Winner trainee: Günther Jauch is not ready for doing nothing

Günther Jauch doesn’t think of quitting. He enjoys his life as a winery owner and television presenter (“Who will be a millionaire?”), Says the German Press Agency at his winery in Kanzem on the Saar. “I don’t see what should change somehow. Nothing is missing – except for the main hair that has become showered.” Lower in Rhineland-Palatinate is located southwest of Trier.

In any case, he could not imagine retirement with “eternal after work”. “For me, this is a completely wrong idea of ​​a fulfilled life if you simply have nothing to do anymore,” says the 68-year-old. He is happy about everyone who is happy with it. “But it’s not my world.” At the moment he is “still fully in the job” at RTL: “And it will be more.”

Always doing something on the winery

He also tackles at the Othegraven winery, which he took over 15 years ago. “On average, we are there for a week a month,” he says of himself and his wife Thea. “It’s nice here.” But of course there is always something to do. “It’s just an agricultural company.”

He cleans the wooden benches in the park, does a phone service in the office, talks to the workers in the vineyard and gives customers out of wine. Jauch is currently driving the drought. “It rained far too little again in spring.” The old vines would be right because they would have a 15 meter deep roots. But not the young plants. “We cannot artificially irrigate,” he says.

Jauch bought the renowned Riesling company in July 2010 because he threatened to be sold out of the family after a good 200 years. His grandmother Elsa von Othegraven was the sister of Maximilian von Othegraven, who once led the estate. As the new boss, Jauch has enlarged the winery – five hectares on 15 hectares.

“Delimated completely new world”

As a winemaker, he doesn’t see himself after all these years, he says. “Basically, I’m an eternal winemaker trainee.” He had learned a lot, but he would never talk to the cellar master. And he was not a great help in the vineyard – the workers would laugh at him, he says. “My wife and I, we get along rather than the Federal Foreign Office of the winery.”

With the winery, “a completely new world” had opened up for Jauch. How is the handling of the winemaker world compared to the television world? “Of course this is all tangible, more direct and much fun.” There is also great solidarity on the Saar. “If someone has a problem, everyone sticks together and help. It’s nice to experience something like that,” he says.

2024 was the worst year for him in the pulpit. At Pentecost, a Saar flood had flooded large parts of the estate. “The whole garden was a single lake,” said Jauch. There was also major damage in the house. In addition, the frost destroyed 70 percent of the harvest.

Season workers live with Jauchs in the house

What was the most beautiful so far? “That we brought the winery in Germany, but also internationally, again properly,” he says. They would have received the title “Winner of the Year” twice: 2023 and 2025. “These are nice moments when you notice that the hard work is also recognized.”

A lot has changed in the property with Jauch. “The entire winery was structurally and economically at the level of the 1950s,” he says. Today everything is modernized, new facilities are standing and a bottle hall is in operation. The manor house is converted so that the seasonal workers can live under one roof with Jauchs. And the large park is open to visitors.

“You have great things here!” Says a woman to Jauch when she is going through the garden with her family. They are just from Berlin for vacation in the region and wanted to stop by. “We are pleased. We also make an effort,” replies Jauch – and is ready for photos with everyone on the terrace.

Potsdam further Jauch’s first home

If Jauch wants to relax, he looks out the window or sits on the terrace. “Then I behave silently and I’m happy to live.” Or he read: biographies or other books that have a reference to reality. “I can’t do anything with fictional stories or novels.” He also doesn’t look at anything fictional on TV.

Even if Jauch as a young boy has often been with his great uncle on the winery and he describes the region as idyllic and romantic: the first home remains Potsdam. “At the moment it is not in the discussion that we are going here permanently,” he says.