Our Story
Johann Christian Hahn and his wife Maria arrived in South Australia in January 1839. They sailed on the ‘Catherina’ from Hamburg, being Lutherans from the area of Posen in what was then Prussia. In 1845, Christian purchased land in the Barossa Valley in the Siegersdorf-Dorrien area, north of Tanunda and the family settled there in 1846.
Early settlers to the Barossa were able to stake out the best of the valley’s farmland and the Hahns also seized the opportunity. They would have operated a mixed farm with the first vines planted on the property in 1914 by Hermann Hahn (3rd generation). By the 1970s, the property was fully planted with vines.
Grape growing became the Hahn family way of life and six generations later, James and Jackie Hahn continued that legacy, living and working on the land originally purchased by Christian Hahn.
In 1997, James and Jackie decided to produce their own range of red wines and teamed up with Barossa winemaker, Rolf Binder for the winemaking. The JJ Hahn label was born.
Over the years the brand grew quickly, with wines such as the 1914 and 1918 Shiraz wines receiving noteworthy accolades. In 2010, the Hahns retired from the business and Rolf Binder retained co-ownership of the brand, winemaking and vineyard management.
In 2023, Rolf has handed over the reigns to Thomas White (who has made the wines since 2021) to run the business with Rolf overseeing the vintage winemaking and blending of the wines.
Winemaking is in our DNA...
Growing up immersed in wine cemented Tom’s future in the industry. After years of experience working for various wineries, he set about forging his own path. From there, in his own business, his obsession with Barossa wine grew.
Tom has always had a deep respect for the land and the story it has to tell. He sees it as his job to work in synchronisation with the fruit, creating wines that highlight each individual vineyard profile.
Inspired by old-school winemaking techniques while putting his own stamp on it, Tom gives a nod to tradition while working with the fruit to create something uniquely his own.
