Müller-Thurgau is a white
grape variety (sp.
Vitis vinifera) which was created by
Hermann Müller from the
Swiss Canton of
Thurgau in 1882. It is a
crossing of
Riesling with
Madeleine Royale. It is used to make white
wine in
Germany,
Austria, Northern
Italy,
Hungary,
England,
Australia, the
Czech Republic,
Slovakia,
Slovenia,
New Zealand, the
United States and
Japan. There are around 42,000
hectares (104,000
acres) cultivated world-wide, which makes Müller-Thurgau the most widely planted of the so-called "new breeds" of grape varieties created since the late 19th century. Although plantings have decreased significantly since the 1980s, as of 2006 it was still Germany's second most planted variety at 14,000 hectares and 13.7% of the total vineyard surface. In 2007, the 125th anniversary was celebrated at the
Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute. Müller-Thurgau is also known as Rivaner (Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, and especially for dry wines), Riesling x Sylvaner, Riesling-Sylvaner (Switzerland), Johannisberg (
Wallis canton in Switzerland) and Rizlingszilváni (Hungary).
