Touriga Franca (or Touriga Francesa) is one of the major grape varieties used to produce port wine. Touriga Franca is lighter and more perfumed than Touriga Nacional, adding finesse to the wine. Touriga Franca has been described by Jancis Robinson as playing "Cabernet Franc to Touriga Nacional’s Cabernet Sauvignon". Not much is known about the origins, but it was probably a cross of Mourisco de Semente and Touriga Nacional. Touriga Franca is quite similar to Touriga Nacional, needing harsh conditions to keep vigor down as it gets on the steep arid slopes of the Douro. It is usually trained low to the ground under one of the Royat systems. Yields are medium (1,5 kg/vine), not as bad as Touriga Nacional.
Franca is a municipality in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. The population is 342,112 (2015 est.) in an area of 606 km². Its elevation is 1040 m. It was established in 1805 as a parish within the municipality of Moji Mirim, and became an independent municipality in 1824.
The history of the region of Franca begins at the time of the Bandeirantes explorers. The bandeira or entrada of Anhangüera (the son) in 1722 established the “way of Goiás,” a trail from São Paulo to the gold mines in Goiás. Along this and other trails settlements were made, becoming the so-called "landings" or way-stations for the gold seekers. Franca was known at the time of the Bandeirantes as the “catfish landing.”
At the end of the 18th century, settlers had dispersed into the region in several of these landings. In 1779, around 1000 people lived in the area around Franca . To better organize the settlement, a Decree Company was created and the Portuguese Captain Manoel de Almeida was put in charge. At the beginning of the 19th century, the sons of Manoel de Almeida (Antonio Antunes de Almeida and Vicente Ferreira de Almeida) donated lands for the construction of a chapel, which in turn was blessed by the priest Joaquin Martins Rodrigues. With the decline of mining activity in Minas Gerais and Goiás, more settlers migrated to the "Belo Sertão do Rio Pardo" (beautiful valley of the Pardo River), under the sponsorship of the governador of São Paulo, Antônio José de Franca e Horta, after whom the municipality are named.
Welington Wildy Muniz dos Santos (born 21 April 1991 in Bauru, São Paulo), commonly known as França, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Figueirense.
He previously played with Coritiba, Criciúma and Noroeste.