Mosel Producers

“Altenberg is as steep as the Matterhorn,” Gunter Jauch likes to say, adding that “it’s a 65% grade from the foot to the summit.” Von Othegraven is a leading winery of the Saar producing Riesling exclusively from grand cru sites of Devonian slate soils. Since 2010, the owner is Günther Jauch, the quizmaster, and host of “Wer Wird Millionar?”, the German version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” Jauch lives in Berlin with his wife Thea and might be viewed by some as an outsider, but the couple had the inside track when the previous owner, Dr. Heidi Kegel, Jauch’s relative, decided to sell. Günther Jauch, whose grandmother was born a von Othegraven, is now the seventh generation of his family to own the estate. Von Othegraven was a founding member of the Association of German Natural Wine Auctioneers, today’s Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter (VDP), and has been producing benchmark Saar wines since the early 19th century. All of Von Othegraven’s vineyards are VDP.Grosse Lage (grand cru). Typical of the Saar, they are incredibly steep, south-facing, and feature Devonian slate intermixed with Rotliegend (iron-infused slate). The signature site of Von Othegraven is the Kanzemer Altenberg, a vineyard you cannot miss when standing in the estate’s charming English garden. “Altenberg is as steep as the Matterhorn,” Jauch likes to say, adding that “it’s a 65% grade from the foot to the summit.” It is also the longest steep slope in Germany at 250 meters long. Steep and south-facing with slate and Rotliegend soil applies to the other grand crus of Wawerner Herrenberger (a Monopol) and Wiltinger Kupp. The vineyard that breaks the mold is the famous Ockfener Bockstein, one of the classic vineyards of the Saar, with silver-grey slate in a south-facing amphitheater. Even Riesling Max, the basic Gutswein Riesling of Von Othegraven, hails from the grand crus Altenberg and Herrenberg. Von Othegraven is one of the rare wineries to produce consistent quality despite several generations of family succession. Max von Othegraven took over the estate in 1921 and made a vintage for the ages that year. More recently, Jauch’s predecessor, Dr. Heidi Kegel, elevated the winery to new heights before turning over winemaking to Andreas Barth, then to the talented Sven Klinger in the summer of 2021. Under Sven’s direction, quality has soared, and Von Othegraven received Vinum Magazine’s German Winemaker of the Year award in 2023. the fermentation is spontaneous with natural yeasts, and he likes to give them the time they need to clarify and stabilize in stainless steel tanks and large neutral oak casks. Prädikatsweine and dry wines receive the same, unadulterated, very reduced treatment without the superfluous use of technology. The wines are bottled unfined.