Page 39 - DiVin022017

100 years
of the Scheurebe
The Scheurebe was rst recognised by winemakers in the 50s. In line with consumers‘ tastes at the time, vintners primarily produced Beerenauslesen and Trockenbeerenauslesen wines. In the 70s, around 1,800 hectares of German vineyards
were planted with the Scheurebe.
In the subsequent decades,
the increasing demand for
dry wines led to a signi-
cant reduction in the
area of vineyards
being planted
with the Scheu-
rebe. Nowadays,
this trend has
been reversed.
Younger wine
drinkers, in
particular, are
once again
looking for
varieties with
a rich bouquet.
With 26,560
hectares, the
Rhine-Hesse re-
gion is the largest
area in Germany for
wine-growing, and,
with 770 hectares co-
vered with the Scheure-
be vine, the world-leading
region for this grape variety. The
Palatinate is in second place with 355
hectares, followed by Franconia with 136 hectares, Nahe with 108 hectares and Baden-Württemberg with 50 hectares.
In 2016, specialist Mainz-based publishing house Dr. Fraund took the opportunity of using the 100- year anniversary of the Scheurebe to award the rst international Scheurebe Prize, pushing the wine into the spotlight. With 191 vintners from Rhine-Hesse there was strong representation from the Scheure- be‘s homeland, as expected. This was followed by the Palatinate with 91, Franconia with 62, Austria with 38, and Switzerland with 2. In addition, all other German wine-growing regions were represented in the competition by at least one winemaker.
Wines with character
The Scheurebe ripens late and requires good soil. When ripe, its berries are pale to golden yellow. The grape variety usually leads to wines with distinctive acidity and great depth of aroma. These aromas
range from blackcurrant to grapefruit, from passionfruit and peach to mango. The piquant, full-blooded acidity combines harmoniously with the residual sweetness to create a full-bodied wine.
In honour of Georg Scheu
Since 2010, the town of Alzey, the district of Alzey-Worms, the Vintners‘ Syndicate and the Alzey Allge- meine Zeitung have awarded a viticulture prize. The viticulture pri- ze is the high point in the cultural life of the town of Alzey: the Georg Scheu Plaque is awarded following a repre- sentative wine tasting at the Alzey Wine Festival (third weekend
in September).
Previous winners: Dr. Rainer Brüderle, former
Minister of the Economy of Rhineland-Palatinate; Udo van Kampen, former head of the ZDF Europe studio in Brussels; Norbert Blüm, Labour Minister (retired), Prof. Dr. Jürgen Stark, former member of the Board of Directors of the European Central Bank, Dr. Dr. Cardinal Karl Lehmann, former Bishop of Mainz; Karl-Heinz Kipp, founder of Masaa markets, Dr. Dieter Wedel, director; Markus Schächter, former Director of ZDF; Walter Plathe, actor; Horst Lichter, television chef; Roberto Blanco, singer; Lars Radhakrishnan, cabaret artist; Petra Roth, Lord Mayor of the City of Frankfurt (retired); Hans-Ulrich Jörges, Member of the Editorial Board of the magazine Stern; Joschka Fischer, German Foreign Minister (retired); Silvia Neid, former trainer of the women‘s national football team.
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