Siegerrebe (literally "Victory vine" in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

) is a white

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus '' Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years a ...

that is grown primarily in Germany with some plantings in England,

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

Jancis Robinson Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW (born 22 April 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the ''Financial Times'', and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She ...

''Vines, Grapes & Wine'' pg 253 Octopus Publishing 1986

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a U.S. state, state in the Northwestern United States, Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first President of the United States, U.S. p ...

,R. Irvine &

Walter Clore Walter J. Clore (July 1, 1911 – February 3, 2003) was a pioneer in wine growing and agricultural research in Washington state and has been formally recognized by the Washington State Legislature as the "Father of Washington Wine". Among his ...

''The Wine Project'' pg 436 Sketch Publications 1997

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

's North

Okanagan The Okanagan ( ), also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is par ...

and Fraser Valley and Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley along with a small planting in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

at Every Man and His Dog Vineyard. Siegerrebe was created by

viticulturalist Dr.

Georg Scheu Georg Scheu (21 June 1879 in Krefeld, Rhine Province, Germany – 2 November 1949, in Alzey, Rhineland-Palatinate), was a German botanist, plant physiologist, oenologist and grape breeder. Biography Georg Scheu completed horticultural trainin ...

(1879-1949) in 1929 at a grape-breeding institute in

Alzey Alzey () is a ''Verband''-free town – one belonging to no ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the fifth-largest town in Rhenish Hesse, after Mainz, Worms, Ingelheim am Rhein and Bingen. ...

Rheinhessen Rhenish Hesse or Rhine HesseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 542. . (german: Rheinhessen) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland- ...

, by crossing Madeleine Angevine and

Gewürztraminer Gewürztraminer () is an aromatic wine grape variety, used in white wines, and performs best in cooler climates. In English, it is sometimes referred to colloquially as Gewürz (; although this is never the case in German, because "Gewürz" me ...

.Vitis International Variety Catalogue: Siegerrebe
, accessed on May 16, 2008
accessed on January 22, 2013 However, Georg Scheu's son Heinz Scheu has claimed in a book that Siegerrebe was the result of self-pollination of Madeleine Angevine. Siegerrebe received varietal protection and was released for general cultivation in Germany in 1958. In 2019, there were of Siegerrebe in Germany with a decreasing trend, in similarity with other "new breeds" of white varieties.] In Belgium, it is authorised for all still wine Appellation d'origine contrôlée, AOCs : ''Côtes de Sambre et Meuse'', ''Hageland'', ''Haspengouw'', et ''Heuvelland''.

Viticultural characteristics

The vine is suited to colder climates as bud-burst is late and fruit

ripening Ripening is a process in fruits that causes them to become more palatable. In general, fruit becomes sweeter, less green, and softer as it ripens. Even though the acidity of fruit increases as it ripens, the higher acidity level does not make th ...

is very early however due to these traits bird depredation is serious and attack by wasps can be a problem. The vines are fruitful and vigor is low with grape bunches being large, red in colour and loosely packed. It has a susceptibility to

chlorosis In botany, chlorosis is a condition in which leaves produce insufficient chlorophyll. As chlorophyll is responsible for the green color of leaves, chlorotic leaves are pale, yellow, or yellow-white. The affected plant has little or no ability to ...

. Killing temperature of Siegerrebe is . Siegerrebe easily reaches high

must weight Must weight is a measure of the amount of sugar in grape juice (must) and, hence, indicates the amount of alcohol that could be produced if it is all fermented to alcohol, rather than left as residual sugar.Rheinpfalz, a parcel of

Trockenbeerenauslese ''Trockenbeerenauslese'' (literal meaning: 'dried berry selection') is a German language wine term for a medium to full body dessert wine. ''Trockenbeerenauslese'' is the highest in sugar content in the ''Prädikatswein'' category of the Austrian ...

Siegerrebe recorded 326 Oechsle, which is more than twice the minimum level of ripeness needed for a wine to qualify as Trockenbeerenauslese.

Siegerrebe wines

Despite high must weights the wine tends to be very low in acid. The acid tends to drop rapidly in the grape as ripeness approaches.. The finished wine has an intense aroma reminiscent of

Muscat Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the capital and most populated city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate was ...

and tends to be used in blending rather than a varietal wine, however the flavour is reminiscent of

. Many Siegerrebe wines are high in extract and yellow-green to golden yellow in colour. Because Siegerrebe ripens early, it is sometimes used for

Federweisser ''Federweisser'' (also ''Federweißer'' , from German ''Feder'', "feather", and ''weiß'', "white"; from the appearance of the suspended yeast, also known as ''Sturm'', from German ''Sturm'', ''storm'' in Austria), is an alcoholic beverage, typi ...

early in the German harvest season. In Washington State, Siegerrebe is grown only on the west side of the Cascade Mountain, in the

Puget Sound AVA The Puget Sound AVA is an American Viticultural Area in western Washington State. It is the only AVA in the state of Washington that is located west of the Cascade Mountains. Note that in 2019 there is a committee working to establish a southwe ...

, with GDD50 ranging in the 1600F-2000F.{{Cite web, url=http://wine.wsu.edu/extension/weather/growing-degree-days/, title = Growing Degree Days | WSU Viticulture and Enology | Washington State University This is undoubtedly the most popular white grape with the west side growers.

Synonyms

Siegerrebe is also known under the synonyms Alzey 7957, AZ 7957, Scheu 7957 and Sieger.

References

White wine grape varieties