Germany · Rheingau

Weingut Leitz

Rüdesheim Riesling from steep Rheingau slopes, where named vineyards and long lees ageing shape dry wines with acidity, texture and grip.

The producer

Weingut Leitz is a family estate in Rüdesheim, Rheingau, with winegrowing roots reaching back to 1744. Johannes Leitz took responsibility in 1985 after master-vintner training, when the estate held 2.9 hectares. It now reports 90 hectares across the Rheingau, including 18 hectares of closely worked Rüdesheim steep slopes; his son Antonius also works at the estate.

Riesling is the key to the dry named-vineyard wines. Berg Rottland’s south-facing 33% slope sits on slate rubble, while south-facing Berg Roseneck reaches 50% and is largely worked by cable-pull equipment. The 2023 Berg Roseneck GG Katerloch spends roughly 18 months on lees, bringing aromatic fruit, firm acidity, phenolic grip and a textured middle to a dry finish.

Known for

Dry, vineyard-designated Rüdesheim Riesling from steep slopes.

Notable facts

The story

From 2.9 hectares

In 1985, after completing his master-vintner training, Johannes Leitz took responsibility for the family estate with 2.9 hectares of vineyards. The family had grown wine since 1744, but the winery he inherited carried a more recent family history too: his grandfather Josef had rebuilt it after its destruction during the Second World War. From that small vineyard base, Johannes developed the estate into the producer-reported 90 hectares now spread across the Rheingau, including 18 hectares of Rüdesheim steep slopes receiving particular attention. His son Antonius now works at the estate, alongside vineyards such as Berg Rottland and Berg Roseneck whose names appear on its dry Riesling labels.

From the atlas

Weingut Leitz

At A Glance

Weingut Leitz is a family estate in Rüdesheim in Germany’s Rheingau, where Riesling is worked into dry, vineyard-designated wines from steep slopes. Johannes Leitz took charge in 1985 with 2.9 hectares; the estate now reports 90 hectares across the Rheingau, including 18 hectares of closely attended Rüdesheim steep slopes.

Its leading dry-wine vineyards are Berg Schlossberg, Berg Rottland, Berg Roseneck and Berg Kaisersteinfels. Start with their names on the label: here, the vineyard is a direct clue to the slope, ground and shape of the Riesling in the bottle.

The Producer

Winegrowing has been part of the Leitz family since 1744. Johannes Leitz assumed responsibility after master-vintner training in 1985, when the estate was small enough for 2.9 hectares to define its vineyard base; the present scale places more Rüdesheim sites in the cellar while keeping Riesling and dry named-vineyard wines at the centre. His son Antonius now works at the estate, extending the family connection into another generation.

The useful thread through the range is not a house style detached from place, but Riesling shaped by individual Rüdesheim slopes. A Berg Roseneck label points to a south-facing, exceptionally steep site; a Berg Rottland label points to another south-facing slope with slate rubble under vine roots.

Place

Rüdesheim sits in the Rheingau, and Leitz’s key dry Rieslings carry the names of its local hills. This matters because Berg Rottland and Berg Roseneck are not interchangeable addresses: their south exposures and gradients bring warmth and demand physical work, while Riesling supplies the acidity that keeps the wines dry and structured.

A vineyard name therefore does more than narrow the origin. On a bottle such as Berg Roseneck GG Katerloch, it joins Riesling to a particular steep slope, then to extended lees ageing; the result is a dry wine with acidity, phenolic grip and texture rather than a generic regional Riesling.

Soil And Site

Berg Rottland starts at Rüdesheim’s western edge. It faces south, averages a 33% slope and grows over slate-rubble soils. The southern exposure and broken stony ground put a dry Riesling in a site where ripeness must still meet Riesling’s acidity, while the slope makes the site itself a practical part of farming.

Berg Roseneck faces south and reaches gradients of 50%. Much of it is cultivated with cable-pull equipment, a necessity created by the incline rather than a decorative detail. That physical setting sits behind the Katerloch bottling: Riesling from a hill where cultivation and harvest cannot be treated like flat-land work.

