Something Different

Last night my wife and I tried a bottle scheurebe. If you are not familiar with this grape, neither was I until I ran into it a a tasting at City Cellars earlier this year. It is an eighty year old cross between Silvaner and Riesling. It was developed to allow for a grape that would ripen early and have good structure and finesse. Wine importer Terry Theise describes it as "all that's dirty and fun". I found it to be a fun wine with hints of citrus, mild sweetness and full body. The particular one we tried was Guntrum Scheurebe Kabinett 2005 vintage. It is similar to Riesling in that it would pair fantastically with Asian and Indian foods. As some of you will know Kabinett is the earliest harvest and thus the least sugar, typically the driest style of German or Austrian wines. This wine is dry, but features good rich fruit flavors which might fool the casual drinker to believe that this wine has sweetness, though technically there is none. If you have the opportunity, try the grape, its reasonably priced in the low to mid teens.
PS we finished the Brewer Clifton Pinot and it had held up very well over night with a vacuvin.