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Dr. Otmar Bauer, former head Landesanstalt für Rebenzüchtung
„It is the fate of wine-makers that many are no longer around to experience the success and pre- valence enjoyed by their varieties because growing vines is not something that can be done and dusted in ve or ten years — it takes decades,“ summarises Dr. agr. Otmar Bauer. And he should know: he is one of the successors to the title of Head of the Regional Of ce for Viticulture in Alzey. He held this position from 1972 to 1997. Georg Scheu founded the „Of ce for Viticulture“ in 1909 and was at its helm until his retirement in 1947.
Among winemakers, Georg Scheu is still regarded as the most successful German vine grower. Born on 21 June 1876 in Krefeld, he rst trained as a gardener in Hanover, and switched across to the Geisenheim Research and Education Institute from 1903 to 1905. His rst encounters with the vineyards in the Rheingau were a bitter disappointment.
„When I went to Geisenheim and got into viticulture for the rst time, I was disappointed by two things. First off, I had a completely different idea of what the legendary Rhine vineyards would be like, I‘d dreamed of pergolas and garlands of vines, and came across the vines as poor, miserable things spliced together, and secondly, I was very disappointed by the hard, sour Rheingau wine, because I‘d imagined it would be full of scent and owers and ripeness.“
The fact that, over the course of the 38 years of his work in Alzey, Georg Scheu focused on aro- matic bouquet varieties when crossbreeding, can certainly be traced back to his early experiences with Rheingau wine. His new varieties were crea- ted between 1916 and 1932. During this period, his crossbreedings led to grape varieties which are now well-known: Scheurebe, Huxelrebe, Siegerrebe, Faber, Kanzler, Septimer, Würzer, Perle von Alzey, and Regner.
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