Weingut Joseph Leitz

Leitz has changed. Last time I visited they were based in a biggish house at the top of the village. They hugely annoyed the neighbours during harvest and bottling times and were very restricted in what they could do. No longer. Now based just outside town in a brand new and shiny warehouse and office complex (that`s already slated for expansion) it is as though they`ve been freed from their previous confinement to fly. The investment has been enormous with the latest in bottling and labelling, boxing and palletising machines freeing staff for more interesting jobs. Now, as well as the stunning single vineyard wines that we buy, they use bought-in fruit to make - among other things five, yes 5 - non-alcoholic wines. Yet in those core Rheingau sites they have also spent huge amounts of cash in the vineyards restoring terraces, looking after wild areas as well as husbanding their top cliffside vineyards. These wines are as characterful as they`ve ever been and as long-lived. Even the Magic Mountain bottling has a good ten years in it. (CW 22/06/18)