Leo Dirringer

About

Owner & winemaker: Léo Dirringer
Vineyards: 13ha, 10 of which are his family’s vineyards and 3 of which are rented
Vineyard management: Organic
Soils: Predominantly granitic sand
Grapes grown: Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Sylvaner, Muscat
Annual production: 65,000 bottles

Quick facts:

• Léo took over the family winery, Ruhlmann-Dirringer, in 2017, but he bottles his line of organically-farmed natural wines under his own name, Léo Dirringer.
• The wines are made with no additives, including sulfur.

The Dirringer family has been growing grapes in Alsace since the 17th century. Léo’s grandfather was the first to start selling bottled wines in the 1960s, and Léo took over the family winery, Ruhlmann-Dirringer, in 2017. A bottle of Ganevat opened his eyes to the possibilities of natural wines, so he began to experiment with bottling a separate line of organically-farmed, low-intervention wines under his own name.

The vineyards are planted on very sandy soils, which give the wines their characteristic minerality and finesse, but in hot, dry years, like so many lately, the yields are tiny. “I want to make wines that are fresh, saline, and digeste,” Léo tells us. To that end, the grapes are harvested early, then undergo short macerations or are pressed directly. The wines are vinified with no additives, including sulfur.