Lindsay du Vin

Weingut Josef Leitz in Rüdesheim am Rhein, Germany

Germany’s 2011 Winzer des Jahres won’t be found working in a majestic castle, nor some quaint farmhouse nestled among rolling vineyards and winding country roads. Like most of the nation’s winemakers, he resides in a modest multi-story home within a residential neighborhood that’s all of a stone’s throw away from the local drugstore, several discount supermarkets and a grammar school. His name is Johannes Leitz and he hails from the winemaking village of Rüdesheim am Rhein (just a 50 minute drive west of Frankfurt, along the Rhine River).

On a side note: this is what I love about most German wineries—they are so unassuming (and so easy to get to). Though a car may be necessary to reach some of the country’s smallest villages, most feature a train station from which all you have to do is literally walk down the street and before long you’re bound to see a row of houses on which several have the words “Weingut XYZ” written promptly across the exterior wall.

Weingut Josef Leitz is no exception (though do expect to walk up a fairly steep hill if you choose to come by train and foot). The day I visited the winery was literally two days after it was publically announced that Gault Millau’s Weinguide Deutschland (Wine Guide of Germany) had awarded it with the title “Winemaker of the Year” for its 2011 edition.  After hearing the news, my friends and I were unsure if we’d even be able to stop by. However, after calling all of 20 minutes in advance to let them know we were coming, an impromptu visit proved to be no problem at all.  

Gault Millau

Gault Millau originated in 1965 as a French restaurant guide founded by the critics Henri Gault and Christian Millau. It has since expanded to cover restaurants in other European countries (namely Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Benelux region), as well as regional wines. In Germany, the Gault Millau Weinguide Deutschland will not list all of the country’s wineries—just what it deems to be the best wineries. The 2011 edition includes reviews from 938 wineries, of which the crème de la crème are further distinguished with one or more grape symbols (only a handful of wineries ever achieve the highest ranking of “five grapes”).

In addition to offering reviews and rankings, the Gault Millau also distinguishes producers by annually granting the following titles:

• Winemaker of the Year
• Newcomer of the Year
• Collection of the Year
• Discovery of the Year

The guide also awards producers making exceptional wines within individual categories, such as “best Kabinett”, “best Spätlese”, “best sparkling wine”, “best Pinot Noir”, etc.  

Visiting the Winery

Upon arriving I was expecting balloons, cameras, a circus-like atmosphere… but on the contrary, things were surprisingly calm. We parked across the street since it was trash day and didn’t want to get in the way of the garbage bins. We then walked up the driveway and were greeted by a very friendly employee who escorted us to the tasting room. She said the day before was a lot crazier, so our timing must have been perfect.

LEITZ's tasting room

Our guide seated us in a very modern tasting room with full-length windows overlooking the backyard. We were handed the 2010 price list featuring only Riesling wines with the exception of a Pinot Noir Rosé. The list itself was divided into the following categories: Weine aus Hanglagen (wines from sloping vineyards); Weine aus Steillagen (wines from steep vineyards); Edelsüße Raritäten (noble sweet rarities); and Sekt (sparkling wine). As you can imagine, LEITZ puts a lot of emphasis on its terrain, particularly its individual vineyard sites.

Most of the wines we tried were from the 2009 vintage, of which several were marked as having been ausgetrunken or “already consumed” (usually you read the wine’s been ausverkauft or “sold out”, but in the case of LEITZ, these wines were “drunk out”). We weren’t able to try the noble sweet wines, but that didn’t matter since LEITZ is best known for its dry Rieslings, anyways.

As would be expected, the wines were quite young, though I would consider the entry-level EINS-ZWEI-DRY (a dry, fruity Riesling packaged for the export market) to be in the “drink now” stage. Otherwise, the single vineyard Rieslings we tried could definitely benefit from some more aging. However, to give a very general, overall consensus on these wines, I would consider them to be fruity first (mandarin was the key flavor we picked up on) followed by the zesty minerality German Rieslings are known for. Though young, these wines were flavorful, well-balanced and often with a long, refreshing finish.

At the end of the tasting, we also had the good fortune of meeting Eva Fricke, LEITZ’s Cellarmaster and Operations Manager. Eva is originally from Bremen in Northern Germany (in other words, not from a wine background), but decided to study winemaking at Germany’s Geisenheim university after having interned on a vineyard in South Africa. In addition to working for LEITZ, she has also been producing her own wines since the 2006 vintage.

