JOHANNES LEITZ

VDP.WEINGUT
LEITZ

“WE BELIEVE IN THE HANDS-OFF PRINCIPLE!”

JOHANNES LEITZ SPEAKS ABOUT HIS WINES AND HIS WINE ESTATE IN RÜDESHEIM

Leitz

Theodor-Heuss-Straße 5
65385 Rüdesheim am Rhein

Phone+49 (0)6722/9999100
Fax+49 (0)6722/999999
eMailjohannes.leitz@leitz-wein.de
Office Hours
Mo-Fr 8.00-12.00, 13.00-17.00 sowie nach Vereinbarung
Owner

Johannes Leitz

Cellarmaster

Manuel Zuffer

Member Since

1996

Wine Area

104,10 acres

Grape Variety

99% Riesling, 1% Spätburgunder

VDP: What is so special about your winery?

Johannes Leitz: What is special about our winery are the wines from the VDP.GROSSEN LAGE® vineyards on the Rüdesheimer Mountain and the monopole vineyard ROSENGARTEN in Rüdesheim. This vineyard is walled in the heart of Rüdesheim and surrounds the historic Brömserburg.

VDP: What is your winery philosophy?

Johannes Leitz: We believe in the hands-off principle! That means moving the wines as little as possible and to protecting them from oxygen influence to let them develop their own character.

 

VDP: For which wine style do you strive? Do you have a favourite grape variety?

Johannes Leitz: My favourite grape variety is quite clearly Riesling, which we vinify according to the respective terroir in order to preserve its intrinsic character.

VDP: Which of your wines would you recommend to someone who does not yet know your winery – as an introduction, so to speak?

Johannes Leitz: The liquid calling card of our winery is the Eins Zwei Dry, a dry Rheingau Riesling. Juicy, animating  and easy-drinking with harmonious acidity.

 

“AS A WINEGROWER, I WORK TOGETHER WITH THE BECOMING OF WINE, AS A SUPPORTER, A MENTOR.”

VDP: Of which wine are you particularly proud?

Johannes Leitz: Of the VDP.GROSSE LAGE® BERG KAISERSTEINFELS Riesling GG, a wine with incredible minerality and depth paired with great fragrance.

VDP: Why did you become a vintner?

Johannes Leitz: After my father’s untimely death, my mother kept the family winery alive for me with her flower shop. At the age of 21, I started from scratch and became acquainted with the term ‘terroir’, which was alien to me. This philosophy aroused my interest and was the incentive for me to produce wines the way I do today.

VDP: Do you have role models?

Johannes Leitz: The role model of my youth was Bernhard Breuer and his visions for German viticulture.

 

BERG ROTTLAND
Riesling GG
VDP.GROSSE LAGE®

VDP: What are your next goals?

Johannes Leitz: To firmly establish Riesling on the restaurant menus of this world.

VDP: How do you combine tradition and innovation?

Johannes Leitz: For me, tradition means making wine as genuinely and authentically as possible and leaving it time to mature. At our winery, innovations are more concerned with marketing methods and social media.

VDP: Why should people visit your winery?

Johannes Leitz: The steep slopes of the Rüdesheim Mountain are near our winery. My favourite place there is the Kaisersteinfels vineyard, where we were allowed to recultivate old terraced sites. From there, you have an incomparable panoramic view of the course of the Rhine River and the three wine-growing regions Rheinhessen, Nahe and Rheingau.

VDP: What would you compare to making wine?

Johannes Leitz: Personally, I don’t like the word ‘winemaking’, because to me that means imposing my will on the genesis of a wine. That is not my philosophy. As a winegrower, I work together with the wine becoming, so to speak as a supporter, a mentor.