Domäne Mechtildshausen is a farm and restaurant estate not far from Wiesbaden and Mainz. I could resume its essence in a few words: they grow their own organic veggies, they raise their own Charolais beef and other animals, they serve all those fresh ingredients in their restaurant, and last but not least…they have a great wine list in this restaurant with emphasis on red Burgundies, but also lots of nice whites from Rheingau, Rheinhessen and Nahe. I can only recommend this place for its solid cuisine with deliciously fresh ingredients of high quality. But let’s get back to those nice wines.



First, the 2002 Leitz Berg Rottland Spätlese Trocken was beautiful. In fact, one day after having tried the 2005 Berg Rottland Alte Reben, we could experience a slightly more aged version from this vineyard. It had an elegant peach and honey nose; on the palate also slight honey but not reminding aged wines, also the herbal weight on the palate which is typical for this vineyard apparently. In comparison to the 2005, this one appears slimmer and a tad more elegant without letting miss this incredible vibrant energy which lies within it. Here again, the finish is exceptionally long. My conclusion is that Leitz wines do definitely have a great ageing potential, but are worth being tasted both young and aged. (95 pts)



Then for embracing the Côte de Boeuf we needed an elegant red. A 2001 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Au Cras by Bruno Clavelier was our recommended candidate. It was an elegantly round Burgundy which started with a fruity nose developing towards earthy notes with some moss and underwoods scents after a while. The palate was on red fruits and quite round. A mid-weight body without any astringency but with a maybe a tad too much acidity, medium length. This was a nice red but lacking a bit of complexity and personality in order to impress. (87 pts)



Finally for dessert, we had a 1999 Pettental Riesling Auslese by Heyl zu Herrnsheim from Rheinhessen. Pettental is a vineyard in the Roter Hang next to Nierstein and is maybe one of the most singular and interesting vineyards in Germany right now, having generated some of the raciest and most thrilling Rieslings in the past decade; and improvements and surprises are still to be tasted each year. This Auslese showed a perfect Balance of acidity and sweetness. A voluptuous nose of exotic fruits like mangos, mixed with honey scents and some peach. The fruit was there on the palate also, but without being too sweet and counterbalanced by this very nice ripe acidity. This is the perfect Auslese, not one of those sticky and gluey sweet Rieslings which are clownishly plump and hurt your teeth. (92 pts)