Weingut Josef Leitz

The property today is run by Johannes Leitz (age 46), who took over the family business in 1985 and grew it from 2.9 hectares to its present size of 40 hectares. The winery has been in the Leitz family since 1744, though it was completely destroyed during the Second World War and later rebuilt by Johannes’s grandfather, Josef. It was briefly operated by his father, Antonius, who died early when Johannes was just 14 months old. His mother had to rely on income from her flower business to keep the winery afloat until Johannes was old enough to take over at the age of 21.

Here are a few more tidbits:

• 2011 Gault Millau Winzer des Jahres (Winemaker of the Year)
• 39.8 hectares (98 acres) located in Germany’s Rheingau region
• 100% Riesling (that Pinot Noir Rosé I mentioned is produced from purchased grapes)
• Produces 400,000 bottles/year or 31,000 9L cases
• 90% of all production is exported (largely to the U.S., followed by Scandinavia, the U.K. and a little to Asia)
• Hilly vineyard sites: Magdalenenkreuz, Bischofberg, Kirchenpfad, Klosterlay, Drachenstein
• Steep vineyard sites: Berg Schlossberg, Berg Rottland, Berg Roseneck, Berg Kaisersteinfels
• Soils: ranging from red and grey slate, to quartzite, loam and clay
• Well-known LEITZ fans include Woody Allen and the King of Norway

If you know a little German, then you’ll understand the term Schwarzriesling literally translates to “black Riesling”. From there it’s easy to assume that this grape variety is a relative of Germany’s acclaimed Riesling. However, that is not true—Schwarzriesling is in fact Pinot Meunier (best known as one of the three main grapes authorized in Champagne production).

However, in the southern wine regions of Germany (namely Württemberg, Baden, Rheinhessen and Pfalz) the grape is often produced as a varietal wine. I’ve had several opportunities to taste Schwarzriesling, but it was just this past weekend during a visit to Wein & Sektgut Hummel (located in the Kraichgau region of Baden—or say, a 20 minute drive south of Heidelberg) I learned the origin of its name.

When tasting Schwarzriesling two things are quite apparent: 1) it’s a red wine and 2) it’s quite acidic—and it is this naturally high acidity (an attribute that Riesling is well-known for) which only logically lead the locals to consider this red variety as being the ”darker Riesling.” 

So what does Schwarzriesling taste like? In general, I find it to be on the light side (definately lacking the complexity of its Pinot Noir cousin), but soft on the palate with a rather tart, fruity flavor such as cranberry or sour cherry …and yes, you’ll definately notice a lot of acidity, which may be a bit unexpected for a red wine—hence, the name ”black Riesling”.

Source: Bernd Hummel, Owner of Wine & Sektgut Hummel

Yesterday I attended one of the most exciting tastings I have yet to experience. It was the annual Weinforum Rheinhessen (or “Rheinhessen Wine Forum”) which, as you may guess from the title, is focused on showcasing the wines from the Rheinhessen region.

Sadly, I think the Rheinhessen region still suffers a bit from the infamous Liebfraumilch image (think Blue Nun). However, I’ve been living here now for almost two months and 1) I have yet to encounter the dubious plonk and 2) I am never, ever bored with the wide diversity of wines that come from this region. Every time I turn around, I am confronted with yet another grape crossing or a new take on an old favorite (such as a Pinot Blanc/Pinot Gris cuvée) or a “Riesling horizontal” (if you will) demonstrating the grape’s expression from varying soils such as limestone, Rotliegend (compacted clay/sandstone with iron), loam…

Honestly, it must be fun to be a winemaker in Rheinhessen because these wineries are always coming up with new wines. Like with most German wine, the majority that is produced here is sold in the domestic market and I’ve been told that both the trade and consumers are always seeking “something new”, which leads to all this experimentation. As for yesterday’s tasting, I honestly felt like a kid in a candy shop—there was such a wide assortment of wines to try. In fact, I didn’t even taste any Riesling [gasp]. I had just returned from a Rheingau tasting the day before where the selection was mostly Riesling and honestly, I had enough (no offense towards Riesling, but I’m a person who likes variety and therefore was looking to try something different—fortunately, I came to the right place).

Help yourself to some Rheinhessen red wine

The tasting was split into two levels, with the red and sparkling wines on the ground floor, and the white and sweet wines upstairs. For the most part, it was a “help yourself” tasting, which meant you didn’t have to wait around for someone to give you a pour (somehow, I can’t ever imagine seeing the honor system employed at a consumer tasting in the U.S.). Also, all the wines were organized by category (generally by grape variety and sometimes by color or sweetness level).

