Maréchal Foch () is an inter-specific

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

French red

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

variety. It was developed at the Oberlin Institute in Colmar-Alsace, at the beginning of the 20th century, by Eugène Kuhlmann, then known as Kuhlmann 188-2''.'' The variety arrived in the U.S. in 1946, where it was subsequently renamed Marechal Foch in honor of Marshall

Ferdinand Foch Ferdinand Foch ( , ; 2 October 1851 – 20 March 1929) was a French general and military theorist who served as the Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. An aggressive, even reckless commander at the First Marne, Flanders and Art ...

, Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. Some believe it to be a cross of

Goldriesling Goldriesling is a grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera'' used for white wine. It was created in 1893 by Christian Oberlin in Colmar, Alsace by crossing Riesling with another grape variety, which is sometimes given as Courtillier Musqu ...

(itself an intra-specific cross of

Riesling Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling wh ...

and Courtiller Musqué) with a ''

Vitis riparia ''Vitis riparia'' Michx, with common names riverbank grape or frost grape, is a vine indigenous to North America. As a climbing or trailing vine, it is widely distributed across central and eastern Canada and the central and northeastern parts ...

'' - ''

Vitis rupestris ''Vitis rupestris'' is a species of grape native to the United States that is known by many common names including July, Coon, sand, sugar, beach, bush, currant, ingar, rock, and mountain grape. It is used for breeding several French-American hy ...

'' cross. Others contend that its pedigree is uncertain and may contain the grape variety Oberlin 595. It ripens early, and it is cold-hardy and resistant to fungal diseases. The berry size is small, which makes it prone to bird injury. The quality of wine produced by Marechal Foch vines is highly dependent upon vine age, and the flavor profile associated with many new-world hybrid varietals is much reduced in examples made with fruit picked from older vines.

Wine regions

Marechal Foch was formerly commonly grown in the

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

, but today it is limited to a small number of hectares in Europe. Because it is a hybrid variety, cultivation for commercial wines in Europe is restricted by

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

regulation. It is more extensively grown in North America, including southern

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, and

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, as well as the eastern wine growing regions of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, where it ripens fully by the end of September. It is also commonly grown in Minnesota and

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. In the west, it is grown in Colorado in Delta County. Additionally, it is grown in Oregon's

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, ...

, Missoula, Montana and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Okanagan Valley The Okanagan ( ), also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part ...

and

Comox Valley The Comox Valley is a region on the east coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, that includes the city of Courtenay, British Columbia, Courtenay, the town of Comox, British Columbia, Comox, the village of Cumberland, British Columb ...

. Marechal Foch was introduced to Canadian vineyards in 1946 by

Adhemar de Chaunac Adhemar is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Adhemar of Salerno (died 861), prince * Adhemar of Capua (died after 1000), prince * Adhémar de Chabannes (988-1034), French monk and historian * Adh ...

of Brights' wines, along with several other French hybrids. However, the extent to which Marechal Foch is grown in Canada has been much reduced, due to an extensive vine-pull program in the early 1980s designed to replace hybrids with (''

Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran. There are curre ...

'') cultivars.

Wines

Marechal Foch is used to make a variety of styles of wine, ranging from a light red wine similar to

Beaujolais Beaujolais ( , ) is a French ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) wine generally made of the Gamay grape, which has a thin skin and is low in tannins. Like most AOC wines they are not labeled varietally. Whites from the region, which mak ...

to more extracted wines with intense dark "inky" purple colour and unique varietal character, and even sweet, fortified,

Port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

-like wines. Wines made from Marechal Foch tend to have strong acidity, aromas of black fruits and, in some cases, toasted wheat, mocha, fresh coffee, bitter chocolate, vanilla bean, and musk. In the darker variants of the wine a strong ''

gamey Game or quarry is any wild animal hunted for animal products (primarily meat), for recreation (" sporting"), or for trophies. The species of animals hunted as game varies in different parts of the world and by different local jurisdictions, th ...

'' nose is also often described. Highly extracted, and more carefully produced wines made from older plantings of Marechal Foch have recently been successfully marketed as more expensive niche wines with a dedicated following.

Related varieties

The grape varieties

Léon Millot Léon Millot (sometimes called "Leon Millot Rouge" (or "Foster's Leon") to distinguish it from "Leon Millot Noir" (a.k.a. "Wagner's Leon") which many breeders believe to be ) is a red variety of hybrid grape used for wine.Lucie Kuhlman, and Marechal Foch came out of the same crossing, and are therefore related.

Synonyms

Foch, Kuhlmann 188.2, Marschall Foch

References

{{Hybrid grape varieties Red wine grape varieties Hybrid grape varieties Canadian wine

Wine regions

Wines

Related varieties

Synonyms

See also

References