Thursday, May 12, 2016

Wine and Food of the Giro 2016 Stage 6: Wellens, Rabsaco Cancellil & Rustichella d'Abruzzo

Ponte -- Roccaraso, 157km

Where are we? Heading 157 kilometers from Ponte to Roccaraso.

The Giro site says: Ponte gets its name from an ancient Roman stone bridge that was the passage of Via Latina over the Alento river. Therefore, the village has been a strategic trading centre since the earliest times.
The city has retained proofs of the different cultures it drew influence from, such as the Monastery of Santa Anastasia, dating back to Lombard times, and the Norman castle.
Nowadays, Ponte is a centre of excellence in food and wine, with its finest, exquisite local produce. 
COOKING Ammugliatiello (lamb dish)
Roccaraso (Aremogna)
A major tourist resort in the Apennines, within the Majella National Park, Roccaraso has been one of the most popular holiday destinations in central Italy since the late 19th century.
Despite the hardship due to bombings in World War II, the city managed to revive, and continued to attract visitors from all over the world, thanks to the ski facilities of the Alto Sangro ski area in the wintertime, and to its beautiful natural scenery in the summertime. 
COOKING Mountain cold cuts (pork loin, salami, ham), “carrati” (maccheroni alla chitarra) with meatball sauce, legumes soups, lamb dishes; Pecorino farindolese

The stage: Rolling along this time with rain and hills. Podium Cafe stage preview here






Sigh. On a day that we were told we could see the entire stage, that image above is as close as we had gotten for live pictures as weather had grounded the helicopters. Finally, pictures! 
Eighty five kilometers to go and the gap was around one minute. But it looked like the bunch had agreed to keep things calm and that gap would grow again to almost three minutes with 73 kilometers to go. Up front Bisolti and Zhupa would be  joined by Wellens, Ligthart and Didier. 62km to go and gap to peloton was 4:27. Forty six kilometers to go and that group had six minutes. It was beginning to look like they might be able to hang on for the stage win. Thirty five kilometers left and that gap was over eight minutes. The bunch clearly was not in a hurry. And this:




Twenty kilometers to go and the gap was under seven minutes. Sixteen kilometers and 6:24. Didier attacked his breakmates. Next up, Wellens. Behind, we were still waiting for the promised Nibali attack. Thirteen kilometers to go, with the gap at 4:45 Fuglsang attacked. Setting up Nibali?
With about 10 kilometers to go: 



Behind, Movistar to the front. Worried about the gap to Fuglsang? Ahead, Wellens was looking good for the stage win. 2.4 kilometers to go and there was Nibali, but he was pulled back as Dumoulin attacked. He would gain time over some of the GC favorites. Gaps!

Stage: Tim Wellens
Pink: Tom Dumoulin


Wine: Rabsaco Cancellil 2013 
From the importer:
The 3.5 hectare estate of Iole Rabasco is located in the village of Pianella, province of Pescara, in the heart of Abruzzo.  The area offers a unique set of meso and micro climates particular to this north-central corner of Abruzzo; the Adriatic is some 40 kilometers away while the base of Gran Sasso flanks the western edge of the Rabasco property.  Iole benefits from inheriting her family’s small vineyard and olive grove both of which are soils that have never been treated with chemicals. 
The vines across the property, almost all montepulciano with a couple rows of trebbiano, are also quite old, 40 years average and rest at some 450 meters above sea level.  Soils are calcareous clay mixed with alluvial sediment and fossil remains.  Vines are trained in the traditional tendone style pergola, all worked by hand.  Yields are kept low but not excessively low as Iole prefers her wines with more acidity and freshness than power and extract.

Natural wine!  Purple and juicy. Cherry and some blackberry.
Great pizza wine

Food:  Rustichella d'Abruzzo: "Gaetano Sergiacomo, maternal grandfather of the current factory owners Gianluigi and Maria Stefania Peduzzi and son of famous millers that worked in the Vestina area, decided in 1924 to separate from the family factory and the milling business, thus founding the Pastificio Gaetano Sergiacomo in Penne.

Rustichella d'Abruzzo exclusively uses the best durum wheat semolina, with a higher gluten rate, kneaded with pure mountain water to give unique taste and consistency to the pasta. The precious bronze dies make the pasta surface rough enough to hold every kind of sauce. The drying process is carried out slowly and at low temperatures, up to 50 hours and around 35°C."

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