Hahn Family Wines

Hahn Family Vineyards are one of the great names in Californian wine - a true pioneer and one synonymous with a particular little piece of California.

The Santa Lucia Highlands, or SLH as it’s affectionately referred to, is a thin strip of mountainous vineyard land on the western side of Monterey. It is genuinely cool climate - coastal, elevated, foggy and windy, which makes it one of the best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay regions in the whole of California.

The Hahn story and their connection to SLH is a bit of a coincidence. Swiss born Nicky Hahn was an international businessman, a success story from the start. His wife, Gaby, having received law degrees in both Germany and France, followed her true passion and became an art lecturer and commentator. After they got married, they took off around the world, visiting various places all over the world. It was when they landed in Monterey that they fell in love with the place and decided it was to become home.

Wanting their children to grow up in a rural environment, they bought an estate in SLH, then a forgotten wine region where vineyards planted in the 1700’s by Spanish missionaries were now home to cattle and horses.

But Nicky, a wine connoisseur, thought it the perfect place to grow wine, and he quickly planted the first of Hahn’s estate vineyards. The quality of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay quickly became clear, and the business took off.

Nicky was instrumental in gaining the little region the recognition it now receives. He was instrumental in, the driving force behind, SLH becoming a recognised AVA - American Viticultural Area, a designated stamp of quality and renown. He banged the drum for all the wine producers who had followed the lead and set up there…

“We all produce world class fruit from well managed vineyards. We deserve therefore our own recognition with our own premium price and marketable exciting appellation that wine writers can discover, laud and praise.”

In 1991, the AVA was granted and Nicky became part of SLH lore.

Today, Hahn grow wine on 650 acres of estate vineyards, some of the most striking and beautiful in California. Their Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (and a bit of Cabernet and Zinfandel) are renowned and lauded, the cool climate providing the perfect conditions for elegant, precise and beautifully balanced wines made from grapes that take their time to ripen. Hahn are committed to sustainability and continue to pave the way for their small, beautiful and wondrous AVA.