Ever Heard of the Baco Blanc Grape?

Last time we looked at Baco Noir, a hybrid grape that produces a medium-bodied red wine. But, there’s also a Baco Blanc, a white wine grape. Both of these hybrid grapes were developed by François Baco.

Baco Blanc was developed in 1898 by crossing of the Folle Blanche and Noah grapes. It’s notable for being the only hybrid grape variety permitted for use in any French AOC appellation, that being Armagnac.

Baco Blanc tends to produce neutral flavor, high acid grapes with lower sugars. This turns out to be more suitable for distillation, notably for brandy, than for wine production.

Baco Blanc was used in France as the basis for Armagnac brandy until the 1970s when Ugni Blanc took over because it produces greater yields and is more disease resistant. Ugni Blanc now accounts for over 50 percent of Armagnac-producing vines along with smaller amounts of Folle Blanche, Colombard and Baco Blanc.

Use of the Baco Blanc variety was to have been phased out of Armagnac by 2010, but strong advocacy for the grape and its historical importance to Armagnac resulted in authorities allowing the grape to remain. It is still used today for distillation purposes, but only on a very small scale.

Baco Blanc wines are rarely produced on any significant scale these days and it remains to be seen if the variety will ever again be used in any significant manner. So, don’t go looking for a bottle of Baco Blanc wine at your favorite wine store, but know that as a hybrid grape, it has played a notable role in France.

Ever Heard of Baco Noir Wine?

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!