The white grape variety is a new variety between Riesling x Madeleine Royale. Some synonyms point to the parentage Riesling x Sylvaner, which was wrongly assumed for a long time. Within the European Union, those names that refer to it, such as Riesling-Sylvaner, are no longer permitted. The most important are Müller, Müller-Thurgau Rebe, Müller Thurgau Weiß, Weißer Müller-Thurgau (Germany); Müller-Thurgau Blanc (France); Uva di Lauria (Italy); Riesling-Silvaner, Riesling x Silvaner, Riesling-Sylvaner (New Zealand, Switzerland); Rivaner (Austria, Luxembourg), Rizlingszilvani (Hungary), Rizvanac, Müller-Thurgau Bijeli, Rizvanac Bijeli (Croatia); Rizanec, Rizvanec (Slovenia); Muller Thurgau White (USA).
Determination of parenthood
The determination of parentage dragged on for decades, until in 1996 the paternity of the Silvaner, which had been doubted time and again anyway, proved to be false. The breeder was the Swiss Dr. Hermann Müller-Thurgau (1850-1927) from Tägerwilen in the canton of Thurgau. He worked at the Königliche Lehranstalt für Obst- und Weinbau in Geisenheim (Rheingau) from 1867 to 1890. In issue no. 26 of the journal "Der Weinbau" of 24 June 1882, he formulated the breeding objective of the crossbreeding experiments: "How important, for example, a grape variety could become for some wine-growing regions that combined with the delicious characteristics of the Riesling grape the safe and earlier ripening time of the Sylvaner." Until 1890, the preliminary testing of the new varieties resulting from the breeding of the Riesling x Silvaner varieties still took place in Geisenheim.
In 1891, Hermann Müller-Thurgau was called to his home in Wädenswil in the canton of Zurich to establish and build up the Federal Institute on the Geisenheim model. He had 150 of his seedlings pre-tested in Geisenheim come to Wädenswil. There Heinrich Schellenberg (1868-1967) selected the best seedling No. 58 and propagated it in 1897 under the name "Riesling x Silvaner 1". The Bavarian Court Councillor August Dern...
