Le Clos de la Meslerie

Peter Hahn is an American winemaker who began making wine in the Loire valley in 2007. His philosophy on wine is “less is more”. His wines are truly handmade. The grapes are organic, picked and even pressed by hand using an 80-year-old basket press. The wines are 100% Chenin blanc, barrel fermented and aged on the lees for 12 months in oak (no new oak) and then aged in bottles for 6 months prior to release. Nothing is added to the wine exept minimal doses of sulphites to ensure stability. He produces only one wine each year and it is a pure expression of the vintage. The wines are characterised by a sumptuous balance between the residual sugar in the wine and the acidity. The concentration of flavour and aromas is impressive, no doubt partially due to the extremely low yields (few bunches per vine in the vineyard and hand pressing means amongst the lowest production per hectare in France).