Labels:
White Wine
Müller-Thurgau (muhl-ah toor-goh) was introduced into commerce in about 1920, and by 1970 passed Sylvaner and Riesling to become the leading wine grape of Germany. It is also grown in central Europe, particularly Czechoslovakia, Austria and Hungary but, apart from a very small area in Alsace, not in France or in North or South America. It comes from a cross made at Geisenheim in 1882 by Dr Müller, a Swiss from Thurgau, who returned to Switzerland taking his promising seedlings with him. In 1913, when its great potential was obvious, it was brought back to Germany for testing. It is supposed to be a cross of Riesling and Sylvaner, but recent DNA typing showed that Sylvaner could not have been a parent. From its character, some experts think that it is a cross of two Riesling clones, but DNA typing also showed that although Riesling was one parent of Müller-Thurgau, it could not have been both. In Switzerland and some other countries it is called Riesling × Sylvaner in deference to its breeder’s wishes. In Luxembourg it is called Rivaner. There has been very limited planting of the variety in Australia.
