Germany trips the Leitz fantastic

We arrived at the impressively large, state-of-the-art winery just outside Rüdesheim in a Leitz-branded minibus. After a firm vine-growers handshake from a smiling Johannes Leitz, we were back in the van, and off, with Johannes at the wheel, up through the small, picturesque town of Rüdesheim and into the Rhinegau vineyards above. 

The Rhine disappeared quickly below as the winding, barrier-free track took the bus along and through the Grand Cru vineyards to the west. Fantastic names like Berg Roseneck and Berg Rottland flew by en-route to a stop overlooking Berg Schlossberg and on to Johannes’s latest acquisition, and ‘new toy’, Berg Kaisersteinfels. Here Johannes proudly showed off the vertiginous incline of his vineyards and the impressive new dry-stone terrace wall that holds it all up. The red slatey soils here, different from those a few hundred feet away, were packed tight with stone to stop them falling away - a miracle frankly that anything can grow at all. All of these prestigious vineyard sites, of which Leitz seems to own a decent stripe, are at inclines far beyond those accessible by tractor, as the slopes follow the course of the Rhine River hundreds of feet below. The question that was asked over and over again was how viticulture or picking is ever possible at such a gradient. 

The answer, not entirely given, sounded pretty Heath Robinson, with pullies and winches. Johannes shrugged as he admitted he had lost at least one tractor that had careered down the rows of vines.

For such searingly hot year, the vines of the Rhinegau seem to be doing well for water. A few rows can be seen with irrigation, but amazingly all over the leaves are green and grapes look very healthy. Other hot years have not been so blessed, and despite the health of the vines there was a general hope for cooler nights and a little rain in the mix.

After a delicious Schnitzel and lager lunch, it was back to the winery to look around one of the newest and most pristine facilities we had ever seen. The place gleams, and even the pallets symmetrically.

Impressive doesn’t really come close to describing the setup at the Leitz winery. This is huge production, in a micro-measured and highly thoughtful way, and this attention to detail seems to run through all aspect of the business. As we tour the mighty-big steel fermenters in the ‘cathedral’ are softened with the site and smell of huge oak casks, including the newest 10,000 litre “monster” cask. We were invited to peer into the winery’s newest acquisition – still redolent with the scent of new oak. Thankfully none of us got… er… Stück! Never used, new these vats are seasoned long before the delicate Riesling is allowed too close.

asting time with Jan Schmidt, the Ops, marketing, export ‘man of many jobs’ followed the tour in the vast and hugely luxurious tasting hall with its own cocktail bar and fully stocked kitchen - soon, we hear, to be replaced by an even bigger and presumably more Luxe version being built opposite!

We felt truly honoured to be the first non-winery people to taste the 2021 vintage, including the Grand Cru (Grosses Gewächs) wines, from those stunning vineyards we’d toured an hour earlier. The Rhinegau style is leaner than the Nahe, with piercingly high acidity, but despite their overly youthful vibrancy the wines showed their sense of place brilliantly. Jan makes it clear in his very modest way that the 2021 wines are some of the very best he has seen, and expectations for their future development are very high indeed. We also tasted the enormously successful Eins Zwei Dry labelled wines, which are a masterstroke of design and winemaking (and perhaps even a touch of wizardry to work around the strict labelling controls of the VDP who control such things so tightly in Germany). The Magic Mountain Riesling which uses fruit from across the better sites is delicious and superb value given the pedigree. While the Drachenstein ‘Dragon Stone’ Riesling lifts the sweetness level ever so slightly for the first time and is also excellent.

With palettes firmly satiated from a delicious tasting, the team were then back to Johannes’s house for a dip in the Leitz-branded pool, a beer or two, a BBQ, and (naturally) a glass of Riesling or three. Before the evening’s entertainment, we were allowed to visit the Grand Cru wines that are aging beautifully in the cellar right below his house. The very suburban setting does not prepare you for the sight of these old fudras casks, but such is Johannes’s control on this business he has run since his early 20’s that nothing really surprises. Despite the day job he even has time for a side project growing 60 varieties of tomato, and helping his daughter open a flower shop - something of a tradition in the Leitz family.

The significance of Leitz on the German wine market, and especially on the Rhinegau cannot be underestimated; The second largest family owed producer in Germany no less, which has grown since Johnannes took over, from 4 hectares to 165 hectares in 2022. This is before we even consider the excellent non-alcoholic wines which are taking the world by storm. By way of demonstration, on the train back across Germany we noted that even the onboard bar serves the Eins Zwei Dry Riesling!