Story

The winery Johannes Leitz inherited was also a rebuilt one. His grandfather Josef had rebuilt it after its destruction during the Second World War; decades later, Johannes took responsibility in 1985 with 2.9 hectares after completing his training. The estate’s growth to its current producer-reported 90 hectares changed the number of vineyards under its care, but the defining bottles remain tied to named Rüdesheim slopes rather than a blended estate label.

That arc is visible in the dry Rieslings. Berg Rottland, Berg Roseneck, Berg Schlossberg and Berg Kaisersteinfels give the estate several distinct hillside sources, and the two documented bottlings show how Leitz takes the site name seriously enough to keep it on the front of a dry Riesling.

Vineyards And Cellar

The steepest sites require a vineyard response before the grapes reach the cellar. Berg Roseneck’s cable-pull cultivation follows its 50% inclines, while Berg Rottland’s south-facing 33% slope and slate-rubble soils set a different physical frame for the vines. In both cases, vineyard work is inseparable from the dry Riesling that follows: slopes and ground determine the fruit available for a named-site wine.

In the cellar, the documented example is the 2023 Berg Roseneck GG Katerloch, which spends roughly 18 months on lees. Lees are the spent yeast cells left after fermentation; keeping wine with them can build texture and broaden the palate without turning a dry Riesling sweet. Here that extended contact supports a wine expected to open further with maturity, while its acidity and phenolic structure remain part of the frame.

Wines

Leitz’s top dry-wine sites are Berg Schlossberg, Berg Rottland, Berg Roseneck and Berg Kaisersteinfels. The named sites establish the upper dry Riesling range, but two bottles have especially clear support: 2023 Berg Roseneck GG Katerloch and 2019 Berg Rottland GG Hinterhaus. Both are dry Rieslings from Rüdesheim, yet they approach structure by different routes.

Katerloch brings Berg Roseneck’s steep south-facing setting together with roughly 18 months of lees ageing, producing an aromatic dry Riesling with acidity, phenolic grip and a textured palate. Hinterhaus is a Berg Rottland interpretation with lees-derived structure, so its dry Riesling profile rests on a different hill: south exposure, a 33% average slope and slate-rubble soils. These are site wines, not merely two labels at different price points.

In The Glass

Berg Roseneck GG Katerloch 2023 begins with aroma, then moves through dry fruit, acidity and phenolic texture rather than sweetness. Its extended lees ageing adds body and a broader middle, while the acidity keeps the finish firm. The wine is built to gain radiance with age, so its grip and texture should be read as structure for development rather than softness.

Berg Rottland GG Hinterhaus 2019 takes a different route. Its documented lees-derived structure gives the dry Riesling weight and palate presence, while Riesling acidity keeps the finish active. Put beside Katerloch, it is the useful contrast: one wine joins a 50% Roseneck slope to long lees contact; the other brings Rottland’s slate-rubble hillside into a more established site interpretation.

A Bottle To Understand It

Choose the 2023 Berg Roseneck GG Katerloch. It is dry Riesling from a south-facing Rüdesheim slope that reaches 50%, a vineyard cultivated largely by cable-pull equipment, then aged on lees for roughly 18 months. Expect aroma, dry fruit, acidity, phenolic grip and a textured body, with a firm finish rather than residual sweetness. This bottle puts the steep hill, Riesling and the cellar’s long lees work into one glass.

Anecdote

In 1985, after completing his master-vintner training, Johannes Leitz took responsibility for the family estate with 2.9 hectares of vineyards. The family’s winegrowing history already reached back to 1744, and the winery itself had been rebuilt by Johannes’s grandfather Josef after its destruction during the Second World War. Johannes worked from that small vineyard base into the estate now reported at 90 hectares across the Rheingau, including 18 hectares of Rüdesheim steep slopes receiving particular attention. His son Antonius now works at the estate as well, alongside the vineyards whose names appear on the dry Riesling labels.

Final Word

Look for the vineyard name before looking for a broad Rheingau impression. Berg Roseneck Katerloch shows how steep-slope Riesling and long lees ageing can bring acidity, body and phenolic grip into the same dry bottle; Berg Rottland Hinterhaus takes a separate hillside route through slate rubble and lees-derived structure.

Sources

Open Weingut Leitz in the interactive map →