Folle blanche

Folle Blanche
Grape (Vitis)
Folle blanche grapes
Color of berry skin	Blanc
Species	Vitis vinifera
Also called	see list of synonyms
Origin	France
Notable regions	Western Loire (Pays Nantais)
Notable wines	Gros Plant du Pays Nantais
VIVC number	4183

Folle blanche, also known as Picpoule,^[a][b] Gros Plant, and Enrageat blanc, is a wine grape variety from southwest France. It was the traditional grape variety in Cognac and Armagnac production until the 20th century. Folle blanche is an offspring of Gouais blanc, with the other parent so far unidentified.^[1][2]

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 and in Brittany around Nantes to produce Gros Plant du Pays Nantais, a very dry and often tartly acidic wine that pairs well with shellfish.^[3] There it is used both in the production of table wine as well as eau de vie.

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