Sunday, July 14, 2019

Wine and Food of LeTour 2019: Stage 9: Saint-Étienne > Brioude

Where are we? 
Brioude in the Auvergne.  The local tourist site suggests we go and see some art at the The Doyenne Center of Modern and Contemporary Art: This building was the residence of the dean, one of the 3 dignitaries of the chapter of canons of Brioude.The Doyenné, a real fortress, remained for a long time in the hands of Mercoeur's family. In 1282, an agreement was signed between the Mercoeur and the chapter; thus the new dean, Gaucelin de La Garde, a family of knights of Gevaudan, began the work of restoration of the building which was strongly degraded. Thanks to dendrochronology (from the precise wood dating method) it turns out that the armored ceiling could not be started before 1297/1298: rare heraldic decoration, carved and painted woods where hunting scenes and fantastic bestiary are mixed .
With the Revolution of 1789 and the disappearance of the chapter of canons, the building was sold as a national property and he enjoyed various fortunes during the nineteenth century: this is how the city council proposed to sell it in 1875.This proposal was , fortunately, rejected. 
During the twentieth century, the building was occupied by the Caisse d'Epargne, then by the media library and the Tourist Office. However, the upstairs rooms were closed for security reasons. 
Since 2016 a quality restoration has allowed to assign this building to a cultural function, there are now 5 exhibition halls of modern and contemporary art that welcome visitors.
 Specialties: Auvergne meats / cheeses (Saint-nectaire, cantal, bleu d’Auvergne, Fourme d'Ambert), apple pump, tripoux, lentils, stuffed cabbage. Saint Géron water (slightly sparkling).

The stage: Happy Bastille Day! With a frenchmen in yellow! 
The day starts with a crash and abandonment for deMarch. 
The break of the day is not nearly as French as I would have expected:
Lukas Pöstlberger, Oliver Naesen, Ivan Garcia Cortina, Jan Tratnik, Tony Martin, Simon Clarke, Daryl Impey, Jasper Stuyven, Nicolas Roche, Jesus Herrada, Tiejs Benoot, Romain Sicard, Edvald Boasson Hagen, and Anthony Delaplace.They would eventually be joined by Marc Soler.
The crowds are a bit raucous today:

 
Really, the crowds:

On the road, with 100 kilometers to go, the break was above ten minutes.Which makes it the largest break so far of this year's Tour. With 70 kilometers to go, the gap was still ten minutes. 
Relaxed?


Ahead, the break riders had begun to attack each other. With 35 kilometers to go, Pöstlberger was 20 seconds ahead of his former breakaway companions. The peloton was 11:15 back.
He would be caught by a group of seven: Benoot, Tratnik, Naesen, Stuyven, Soler, Impey and Roche. 


Surging into the lead: Roche and Benoot. Catching them: Impey.
Meanwhile, in the back, some attacks from the peloton, including Bardet, the local rider of the day, and Porte. It did not last as Ineos shut the attempt down.
With three kilometers to go, Benoot and Impey had about thirteen seconds. 
Impey! Not surprising that he would win that sprint.
That was a well-deserved win, but this field art is what I will remember.


 
Coming in at a leisurely pace, the peloton, more than ten minutes down. The rest day can't come soon enough!

The stage:



GC:

1 JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE 21 DECEUNINCK - QUICK - STEP 38h 37' 36'' - B : 24'' -
2 GIULIO CICCONE 133 TREK - SEGAFREDO 38h 37' 59'' + 00h 00' 23'' B : 14'' -
3 THIBAUT PINOT 51 GROUPAMA - FDJ 38h 38' 29'' + 00h 00' 53'' B : 8'' -
4 GEORGE BENNETT 82 TEAM JUMBO - VISMA 38h 38' 46'' + 00h 01' 10'' - -
5 GERAINT THOMAS 1 TEAM INEOS 38h 38' 48'' + 00h 01' 12'' - -
6 EGAN BERNAL 2 TEAM INEOS 38h 38' 52'' + 00h 01' 16'' - -
7 STEVEN KRUIJSWIJK 81 TEAM JUMBO - VISMA 38h 39' 03'' + 00h 01' 27'' - -
8 RIGOBERTO URAN 91 EF EDUCATION FIRST 38h 39' 14'' + 00h 01' 38'' - -
9 JAKOB FUGLSANG 71 ASTANA PRO TEAM 38h 39' 18'' + 00h 01' 42'' - -
10 EMANUEL BUCHMANN 12 BORA - HANSGROHE 38h 39' 21'' + 00h 01' 45'' - -


 The wine:Marie et Vincent Tricot Trois Bonhommes Rouge 2016 from CopakeWineWorks
Pinot noir from the Loire. 
From the importer: Born in Anjou, Vincent left the Loire and attended Oenology School in Beaujolais in the early 1990’s. After graduating he stayed in the region and apprenticed in Brouilly from winemaker Patrick Coton. Around this time he met Marcel Lapierre and several other winemakers who were beginning to attract attention to their non-interventionist style of winemaking.  Vincent was moved by their wines and quickly decided that this was the path for him.
In 2002, after travelling the world, he moved with his wife and their 2 daughters to the village of Orcet in Auvergne. They purchased  4.5 ha of organic vines and planted an additional  6 ha.  Vincent had learned that the region had one of the largest concentrations of pre-phylloxera vines in France and was eager for such a rare opportunity to work with.
In 2003 the family produced their first cuvee in “Les Marcottes” without any added sulphur and have continued that approach for all of the wines.  They Currently grow Gamay, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc and hope to plant more vines in the coming years.

 The food: Cantal Cheese  
Cantal AOC is one of the oldest cheeses in France dating to the times of the Gaul’s rule. It received an Appellation d'Origine (AOC) status from the administrative region of Cantal in the Auvergne region in 1956. This has ensured that the semi-hard, uncooked, pressed cheese has the features and characteristics attributable to the area of origin.
I admit that although it is not traditional at all, this ended up (with many other cheeses) in a baked mac and cheese.  
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