New York Times Calls CTV Best Wine Book of 2023

Alex Gambal was leading a successful family business in the Washington, D.C., area in the late 1980s when he became smitten by wine. So ensued an early midlife crisis that resulted in Mr. Gambal, his wife and children moving to Burgundy to experience life in France, first as a wine broker’s intern, then as a wine student. He subsequently built the wine estate of his dreams, but practically exhausted himself trying to make it work.

This book documents that experience. It’s an engrossing story that, unlike similar books, focuses not on the romance of vineyards and winemaking, but on the gears and grease of creating and maintaining a business without a vast reserve of wealth in perhaps the world’s most storied wine region.