I started upstairs with the (mainly) dry white wines, then finished downstairs with the reds and bubblies. Sadly, I didn’t manage to taste the sweet wines (I think my tasting limit is three hours, esp. since I didn’t want to find myself later that evening wandering aimlessly through Mainz in search of the Hauptbahnhof…)

So, here are my basic impressions, which I hope will give you a general understanding of what Rheinhessen wine is about:

• Burgunder, Burgunder: Germany really needs to start promoting its white Pinots (Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris). I’ve tasted plenty of both now, which are very common in Rheinhessen. A good Pinot Blanc or Weissburgunder is refreshing with lots of Mediterranean fruit―no, not tropical―I mean Mediterranean, e.g. mandarin, persimmon, mirabelle (yellow plum), etc. As for Pinot Gris or Grauburgunder, these wines tend to be a bit more earthy—I have found the best expressions to be those harvested at Spätlese level (which means more concentrated flavor) and fermented dry.
• Morio-Muskat Kabinett: This was my favorite white wine selection. Morio-Muskat (or Morio Muscat) is yet another adventurous German crossing supposedly between Silvaner and Pinot Blanc (though others claim it is Silvaner x Muscat). This particular wine from Weingut Kurt Erbeldinger u. Sohn definitely had the Muscat flavors matched perfectly with a slight sweetness.
• Even more white grapes: I repeat, the variety was endless. There were wines from more traditional varieties like Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay (and of course, Riesling), to traditional German varieties such as Silvaner and Müller-Thurgau/Rivaner, as well as more obscure varieties like Gelber Muskateller, Kerner, Huxelrebe…
• I Heart St. Laurent: St. Laurent is a red grape variety originally from France (a member of the Pinot family―Pinot grapes in general do very well here) that I am consistently running into. I would say that it is becoming one of my favorite Rheinhessen red wines. The tasting featured two St. Laurent wines, both of which were delicious: fruity (I would go with raspberry tart) and good acidity, which makes St. Laurent wine very food-friendly.
• Don’t knock Dornfelder: I’ve encounted a few people who tend to make fun of this grape variety. Perhaps it’s plagued as being some cheap, entry-level red wine, but Dornfelder does have the ability to express itself quite nicely. It’s grown frequently in Rheinhessen and this tasting offered several nice examples. The best ones displayed cherry pie flavors, along with some cinnamon/nutmeg notes. In fact, I found the best Dornfelder (’09 Dornfelder Spätlese Trocken from Weingut Hans Hermann Buscher) to have an intense fruitiness that I’d normally find in a Red Zin.
• ‘Vorsprung Durch Technik’ (esp. in regards to engineering new grape varieties): Leave it to the country that brought you Audi, BMW and Mercedes to also deliver such intricacies as Müller-Thurgau, Dornfelder and Kerner. What has become obvious here is that Germans love creating new grape varieties. There seems to be this ongoing pursuit to breed the perfect match between fruit and climate, particularly lately in regards to red wines. At this tasting alone, I encountered yet two more red wine crosses: Cabernet Dorsa (Cabernet Sauvignon x Dornfelder) and Regent [(Silvaner x Müller-Thurgau) x Chambourcin]. Yes, things can get very technical indeed. Of the two, I was quite impressed by the Regent—very dark in color (inky purple) with lots of black fruit and a characteristic silky mouthfeel.
• Barrique vs. Holzfass: Since red wine for the most part is only a fairly recent phenomenon in Germany, most winemakers are just beginning to experiment with barrel-aging. The tasting made a good point of this by dividing the red wines into two categories: 1) Those that received no oak aging or were aged in traditional Holzfass (oak containers often significantly larger than the usual 225L barrels that are re-used year after year until kaputt) and 2) wines aged in traditional French oak barrels. It was interesting to see how the wines took to the barrique-aging. Overall, I found most of the red wines (namely Spätburgunder, aka. Pinot Noir) to be too delicate to withstand barrique-aging and generally found the extra oak contact to overpower the wine. However, the one red wine that seemed to benefit from being in barrique was indeed the Regent. It was an ’08 Regent QBA Trocken that I sampled from Weingut Bungert-Mauer—not bad at all. In fact, this particular wine reminded me very much of an ’09 Bordeaux barrel-sample: smooth finesse, full of black fruit flavor, but still young.
  

  Rheinhessen Wine Queen crown

• Wine Royalty Everywhere: What colored this tasting even more was that everywhere you turned you were bound to spot a Wine Princess, or maybe even a Wine Queen. They were easy to distinguish by their golden crown imprinted with metallic grape vines. I really would love to have such a crown as a souvenir, but I don’t believe they’re for sale.