Baroque (grape)

This was one of the grapes I tasted in the wines of Tursan at the end of last year's Wine and Dine Festival. It is a white wine grape more or less restricted to that area and is suspected to be a crossing between Folle Blanche and Sauvignon Blanc. It produces full bodied wines with nutty flavours, but it was also noted in Wikipedia that Baroque also has similar aroma characteristics to Sauvignon Blanc (one of its putative parents).

Although its resistance to powdery mildew caused it to find favour amongst grape growers in the last century, it nearly became extinct in the 1980s because vineyards were converted to other purposes at the time. However through the efforts of Michelin 3-star chef Michel Guerard who owned a wine estate in Tursan and produced a characterful wine from the grape, interest in Baroque has been revived and the grape saved from extinction.