The Josef Leitz estate is located in the town of Rüdesheim in the Rheingau wine-growing region in Germany. It has been run as a part-time business since 1744, and it was only in the 1950's that Josef Leitz concentrated exclusively on wine. Once Johannes Leitz had completed his oenology studies in Geisenheim, he took up the wine business full-time in 1985, making his first wine in that year. Since then, the vineyard area has been expanded considerably. The vineyard area today totals 72.5 acres with holdings in the following Rüdesheim (steep sloping) sites: Berg Roseneck, Berg Rottland, Berg Schlossberg, Bischofsberg, Drachenstein, Kaisersteinfels, Kirchenpfad, Klosterlay and Magdalenenkreuz. They are planted exclusively with Riesling. In combination with extremely low yields and later harvesting, these traditional methods result in long-lived wines. Johannes Leitz says he sees himself as a producer of top quality grapes to be used as raw material for wines that express the individual character of the soils. Wild yeasts are used for fermentation, which takes place in traditional alrge oak barrels as well as in stainless steel tanks. The estate is a member of the VDP (Verband deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitäts-Weingüter) association.
