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Baco blanc or Baco 22A is a French-American hybrid grape variety. It is a cross of Folle blanche and the Noah grape, created in the 1898 by the grape breeder François Baco.〔 Folle blanche is its ''Vitis vinifera'' parent. Noah, its other parent, is itself a cross of ''Vitis labrusca'' and ''Vitis riparia''.〔J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes'' pg 27 Oxford University Press 1996 ISBN 0-19-860098-4〕 Baco blanc was developed to produce some of the same flavors as Folle blanche but without the susceptibility to American grape disease and phylloxera. In the 20th century it was widely planted in the Gascony region for uses in brandy production. Both Armagnac and Cognac (from the Charentes and Charente-Maritime districts north of Gascony) are brandies made from white grapes - Ugni blanc, Folle blanche and Colombard - but only Armagnac was permitted under French regulations to use Baco blanc and until the late 1970s, Baco blanc was the primary grape of Armagnac.〔〔Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 39 Harcourt Books 2001 ISBN 0-15-100714-4〕 Following the grape's decline in the late 20th century, there was some speculation about the future of the variety, especially after a 1992 ''Institut National des Appellations d'Origine'' (INAO) decree that all vines of Baco blanc were to be uprooted by 2010. However, advocates for the grape variety and its historical role in Armagnac were able to persuade French authorities to continue permitting its use in the distilled wines from the Armagnac region.〔Harper's Wine and Spirits ''"(Baco to the Future )"'' July 14th 2005〕 ==History and parentage== Baco blanc was bred in 1898 by French grape breeder François Baco from a crossing of the ''Vitis vinifera'' Folle blanche, which was having difficulties taking to the rootstock grafting after the phylloxera epidemic of the mid to late 19th century, and the American hybrid grape Noah (itself a previously crossing of an unknown ''Vitis labrusca'' species and the ''Vitis riparia'' grape Taylor. Four years earlier François Baco also use Folle blanche and an unknown species of ''Vitis riparia'' to produce a dark skin version of Baco blanc known as Baco noir.〔J. Robinson ''Vines, Grapes & Wines'' pg 28, 238 Mitchell Beazley 1986 ISBN 1-85732-999-6〕 Prior to Baco noir's development, Folle blanche was the primarily grape variety for the ''eau de vie'' grape brandies produced in the Cognac and Armagnac regions of France. But, in addition to its difficulties with the new American rootstock, the grape was highly susceptible to several grape diseases including grey rot in the Cognac region and black rot in Armagnac. The aim of François Baco was to produce a grape that had many of the neutral flavors and characteristics which made Folle blanche favorable for distillation but without the susceptibility that had plagued Folle Blanche growers. While growers in the Cognac region began adopting Ugni blanc (the same grape known in Italy as Trebbiano), growers in the Armagnac region began to enthusiastically plant Baco's new white hybrid.〔 For most of the 20th century, Baco blanc was the primary grape of the Armagnac region. Its reached it peak in the 1970s when more than 85% of all plantings in the area were Baco blanc, accounting for more than . However, as Ugni blanc began gaining more of a foothold in other Gascon wine regions, the plantings of Baco blanc began to gradually decline. By the end of the 20th century, Ugni blanc had eclipsed Baco blanc as the most widely planted grape in Armagnac.〔 This decline lead to some speculation about the future of the variety, especially after a 1992 (INAO) degree that all vines of Baco blanc were to be uprooted by 2010. However, advocates for the grape variety and its historical role in Armagnac were able to persuade French authorities to continue permitting its use in the distilled wines from the Armagnac region. While far from its early to mid-20th century prominence, the variety continues to play an important role in the Armagnac region and, as of 2005, the ''Bureau National Interprofessionnel de L'Armagnac'' (BNIA) reported that the grape variety was still used in the production of nearly half of all Armagnac.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Baco blanc」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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