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The Scheurebe is celebrating its renaissance
This illustrates what Dr. Otmar Bauer said at the beginning about the fate of vine growers: while Georg Scheu was recognised by his colleagues and vintners during his lifetime for his new varieties, the of cial registration of his grape varieties was only completed after his death.
„Scheu‘s favourite“
Scheu‘s greatest success came in 1916 with the „Sämling 88“ grape, which was only named many years later. Even today, in the region where Scheu carried out his work, the region of Rhine-Hesse, people smirk a little when discussing how „Sämling 88“ got its name. Vintners would have been happy to call the new variety „Scheu‘s favourite“ — which the vine certainly was. Georg Scheu vehemently rejected this. He knew how much the people of Rhine-Hesse liked to use their dialect in an un at-
tering way. And in Rhine-Hesse, people like to drop the nal syllable of a word, and change „eu“ to „ei“. As a result, Scheu was worried that his vine might end up being „Scheis favourite“, sounding like a German expletive.
Scheu‘s double mistake
The Scheurebe would almost have vanished wi- thout a trace. Georg Scheu always assumed that his crossbreeding that would go on to enjoy the most success was a cross between a Riesling and a Silvaner. Recent subsequent investigations using DNA technology have discovered that it is a cross between a Riesling and a Bukettraube. Scheu‘s second mistake almost led to the demise of his Scheurebe. Although the grower was always convinced of the quality, the ne bouquet and the strong acidity of the
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