It’s always a pleasure to taste Peter Hahn’s wines. Beautifully crafted artisanal wines made with practically zero intervention in the vineyard or winery. And what’s more, now we are practically neighbours as Peter’s vineyards are in the village of Vernou sur Brenne, another of the Vouvray villages right next door to the village where we now live, Noizay.
Peter’s wines are made in such small quantities they can be hard to find. A New Yorker by birth, you’ll find them over there and in some of the great restaurants in Paris and London. Failing that you just have to come over to the Loire valley and buy them direct from the cellar door.
To freshen our palates we started off with bubbles. A wine from 2012 that was taken off its lees in December 2018, Peter’s traditional method fizz is rich and evolved with real yeasty, toasty notes. With no dosage (added sugar before bottling after dégorgement), it’s quite lean but has wonderful depth of flavour and great length.
On to the Vouvrays. First of all the 2017 which was bottled in September 2018. Classic Vouvray aromas of ripe stone fruit and a touch of wet wool. It has 8g of residual sugar that is not at all noticeable on the palate. Quite soft on the mid-palate, it draws in and tightens up to finish with good acidity gives it balance. This is a classic dry style Vouvray and would be great served as an apero or with fish.
The 2016 seems richer on the nose than the 2017. It has a lovely sherbetty style. That mixture of ripe pear fruit and sweetness balanced with acidity at the end makes for lovely drinking. With 25g residual sugar this would be perfect with something rich and creamy. A recent dish of pork shoulder slow cooked with mushrooms, cider, cream and apples would have been a great pairing. (7500 bottles made)
The 2015 is altogether richer and riper with hints of pineapple and tropical fruits. Soft and round, it has 65g of residual sugar and would be excellent with spicy food. It’s easy to pass on these wines that are a little sweeter in style and I have to say that you are missing a treat if you do. Paired properly they make food sing. Peter’s suggestion is to pair it with a veal tagine with candied lemons. (7000 bottles made)
These wines are tasting delicious now but are keepers too. Over time they change and develop but wines made from Chenin blanc have the advantage of naturally high acidity and this, coupled with a little residual sugar, gives excellent ageing potential.
Peter Hahn
Vernou-sur-Brenne
37210 Vouvray France
