Folle blanche

Did You Know?

• Folle blanche is highly susceptible to downy mildew, mites, black rot, spring frost damage, and botrytis bunch rot.
• Baco noir and Baco 22 A, like Folle blanche, produce a very acid wine suited to distillation.
• Folle blanche is the parent of Baco 1 (Baco noir), a cross with a Vitis riparia variety.

History

The first recorded mention of Folle blanche was in 1696, when it was documented as one of the varieties growing in the Charente-Maritime department. The name Folle is a feminine derivative of the French word fou, meaning "mad," which ampelographers speculate could refer to the vine's tendency to be highly productive and grow vigorously wherever planted. Several synonyms make similar allusions: Gros Plant ("big vine") was first used for the grape in 1732 in the Loire-Atlantique department, and Enrageat (from the French enragé) has been a common synonym in southwest France since at least 1736. DNA analysis in the late 20th and early 21st centuries concluded that Folle blanche is likely one of the numerous offspring vines of Gouais blanc, though the second parent is currently unknown. In 2001, French ampelographer Guy Lavignac theorized that Folle blanche likely originated in either the Landes or Gers departments due to the proliferation of offspring and sibling varieties in those regions. Historically, Dutch wine merchants planted Folle blanche along the western coast of France from the Loire Valley down through Gascony for eau de vie production. After the phylloxera epidemic, plantings declined as growers switched to heartier varieties such as Baco blanc. This decline continued through the 20th and into the 21st century, from 15865 ha in 1958 to 1770 ha in 2009. Through its relationship with Gouais blanc, Folle blanche is at least a half-sibling of numerous varieties including Aubin vert, Bachet noir, Knipperlé, Montils, Peurion, Roublot, Dameron, Balzac blanc, and Genouillet. American ampelographer Linda Bisson classifies it as a member of the Folle ampelographic group, with strong similarities to Meslier-Saint-François and Petit Meslier.

Wine regions

In 2009, there was 1770 ha of Folle blanche in France, most in the Pay Nantais region of the Loire Valley, where it is used for the AOC wine Gros Plant du Pays Nantais. While its use in Cognac and Armagnac has largely fallen out of favor, some Armagnac producers make a varietal brandy from the grape. Outside France, it is grown in the Basque Country as Mune Mahatsa and is sometimes blended with Hondarribi Zuri. In the Catalan wine region of Spain, it is used by some brandy producers, and there are limited plantings in California.