Definition: Müller-Thurgau

One of the most important grape varieties in German-speaking Switzerland, it was created by Professor Hermann Müller, a native of the canton of Thurgau, Switzerland, bordering Lake Constance. Its inventor, Professor Hermann Müller, director of the German wine-growing station in Geisenheim at the end of the 19th century, carried out a whole series of grape variety crossbreeding experiments. On his return to Switzerland, he had some of his selections sent to him. No. 58, which the professor believed to be a cross between Riesling and Sylvaner vines, ultimately gave rise to the Riesling x Sylvaner cross, or Müller-Thurgau in Germany.

It was not until 1998 that a team of Austrian researchers succeeded in demonstrating through genetic analysis that the professor had been mistaken about the parentage of the grape variety. Hermann Müller had not crossed Riesling with Sylvaner, but with a parent variety of Chasselas, Madeleine Royale.

It can produce very elegant, delicately fruity wines with a hint of nutmeg and exotic fruit aromas. This white grape variety is the most widely grown in German-speaking Switzerland, although it is in steady decline.