German Catalog 2006 USE THIS ONE.qxp - Michael Skurnik Wines

160
scheurebe: what gives?
Um, I happen to like it, that’s what gives.
It was crossed about 80 years ago by a Mr. Georg Scheu
(hence its name). I imagine Scheu was looking for a wine
with Silvaner’s advantages (big berries and early ripening)
paired with Riesling’s structure and class. His introduction
also claimed the Scheurebe would be a Riesling-like wine
suited for sandy soils (which Riesling doesn’t especially like,
or rather Riesling growers don’t like, as the yields are mingy).
As often seems the case with crossings, the results are
oblique to the grapes crossed, i.e. there’s no linear sequence
of getting Riesling-flavors-plus-Silvaner-flavors. You end up
with new flavors you couldn’t have predicted. Scheurebe
ripens 7-10 days ahead of Riesling, and has a little less acidity,
but it’s essentially a Riesling structure, i.e. firm and citrussy.
It does indeed like sand but doesn’t give its very best
results; the wines tend to be 1-dimensionally tangerine-y.
Great Scheurebe unfolds a truly kinky panoply of flavors
and aromas. Indeed, Scheu is to Riesling what “creative”
sex is to missionary-with-the-lights-out. Start with
pink grapefruit. Add cassis; I mean pure cassis. Then add
sage leaves you just crushed between your fingertips. Then
lemon grass. If it’s extremely ripe you can talk about passion-fruit
and papaya. If it’s underripe you will certainly
talk about cat piss.
Scheurebe is capable of great finesse and stature. Yet
it’s becoming an endangered species. Why?
First, it’s been lumped together with a genre of crossings
to which it is manifestly superior. It’s the proverbial
baby being thrown out with the bath water. Then,
Scheurebe likes vineyard conditions which Riesling likes as
well. Scheu will hiss at you if you plant it in the wrong
place. This you don’t want. But by planting it in good
Riesling sites, you have a wine which fetches less money
than Riesling. Not good.
Growers who maintain their Scheurebe recognize its
beauty and uniqueness. If anything it’s almost more attractive at
table than Riesling, working with boldly flavored dishes (espe-
SCHEUREBES IN THIS OFFERING:
cially Pac Rim) for which Riesling is sometimes too demure.
Scheurebe keeps very well but doesn’t age as dramatically
as Riesling. Ten-year-old Scheu is only a little different
than 1-year-old Scheu.
Tastes differ, of course, and what’s sizzling and emphatic to
me might be blatant and vulgar to you, but we who love
Scheurebe are truly in a kind of thrall to it. It has little of Riesling’s
spiritual depth, but neither does Riesling have Scheurebe’s erotic
power. We need both for a balanced diet! Riesling may indeed
represent All That Is Fine And Good, but Scheu offers All That Is
Dirty And Fun. Scheurebe is bad for you; it’s fattening and
wicked and hair will start growing on your palms as soon as you
pull the cork. In other words, there’s no down-side . . .
The grail-keepers of Scheurebe include Lingenfelder,
Fuhrmann-Eymael and one hopes Müller-Catoir under the
new regime. I look for it wherever I can. Growers who have
discontinued Scheurebe include Meßmer (this was really
calamitous) and Dönnhoff – yes, Dönnhoff; his last vintage
was 1985, in which he made a gorgeous Auslese from a site
in Kreuznach.
Alas, the Scheurebe can be as temperamental as a highbred
feline. Yet when it deigns to accept you it knows some
moves you’ve never been shown. In 2003 it sulked in the
heat. But in 2004 it came snarling back in full kinky regalia.
Of course Scheurebe satisfies our desire to wallow in lust,
which we spir-chull guys need so’s we don’t float away on
our wisps of bliss. And so there’s little point in delicate
Scheu, or God help us subtle Scheu. If you like it at all you
like it writhing and sweaty. Yet: this does not, or need not
preclude a certain elegance, a certain stature, a certain, dare
one say . . . aristocracy? Scheu may be slutty, but it isn’t
ignoble, and I wonder whether there’s really any equivalent
in the world of wine. Certainly Scheu can overstate, sometimes
blatantly, but the thing it overstates is often marvelous
and even fine. So, sybarites, you can have it both ways.
Scheu is almost as noble as Riesling but unlike Riesling it
has the naughty bits still there!
GKF-103 2005 Kruger-Rumpf Scheurebe Kabinett
GKF-099 2005 Kruger-Rumpf Scheurebe Spätlese
GSD-035 2005 Diel Scheurebe Spätlese
GGE-009 2005 Bechtheimer Heiligkreuz Scheurebe Kabinett
GGY-046 2001 Gysler Weinheimer Scheurebe Sekt Brut "Bundle Of Scheu"
GGY-058L 2005 Gysler Weinheimer Hölle Scheurebe Halbtrocken, 1.0 Liter
GCB-068 2005 Bernhard Hackenheimer Kirchberg Scheurebe Spätlese
GMC-099 2005 Müller-Catoir Haardter Mandelring Scheurebe Spätlese
GMC-074 2004 Müller-Catoir Haardter Mandelring Scheurebe Spätlese
GMC-100H 2005 Müller-Catoir Haardter Mandelring Scheurebe Auslese, 12/375ml
GDD-015 2004 Dr. Deinhard Scheurebe Kabinett
GTM-093 2005 Minges Gleisweiler Hölle Scheurebe Spätlese
GKR-093 2004 Koehler-Ruprecht Kallstadter Saumagen Scheurebe BA
GKR-093H 2004 Koehler-Ruprecht Kallstadter Saumagen Scheurebe BA, 12/375ml
GDR-130 2004 Darting Ungsteiner Honigsäckel Scheurebe Auslese