It’s always exciting to me to ‘discover’ and new wine grape. And, while doing some recent reading, I came across Baco Noir (BAH-koh NWAHR), a grape I’d not previous heard about.
Baco Noir got its start in the early 1900. It’s a hybrid grape meaning that it’s a cross between two other grapes (Folle Blanche and Grand Glabre). Francois Baco, a native of Southwestern France, was the one to create the hybrid and, of course, name it for himself.
Baco Noir was grown in France's Burgundy and Loire regions until France barred all hybrids from being grown. So now it is mostly found in the cooler wine-growing regions of North America.
Baco Noir wines are light- to medium-bodied with moderate tannin. Leaving the juice in contact with its dark skins for a long period of time results in a dark red wine, but with lesser skin contact can yield a lighter wine more reminiscent of Pinot Noir.
Along with its fresh acidity, this wine can have red fruit flavors of tart cherry and raspberry as well as bright fruit tones of blueberry and plum. When aged in oak, it can also take on flavors of cassis, black cherry, cedar, tobacco, leather and dried plum.
Now, you may have picked up on the fact that this is grape, Baco Noir, is a red grape (Noir meaning black). And, yes, there is also a Baco Blanc. And that will be the subject of a follow-on piece. Cheers!