Folle Blanche

Folle Blanche was the traditional grape variety of the Cognac and Armagnac regions of France. It is also known as Picpoule (with various variations of spelling (Piquepoul, Picpoul), although it is in fact unrelated to the Picpoul of the Languedoc) as well as Gros Plant and Enrageat Blanc. Folle Blanche is an offspring of Gouais Blanc, with the other parent so far unidentified.

It has been mostly replaced by its hybrid offspring Baco Blanc due to phylloxera damage. Baco Blanc (also known as Baco 22 A) is a cross of Folle Blanche and the Vitis riparia × Vitis labrusca hybrid Noah. Folle Blanche is also the parent of the very hardy and disease-resistant Baco 1 (or Baco noir), a cross of Folle Blanche and a Vitis riparia variety. Baco noir and Baco 22 A, like Folle Blanche and their other parents, produce a very acid wine. This makes them more suited to distillation than less acidic grapes.

Folle Blanche is used in the Loire Valley area around Nantes to produce Gros Plant du Pays Nantais, a very dry and often tartly acidic VDQS wine that pairs well with shellfish. Approximately 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) are planted with the variety in the Loire Valley. There it is used both in the production of table wine as well as eau de vie.

References

1. Folle Blanche, Vitis International Variety Catalogue
2. IFV: Le Folle blanche B
3. Vallée de Loire: Les cépages du Val de Loire

Sauvignon Blanc

There are three distinct flavor profiles and styles that one will recognize when tasting Sauvignon Blanc. The fruity style, which often has no oak influence, boasts loads of citrus fruit, particularly grapefruit, lemon, melon and gooseberry that explode on the palate and in the aromas. The second flavor category is that of grassiness. Sauvignon Blanc, no matter where it is grown, often contains aromas and flavors of freshly cut grass or herbal notes. When produced properly, these are amazingly delicious and alluring flavors which complement the citrus fruit beautifully. The final style is primarily produced in California where some producers have opted to age Sauvignon Blanc in oak, integrating a creamier style of white wine with hints of smoke and vanilla. These are often labeled Fumé Blanc, which is a marketing name created to increase the sales of Sauvignon Blanc in California a number of years ago. Oak influence often lowers the crispness and zest of Sauvignon Blanc but creates a wine which is more similar to Chardonnay in style.

Sauvignon Blanc is used a great deal throughout France but truly thrives in the Loire Valley. It is used as the primary grape to produce the exquisite white wines, Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. Separated by the Loire River, these appellations produce whites with lovely acidity and are to be consumed fresh and young. It is also the white grape used to produce the lovely whites of Bordeaux. Sauvignon Blanc is planted primarily in Graves and is usually blended with Sémillon to add further complexity and body. Within Graves, a number of the upper end Sauvignon Blancs, produced in the prestigious Pessac-Léognan, are made in a creamy, complex style which are capable of aging but can also be consumed when young and fresh.

The Sauvignon Blanc grape traces its origins to western France in the Loire Valley and Bordeaux Regions. As noted above, it is not clear that the vine originated in western France. Ongoing research suggests it may have descended from savagnin. It has also been associated with the carmenere family. At some point in the 18th century, the vine paired with Cabernet Franc to parent the Cabernet Sauvignon vine in Bordeaux. In the 19th century, plantings in Bordeaux were often interspersed with Sauvignon vert (In Chile, known as Sauvignonasse) as well as the Sauvignon Blanc pink mutation Sauvignon Gris. Prior to the phylloxera epidemic, the insect plague which devastated French vineyards in the 19th century, these interspersed cuttings were transported to Chile where the field blends are still common today. Despite the similarity in names, Sauvignon Blanc has no known relation to the Sauvignon Rosé mutation found in the Loire Valley of France.

Refernces

Wine Lover's Page, "Sauvignon Blanc"
Guide To Sauvignon Blanc White Wine
Oz Clarke Encyclopedia of Grapes pg 221 Harcourt Books 2001.

Pinot meunier

Pinot Meunier, also known as Meunier or SchwarzRiesling, is a variety of black wine grape most noted for being one of the three main varieties used in the production of champagne (the other two are the black variety Pinot noir and the white Chardonnay).

Pinot Meunier can be identified by ampelographers by its indented leaves that appear downy white, like flour has been dusted liberally on the underside, and lightly on the upper side, of the leaf. The name "Meunier" comes from the French word for miller with many of the grapevine's synonyms also hearkening to this association-such as "Dusty Miller" which is used in England, "Farineaux" and "Noirin Enfariné" used in France as well as "Müllerrebe" and "Müller-Traube" used in Germany. This characteristic derives from large numbers of fine white hairs on the leaves. However, some clones of Pinot Meunier have been found to be completely hairless -- a chimeric mutation, in fact -- which has led ampelographers to more closely draw a link between Meunier and Pinot noir.

Pinot Meunier is one of the most widely planted grapes in France but it is rather obscure to most wine drinkers and will rarely be seen on a wine label. The grape has been favored by vine growers in northern France due to its ability to bud and ripen more reliably than Pinot noir. The vine's tendency to bud later in the growing season and ripen earlier makes it less susceptible to developing coulure which can greatly reduce a prospective crop. For the last couple of centuries, Pinot Meunier has been the most widely planted Champagne grape, accounting for more than 40% of the region's entire plantings. It is most prevalent in the cooler, north facing vineyards of the Vallee de la Marne and in the Aisne department. It is also widely grown in the Aube region in vineyards where Pinot noir and Chardonnay would not fully ripen.

Compared to Pinot noir, Pinot Meunier produces lighter colored wines with slightly higher acid levels but can maintain similar sugar and alcohol levels. As part of a standard champagne blend, Pinot Meunier contributes aromatics and fruity flavors to the wine. Champagnes with a substantial proportion of Pinot Meunier tend not to have as much significant aging potential as champagnes that are composed primarily of Chardonnay or Pinot noir. It is therefore most commonly used for champagnes that are intended to be consumed young, when the soft, plushy fruit of the Pinot Meunier is at its peak. A notable exception is the Champagne house of Krug which makes liberal use of Pinot Meunier in its long-lived prestige cuvees.

References

1. Association of dwarfism and floral induction with a grape 'green revolution' mutation Boss & Thomas, Nature 416, 847-850 (25 April 2002).
2. J. Robinson (ed) "The Oxford Companion to Wine" Third Edition pg 440-441 Oxford University Press 2006.
3.  Oz Clarke Encyclopedia of Grapes pg 138 Harcourt Books 2001.
4. German Wine Institute: German Wine Statistics 2007-2008

Pinot noir

Pinot noir is a black wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French words for "pine" and "black" alluding to the grape variety's tightly clustered dark purple pine-cone shaped bunches of fruit.
Pinot noir grapes are grown around the world, mostly in the cooler regions, but the grape is chiefly associated with the Burgundy region of France. It is widely considered to produce some of the finest wines in the world, but is a difficult variety to cultivate and transform into wine.