Who’s talking about today’s special wine? Aside from European wine publications and in-the-know restaurants, not many. In fact, the overwhelming majority of consumers have never set eyes on Le Clos de la Meslerie, let alone uttered the name: In any given year, this 17th-century “micro-domaine” crafts one unique Vouvray, in negligible quantities, from a tiny walled vineyard. Each release directly reflects the intricacies of its respective vintage and is only ever influenced by Mother Nature and Father Time.
Just look at the specs: organic compost; work by hand and horse; a manual-crank press; natural fermentation; a modicum of sulfur; organic corks; water-soluble ink labels...this is among the world’s purest and most intimate expressions of Chenin Blanc! Today’s 2016 is a soul-stirring, borderline haunting wine with razor-sharp focus and delicate sweetness that emphasizes the incredible tension and dynamic structure of Chenin. Rarely more than 500 cases leave his cellar door, making this a bonafide passion project (producing such a small amount of wine at a mercifully low price doesn’t make business sense). Enjoy now and over the next 15 years.
NOTE: The one other time we’ve offered Peter Hahn’s wines, I mentioned that I’d move mountains to attend a vertical tasting if he ever conducted one. While that still remains a pipe dream, keep an eye on your inbox later today for limited access to the next best thing…
Vines at this gorgeous farmstead have thrived around the estate since the 1600s, but the most historically important moment didn’t occur until the mid-2000s when Peter Hahn took over. He had a single vision: to transform this decrepit property into a one-with-nature, biodiverse, small-production winery. He immediately went to work reviving four hectares of Chenin Blanc that were enclosed by an old stone wall (hence the “clos”) and converting the entire property to Certified Organic with biodynamic principles. His first vintage came in 2008.
Every year, these four hectares are painstakingly farmed with natural compost and zero “-cides.” You’ll only find a few hard workers, native grasses, and a plow horse between these rows and come harvest, each cluster of Chenin Blanc is meticulously analyzed and sorted. Only the best of the best make their way to the winery—any imperfect clusters are left to fertilize the earth—so yields are always distressingly low. Within 60 minutes of picking, only the first-run juice is delicately extracted from a decades-old, wood-and-cement hand-crank press. It should be noted that this old-school press can only extract roughly half of what a modern machine press can. This precious, highly limited juice is then gravity-fed into French barriques (mostly neutral, only a touch new) where it undergoes a slow fermentation with ambient, airborne yeasts. Following, it continues aging in these barrels for roughly no less than one year with a steady lees-stirring regimen. It is bottled unfined and rested further in the cellar.
Depending on the vintage, these wines can be labeled sec to demi-sec to moelleux, and today’s 2016 lies within the first two, a tendre designation. This essentially translates into “off-dry” although one taste belies the ~25 grams/liter that do exist. Trust me though: There’s hardly any sweet components to this—it’s wonderfully savory and bursting with acidity; everything’s in perfect harmony. The wine pours a deep yellow with some bright amber hues and bounces back intoxicating, exotic aromas: Bosc pear, oxidized red and yellow apple, overripe pineapple, lees, crushed rock, citrus preserves, grapefruit zest, honeysuckle, dried chamomile, and a touch of baking spice. At six years old, this is just beginning to come out of its shell, evidenced by the fact that I tasted my bottle over seven days. Not only did it preserve its energy/tension, but it also gained more savory nuanced complexities! So, when enjoying this rare beauty, serve around 50-55 degrees in Burgundy stems and make it last as long as possible. Cheers!
