Müller-Thurgau

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Müller-Thurgau is a varietal of white grape (sp. Vitis vinifera) also known as Rivaner (especially in Europe). It was created by Hermann Müller from the Swiss Canton of Thurgau in 1882, and is still used to make white wine in Germany, Australia, Northern Italy and England. With around 42,000 hectares cultivated world-wide, Müller-Thurgau is is the most successful newly-created varietal of the last 125 years. In 2007 the 125 anniversary is celebrated at the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute.

Contents

[edit] History of the grape variety

Most grapes have been created from a desire to harness qualities in two separate grapes and to generate a new vine that combines the qualities of both.

When Dr. Müller created the grape in the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute in the late 19th century, his intention was to combine the intensity and complexity of the Riesling grape with the ability to ripen earlier in the season that the Silvaner grape possesses. Despite that the resulting grape did not fully reach both of these qualities it was no obstacle for the grape being widely planted across many of the German wine-producing regions.

By the 1970s, Müller-Thurgau had become Germany's most-planted grape. A possible reason for the popularity of this varietal is that it is capable of being grown in a relatively wide range of climates and soil conditions. Many of these vines were planted on flat areas that were not particularly suitable for growing other wine grapes as it was more profitable than sugar beet the main alternative crop. The vines mature early and bring large yield quantities. Müller-Thurgau is mild due to low acidic content, but nevertheless fruity. The wines may be drunk while relatively young, and with few exceptions do not improve with age. These facts made Müller-Thurgau an economical way to provide for the immense popularity of inexpensive, medium-sweetness German wines such as Liebfraumilch and Piesporter.

The turning point in Müller-Thurgau's growth however was the winter of 1979, when on 1st January there was a sharp fall in temperatures, to -20°C in many areas, which devastated most of the new varieties, but did not affect the varieties such as Riesling which have much more hardy stems, after hundreds of years of selection. In the decades since then, the winemakers have begun to grow a wider variety of vines, and Müller-Thurgau is now less widely planted in Germany than Riesling, although still significant in that country and world-wide.

[edit] Genealogy

Recent DNA fingerprinting has in fact determined that the grape was created by crossing Riesling with Madeleine Royale, not Silvaner or any other suggested grape variety. But there has been some confusion on the way. In 1996 Chasselas seemed to be a valid candidate, and in 1997 the Chasselas variety Admirable de Courtiller was specified. However, this was shown to be wrong when the reference grape that was believed to be Admirable de Courtiller was proven in the year 2000 to be Madeleine Royale. (Ref. Dettweiler et al., Vitis, 2000, 39, 63-65)

The consumer backlash against it (due to association with cheap, and by implication low-quality, wines) means that it is rarely declared on the label (some winemakers call it Rivaner in Germany, others simply do not mention the grape variety). Even Blue Nun Liebfraumilch is now made of 30% Riesling rather than entirely Müller-Thurgau.

[edit] German Growing Regions

Outside of Germany, the grape has achieved a moderate degree of success in producing lively wines in Italy, southern England (where most other grapes will not ripen in many years) Luxembourg (where it is called Rivaner), Czech Republic, and the United States. During the last decades of the 20th cetury it had been the most spread variety in Australia.

[edit] European Growing Regions

[edit] Rest of the world

Also known as: Rivaner (Luxemburg & Deutschland), Riesling-Sylvaner (Switzerland), Johannisberg (Wallis, Rizlingszilváni (Hungary)

Lineage: Riesling x Madeleine Royale

[edit] Literature

  • Oz Clarke & Margaret Rand: Clarkes großes Lexikon der Rebsorten, München 2001
  • Dr Erika Dettweiler et al.: Grapevine cultivar Müller-Thurgau and its true to type descent, Vitis 39(2), 63-65, 2000
  • Helmut Becker: 100 Jahre Rebsorte Müller-Thurgau, Der Deutsche Weinbau 12/1982

[edit] External links

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