

While the wine business is always a fickle one, the 2020 fires in Napa were devastating for many growers and producers, including Tom. “We took a multi-million dollar hit that year and it caused us to rethink a lot of what we were doing and where I wanted us to go in the future,” Tom reflected. The seeds of Gamble Estates as a producer of small-lot, exquisite wines may have been planted long ago, but the challenges of 2020 were also an opportunity.

“We were pursuing a velocity of growth, but we weren’t paying much attention to the momentum of that growth. It was too fast and not well-integrated overall. That I learned from my grandfather – to build a business that is an unstoppable force in the long run means you have to build it in a way where all the units are vertically integrated to support the entirety of the operation. I knew I wanted to do less, but better.”

That “less but better” philosophy underscores the renewed approach of Gamble Estates and its annual total production of around 3,500 cases. “I love our ‘house style” of wine,” said Tom, “and I didn’t want to change it, but it was changing on the trajectory we were on. Really, the only thing I wanted to change was the upward trajectory of the quality of my wines.”

To do just that, Tom reached out to long-time friend and customer, Philippe Melka, one of Napa’s most revered winemakers, and his consulting firm Atelier Melka. “The great thing about Phillipe,” remarked Tom, “Is that he has put together a team that is incredibly strong and we all understand one another.” Also on Tom’s team from Atelier Melka is Director of Wine making, Maayan Koshitzky. Earlier this year, Tom shared with The Somm Journal that “Mayaan is our secret weapon... there are a number of extremely talented winemakers out there, but Maayan perfects our style and really is hands-on for our operation.” Tom also retained Jaime Medina, who joined Gamble in 2015, as the Estate Winemaker on-site to complete the wine making team.

The wines, in a word, are exceptional and the reds demonstrate an aging potential for decades, while still drinking exceptionally well young. The two 100 percent Sauvignon Blanc wines are examples of why consumers cannot get enough of the varietal from Napa. (More detailed wine reviews are in the accompanying sidebar to this article.)

As Tom and I taste through the wines, he’s eager to share the story behind the new label of Gamble Estates and other bottle details. Adding “estate” communicated the exact nature of control (they use only estate grown fruit), according to Tom, as well as designating a legacy and a heritage. The label itself embraces the family and the estate. The Napa River runs through the property and figures prominently. The heron – part of the historic Gamble family crest. Look closely on the tree and you’ll see Tom and his wife’s initials carved into the bark. And the capsule on the bottle – the color is as close to the color of Tom’s wife’s favorite lipstick as he could find. The bottle tells a history of a family and the place they’ve called home for many generations, full of heart and meaning and purpose.

As our time winds down together and I learn about the state-of-the-art security details built into each bottle of Gamble Estate wines to prevent counterfeiting, I’m struck anew by just how much Gamble Estates is leaning into the future. The careful stewardship of the land and the vines by Tom created this moment and this evolution in focusing in on small lots of exceptionally crafted wines.

As we part and Tom grabs his hat from the hat tree in the tasting room, he pauses and then remarks, “I guess I am evolving from a farmer into a vigneron… and with a little pinky in the air,” Tom motioned with his hand and with a big smile across his face.

Four Stellar Wines from Gamble Estates

The evolution from Gamble Family Vineyards into Gamble Estates meant going from a height of 10,000 cases per year to a current production of around 3,500 cases. That focus is creating exceptional and refined wines for enjoyment now and for long-term cellaring. Here are a few of my favorites. As always, Salud!

2024 Yountville Sauvignon Blanc ($60)

Gamble’s Riverbound Vineyard in Yountville is just over 32 acres with silty, floodplain soils. Yountville’s warm, sunny days, cooler nights, and foggy mornings, create ideal conditions for Sauvignon Blanc to reach its potential, which it does here in spades. On the nose, aromas of citrus, honeysuckle, and white flowers and on the palate, tart grapefruit mingles with tropical fruit notes, mint, and baked bosc pears. There is refreshing acidity and a bright throughline of minerality, well balanced by six months of aging on the lees with just a touch of new French oak.

2023 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc ($150)

A lush and beautiful wine with 18 months of extended aging on the lees of fruit from select blocks of the Riverbound Vineyard in Yountville. Notes of lemon zest and chamomile emerge from the glass, followed by flavors of bright pineapple and papaya and minerality. The mouthfeel is bright but balanced with a long finish. Food friendly and will cellar well for years to come.

2023 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($100)

This is Gamble Estates entry point red wine. A gorgeously opaque deep garnet in the glass, it’s exactly what you want from a well-crafted Napa Cabernet – fruit forward notes of boysenberries and mulberries, with the latter taking me on a wonderful mental wandering back to picking berries from the tree in my Aunt Inge and Uncle Ed’s front yard. The tannins are plush, and notes of earthiness and leather develop on the palate, elevating and complementing the rich black fruit flavors. The blend is 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc, 5% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot from fruit sourced from across Gamble Estate vineyards.

2023 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon ($200)

This was my favorite red among the extended line-up of wines I tasted with Tom. I generally love the unique flavors imparted to Cabernet Sauvignon grown in Rutherford, but Gamble’s expression is even more swoon worthy. Herbal notes, as well as cassis and dark cherry aromas, on the palate, big dark fruit flavors and an array of herbal flavors unfold (ah, that “dust”). Two years of aging in French oak and 6% Cabernet Franc create a richness and depth. Extraordinary.