  We present the first results of a 2-year high-resolution spectroscopy
campaign of 59 candidate Gamma Doradus stars which were mainly discovered from
the HIPPARCOS astrometric mission. More than 60 % of the stars present line
profile variations which can be interpreted as due to pulsation related to
Gamma Doradus stars. For all stars we also derived the projected rotation
velocity (up to more than 200 km\s). The amplitude ratios 2K/Delta m for the
main HIPPARCOS frequency are in the range 35 - 96 (km\s)\mag. Less than 50 % of
the candidates are possible members of binary systems, with 20 stars being
confirmed Gamma Doradus. At least 6 stars present composite spectra, and in all
but one case (for which only one spectrum could be obtained), the narrow
component shows line profile variations, pointing towards an uncomfortable
situation if this narrow component originates from a shell surrounding the
star. This paper is the first of a series concerning mode identification using
both photometric and spectroscopic methods for the confirmed Gamma Doradus
stars of the present sample.
