Classic Mosel estate changes hands

David Rayer of Mosel Fine Wines, a website specalising in information about, and reviews of, the wines of that region, sends this news of changes at the von Othegraven estate.

A star German TV entertainer (Günter Jauch, for those familiar with German media) will take over the estate from Heidi Kegel in the course of 2010 (he is a distant relation of hers so it remains overall in the wider family).

There have been rumours about this sale for quite a while but now it is official as Günter Jauch was voted into the Grosser Ring / VDP [Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter, the association of top German estates this year celebrating its centenary] at a general meeting yesterday (note that it is not an estate but an individual which can be member of the VDP: this will ensure that the estate remains within the VDP despite the change of ownership).