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What makes up the soul of a wine? Or a specific vineyard site? Or a wine region? It’s more than terroir—technically, the soil and climate; it’s that plus the sum total of the perseverance, dedication, commitment and simple trial and error of the people who came together at a specific place and time, with a vision to plant the vineyard and create the wine.
Nicolaus (“Nicky”) Hahn, and his wife Gaby, discovered their love for California wines in the mid ‘70s. They began a search to find the perfect place to make wines of their own. It took two years for the Hahns to find the two neighboring Monterey County horse and cattle ranches that had been converted to vineyard property. The grape growing conditions were ideal, so it was there that Hahn Winery and Smith & Hook Wines were established.
Then in 1988, sensing the richness and potential of this region, Nicky Hahn sent a letter to his neighbors advocating a new wine appellation; ultimately his pioneering effort led to the creation in 1991 of one of the most exciting and highly-lauded U.S. wine appellations today: the Santa Lucia Highlands (SLH).
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www.hahnslh.com
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Hahn Estates now owns 650 Santa Lucia Highlands vineyard acres that range in elevation from 200 to 1,200 feet. It is these meticulously planted hillside vineyards that produce the exceptional grapes used to create the latest step in the Hahn Family winemaking journey, the new Hahn SLH wines which reflect the passion and commitment of Nicky and Gaby Hahn.
“The new Hahn SLH wines epitomize the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation,” said Hahn Family Wines President Bill Leigon, “these estate bottled wines are lush and rich reflections of this renowned Monterey County winegrowing region.” The first releases include Pinot Noir, Syrah, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris.
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These wines are produced completely in the Santa Lucia Highlands—from the ground to the barrel to the bottle—at the Hahn Winery. Situated on an eastern-facing rise in the Santa Lucia Highlands, overlooking Monterey County’s expansive Salinas Valley, the winery estate provides panoramic views of the Gavilan and Sierra de Salinas mountain ranges.
“The Hahn SLH wines encompass what I believe is the 'soul' of not only the soil and climate, but also of the Hahn team,” according to Hahn Family Wines Winemaker Paul Clifton. “If it were not for the Hahn family having the dedication and passion to purchase and plant this land, these wines would not exist. This is an obvious statement, but an important one. Within that statement, the Hahns have surrounded themselves with a team of people all passionate towards one goal: producing a line of SLH wines of world class quality. Blended in to each of these wines is this team’s signature of passion. When a wine drinker pops the cork and tastes the wine, buried underneath the layers of aromas and flavors is a subliminal sense of the many souls involved in growing and making these wines.”
The Santa Lucia Highlands appellation is filled with ancient, glacial alluvial soils and enjoys consistent coastal fog and breezes that create an ideal climate for cooler-weather thriving wine varietals. The elevated location of this appellation allows the vines to take full advantage of the morning sunshine before the afternoon maritime breezes gently cool the vineyards. This climatic combination creates an especially long growing season, allowing the grapes to fully develop and attain maximum varietal potential.
With the land that Hahn farms in mind, Winemaker Paul Clifton states, “It is easy to get passive and only observe what is growing above the ground, forming assumptions on why a grapevine is growing too vigorous, or not vigorous enough… the vegetative growth above the soil is a mirror reflection of the roots within the soil. Basically, you plant to the right varietals, you farm it with passion, and you pay attention to Mother Nature and you’ll be rewarded with an outstanding grape.”
“If a plot of land is planted with the right varietal and managed in a balanced way, the quality of the grape coming off the vine is so superior, that it is only necessary to introduce very basic winemaking techniques to produce a great wine. This being said, I can only say that it has been an incredible pleasure producing these four wines, because I was able to introduce very subtle, basic techniques, but that doesn't mean I didn't lose a hell of a lot of sleep thinking about it!” Clifton added.
Taste the soul of the Santa Lucia Highlands in Hahn SLH wines.
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