Le Clos de la Meslerie, 2016 Update
I recall my first meeting with Peter Hahn, and the feeling of relief that at last, while Montlouis seemed to be on a roll with an energetic revitalisation, there was at last some flickering signs of life in Vouvray beyond the big four or five domaines. That encounter was quite a few years ago now, and since then I have revisited the wines more than once or twice, visited the domaine in person for barrel tastings with Peter, and I have been a keen follower of his progress through seven vintages. It has been an enjoyable journey, as during this time I have seen the vineyard yield wines of sweet beauty in the benevolent vintages, to drier and frankly mineral wines in those years that posed more of a challenge. While the style may vary a little, the quality of Peter’s remains generally high, regardless of what the year has thrown at him and his vines.
On this most recent encounter with Peter (pictured) there were two new wines to taste, not only the latest vintage from Le Clos de l Meslerie but also a new project, a sparkling wine. I have known this latter project has been in Peter’s mind for sometime, so this was an exciting opportunity to taste his creation.
The Wines
Peter has been threatening to produce a sparkling wine for a couple of years now, and I am glad he has finally gotten around to doing so. I recall tasting the 2013 vintage with him, barrel by barrel, in the summer of 2014, and it was clear there were a couple of barrels where the wine was leaner and less ample, and which were perfect candidates for making sparkling wine. In the end Peter selected three barrels which were earmarked for fizz. The wine is a méthode traditionnelle made on Peter’s behalf by SORET (a company which provides sparkling wine services to local vignerons) using their own yeast, but in future vintages they will use a yeast selected from Peter’s vineyards. He plans to repeat the process with the 2014 vintage, but not in 2015, I think simply because the quality in this more recent vintage is too high for any to be committed to a sparkling wine.
