Baroque

Baroque belongs to the Landes département and most likely arose in the Tursan and Chalosse area of the Adour valley. The earliest known record dates from 1894, in the catalogue of a local vine nursery. The origin of the name is unsettled. One idea ties it to a small settlement close to Eyres-Moncube, where the vine was once widely grown; another traces it to the Gascon words varòc and varòca, themselves derived from vara, meaning a pole or long cane, a reference to the long canes on which the variety is pruned.

For a time Baroque was thought to be a natural cross of Folle Blanche and Sauvignon Blanc, an idea that circulated on the basis of shared synonyms and appearance. DNA parentage analysis has since ruled this out, and the true parents remain unknown. On morphological grounds it is placed in the Courbu ampelographic group, close to Lauzet and Tannat, two other varieties of the Pyrenean foothills.

Its spread was driven by resistance to powdery mildew, which made it attractive after the oidium and mildew crises of the late nineteenth century. It was widely planted in the Landes in the early twentieth century, then declined sharply after the Second World War as vineyards were uprooted or replaced. In 1956 the INRA breeder Pierre Marcel Durquéty crossed Baroque with Chardonnay, producing Liliorila, a cross now grown on only a very small area.

Baroque is a vigorous variety that ripens late, so it needs a warm, well-exposed site in the maritime climate of the Landes to reach full ripeness. It tolerates drought poorly. Growers usually train it on long canes, a habit that probably accounts for the name in the Gascon tradition. Bunches are very compact, so in a damp autumn the grapes are especially prone to botrytis bunch rot, and careful canopy management and a well-timed harvest are important. Growers favoured it historically because it stands up well to black rot and powdery mildew. Yields are controlled under the Tursan rules, and the late ripening gives high sugar and good acidity when the fruit is healthy.

Varietal Baroque is generally fresh and slightly floral, with a nutty undertone that shows as hazelnut or almond. Riper wines can reach higher alcohol levels and show a delicate scent of ripe pears, with a rounded, full-bodied texture; the richness gives the wine enough weight to handle some lees contact or oak, though most examples are unoaked or lightly oaked. Blends dominate. In Tursan it is combined with Gros Manseng, which brings acidity and tropical fruit, and with Sauvignon Blanc, which adds aromatic lift and a herbal, citrus character. The variety can also play a small part in Floc de Gascogne, the region's fortified vin de liqueur. Dry white Tursan is the main outlet and is typically drunk young with local fish, poultry and the regional foie gras.