In his youth, Dirk Würtz studied business economics, politics and linguistics. Later, he spent some time studying the advantages of a life lived in front of and behind a number of bar counters in the Mainz area, which kept him quite busy. It was only later that a friend of the family introduced Würtz, by means of an extremely old Bordeaux, to a virus that is unlikely to give him any rest for the remainder of his life. When Würtz's partner in life told him about a temporary position for a practical assistant that was available at the Weil estate in Kiedrich, he really had no choice: he applied, was given the position, and given a permanent appointment. From 1996 to 2001 he was, together with a team, among those responsible for the Rieslings of this world-famous Rheingau estate. Then it was time to move out on his own. Würtz leased the old Königsmühle at Gau-Odernheim, along with approximately 6 ha of vines, partly in excellent vineyard sites in Uelversheim. While he was still working out his notice at Weil, he was already busy making his first own wines in his spare time. It was a fortuitous coincidence that provided him with the advice of Hubertus Weinmann of the Jakob Neumer winery in Uelversheim, who is an excellent vineyard manager – he worked some of the vineyard parcels himself, but also consulted those owners who had leased their vineyards to Würtz, and oversaw their work. Right from the word go, Würtz had but one objective: to make great wines. He could not care less about vineyard designations, the legal distinctions allowed on the label, or any other technical descriptive gobbledegook. Faithful to the Bordeaux principles, whose wines he so admires, he has only two grape varieties – Pinot Noir and Riesling – and of each he produces a first and a second wine. First label wines will only be produced when he deems the quality good enough, thus not necessarily in each vintage. Hackneyed phrases such as "the quality is made in the vineyard" will only be uttered by Dirk Würtz if under threat of violent attack. Of course, however, he fully understands and supports the real background of this phrase. All 6 hectares of his leased vineyard are worked according to environmentally sound, ecological principles. His yields are so low that many of his colleagues consider him to be quite crazy. With all the intensity of activity in the vineyards, the policy in the cellar is one of minimum intervention. The musts are mainly fermented by means of natural yeasts, are then drawn off with the lees, and are left until bottling, if possible without any further pumping or intervention. Fining and filtration, too, are either kept to a minimum, or omitted completely. The result can be seen in the incredibly expressive , characterful wines, with deep layers of structure, and intense mineral notes. Since they do not depend on their primary fruit, and virtually no compromises are made in their production, these wines are not easy to judge in their youth. Particularly the first-label wines are very inaccessible in the first few months after bottling. Both the Riesling and the Pinot Noir need several days in a decanter to show their true potential. Given this opportunity, they will reveal an interplay of enormous power, firm mineral structure and complex expression, such as can rarely be found in Rheinhessen, or anywhere else. In his very first year of production, Dirk Würtz' excellent results have managed to attract the attention of the trade press, and indirectly also to remind the world of the almost forgotten vineyards of Uelversheim. As far as he is concerned, their potential has by far not yet been fully realized. If you know Dirk Würtz, then you will realise that there is a maniac at work here, a fanatic in the best sense of the word, who will not give up until he is satisfied that he has managed to help realise this potential fully. As far as he is concerned, he has embarked on a long journey – those who have seen his first results can look forward with anticipation to the further developments here.