Scheurebe

Scheurebe is an intensely aromatic German white grape, a Riesling crossing bred in 1916 that is beloved for a striking perfume of blackcurrant, pink grapefruit and honeyed flowers. Where Riesling leans citrus and stone, Scheurebe swings to lush cassis and ruby-grapefruit with an exotic, almost tropical edge, framed by racy acidity. That naturally high acid makes it a chameleon in the cellar: it is bottled bone-dry and mineral, off-dry and fragrant, and — most famously — as concentrated, botrytis-sweet Auslese, Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese dessert wines that rank among Germany's great sweet whites. Loud, distinctive and food-loving, it is one of the country's most characterful native crossings.