[1][2][3] Scheurebe was created by German viticulturalist Dr. Georg Scheu (1879–1949) in 1916, when he was working as director of a grape-breeding institute in Alzey in Rheinhessen, by crossing Riesling with an unknown wild vine.

[4][5] According to the German grape-breeder Helmut Becker, Scheu's purpose was to create a superior version of Silvaner, with more aroma and greater resistance to frost damage and chlorosis.

[5] When produced from fully ripe grapes, Scheurebe wines are dominated by rich blackcurrant aromas supplemented by grapefruit.

Scheurebe therefore tends to be easier to use for sweet wines made from grapes that are fully ripe, overripe or affected by noble rot.

It is however used for some highly rated sweet wines, such as concentrated noble rot-affected Trockenbeerenauslesen in the Neusiedlersee region, where producers include Alois Kracher.