Friday, July 26, 2019

Wine & Food of Le Tour 2019: Stage 19: Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne > Tignes

Where are we? 
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne: Knives!: The Opinel family forged metal from the very beginning of the 19th century in the little village of Albiez-le-Vieux, near Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. But it was Joseph Opinel who, in 1880, designed the knife that would make a fortune and the family’s name, before deciding to dedicate production solely to cutlery. In 1909, the brand and logo name were registered, the latter adorned with the thumb, index and middle fingers of St John the Baptist pointing at a crown – the three fingers were brought to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne by St Thecla in the sixth century and also appear on the town’s coat of arms. This simple but practical knife, with a fishtail handle cut from beech or birch and stylish carbon steel blade, has been an outstanding success. At the beginning of the Second World War, 20 million of them had been sold. This figure has now increased to 260 million units, most of them fitted the safety catch introduced in 1955 and improved in 2006. In 1973 production moved from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Cognin, near Chambery, then to Chambéry itself. But the town that was the origin of France’s most famous knife retains a museum dedicated to it. One of the most popular in Savoie, the museum now receives more than 55,000 visitors each year. St. Jean de Maurienne also placed a giant Opinel on a roundabout coming into town. For the amateur cyclist, a race known as Montée de l’Opinel, held in August, leads from St. Jean de Maurienne to the village of Albiez where the Opinel saga started -- the climb is as sharp as a blade.
Specialities: diots and pormoniers (Savoy sausages), farcement (potato and bacon cake), beaufort, persan (red wine) 

 Tignes: Indoor skiing? Maybe says LeTour: Since late 2016, Tignes has launched the unprecedented project of creating an indoor ski slope, the Tignes Sport Arena, which would make it possible to ski every day of the year. Tignes is historically a hotbed of professional training both nationally and internationally. The physical preparation of high-level skiers starts in the summer. European glaciers, including the Tignes glacier, are part of the training bases of the international ski federations. But here as elsewhere, global warming translates into a loss of glacier skiing in the summer. At a time when some athletes are training on the snowy slopes of the southern hemisphere, the Tignes Sport Arena complements both the positioning of the station and the offer of skiing on the glacier.
In winter, the Tignes Sport Arena will be open on one side and become an integral part of the ski domain. The track, covered with a snow mat made of natural snow, can be thematised by including play and technical areas (toboggan run, Snow Park, slalom track, ...). The creation of a surf wave is part of the same logic of simulator experiences.
Specialties: Tignes persillé (cheese), Lace.
The stage: He made it through yesterday, but the question again today was could Alaphilippe make it through the day in yellow? My amateur opinion? Maybe. I'd like him to.
Always fun to see the break of the day form. We had many trying, including Nibali. While the break struggled to form, I was catching up on cyclist Twitter. 


 

 Yikes. The peloton was already splitting up. This would be a long day on a short stage for the grupetto. With 96 kilometers to go, there were only around 40 riders left in the yellow jersey group. Ahead, Nibali, Bilbao, Herrada and Dan Martin had only 20''. 
At the doctor's car: Pinot getting some sort of treatment on his knee. He looked to be in significant pain and would drop way behind the main bunch. Never a good sign when they wave the teammates away. Ahead apparently the leading quartet had been caught, but the cameras were not leaving the struggling Pinot. Going into the stage, he was many's pick to win the Tour. With a final hug from a teammate, he would dismount, Tour over. 


 

Meanwhile, back at the front, At km 50, 29 riders were in the lead with a one minute gap:  Dylan van Baarle (Ineos), Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hasngrohe), Tony Gallopin (AG2R-La Mondiale), Vincenzo Nibali and Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Merida), Sébastien Reichenbach (Groupama-FDJ), Alejandro Valverde, Marc Soler and Andrey Amador (Movistar), Pello Bilbao, Gorka Izagirre, Magnus Cort and Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Laurens De Plus (Jumbo-Visma), Rigoberto Uran, Alberto Bettiol and Michael Woods (EF Education First), Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), Dan Martin and Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates), Giulio Ciccone and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), Michael Matthews (Sunweb), Jesus Herrada (Cofidis), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Guillaume Martin (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Roman Kreuziger (Dimension Data), Warren Barguil and Elie Gesbert (Arkéa-Samsic).


 


With 60 kilometers to go, the yellow jersey group was 2' behind the 21 remaining riders at the front. Valverde and Uran, both gc threats, were still there. Very dark clouds ahead. 


 

Ahead: Uran, Valverde, Barguil, G. Martin, Reichenbach, Lutsenko, De Plus, Woods, Ciccone, Nibali, Caruso, S. Yates, Amador, Cort formed the 14-man leading group with 9 km left until the summit of Iseran.
Yikes. Mas dropped, leaving Alaphilippe isolated. Also dropping: Quintana. At the front of the group: Geraint Thomas. Alaphilippe was again visibly struggling. 


 


 With forty kilometers remaining, and three from the top of Iseran there were five at the front: Uran, Barguil, Bernal, Nibali, and Yates. Alaphilippe was bleeding time behind.
Ahead, Bernal was in virtual yellow.


 

Finally reaching the top: Alaphilippe, just over two minutes down on Bernal. This descent would be terrifying. Visible hail on the road ahead. Snow plow on the road!
Oh wow. They stopped the race due to the weather conditions. 


 



  
1. Egan Bernal
2. Julian Alaphilippe, at 45’’
3. Geraint Thomas, at 1’3’’
4. Steven Kruijswijk, at 1’15’’
5. Emanuel Buchmann, at 1’42’’

The wine: Dupasquier Savoie Gamay 
From the importer: David Dupasquier is a fifth generation winemaker at this ultra-traditional domaine.  He and his sister Veronique run the domaine, but their Father Noel is still very much involved in the vineyards and in the cellar.
The Dupasquier vineyards are located in a southwestern lobe of the Savoie, close to the Rhône Valley.  One drives through a large mountain called “Le Dent du Chat” to arrive at the domaine, and the terroir seems almost instantly to become more Rhône-ish on the western side of this tunnel. The town is called Aimavigne, and its most prestigious vineyard is the incredibly steep “Marestel” Cru (pronounced “mah-reh-tehl” no “s”). The vines benefit from steep, sun-drenched slopes, primarily limestone soil, and the cooling effects of Lake Bourget.  David works these vineyards with a tractor and by hand – the Marestel vines entirely by hand, as a good percentage of the best sites are too steep to work with a tractor.  Plowing is done once per year for every other row and David believes that the biodiversity this leaves in the vineyard is critical for the quality of wines.  Harvest is by hand and clusters are hand selected. The style of these wines absolutely reflects the place, as well as the vineyard and cellar work.  There’s a warmth and ripeness to the wines that calls the Rhône Valley to mind, yet with freshness, acidity, and cut reminiscent of the Savoie.  The whites are broad across the palate, the Jacquère more delicate, and Roussette richer, with Marestel the richest, also the most structured and age worthy.  The reds also show a level of ripeness that is extraordinary for the Savoie.  Gamay and Pinot Noir from Dupasquier have a gorgeous core of vivid, sweet red fruit and a textural harmony that speaks to their years of aging in barrel and bottle before release.  In our opinion the Dupasquier’s top red wine is their Mondeuse.  Like other great medium bodied, tannic varieties such as Syrah and Cabernet Franc, Mondeuse benefits from long aging in neutral barrel, which softens the tannins, integrating them with the rest of the wine’s deep, spicy aromas and flavors.

 The food: Farcement, from a regional tourist site
Ingredients : for 6 people


  • 25 thin rashers of smoked streaky bacon
  • 1.3 kg potatoes 
  • 1 handful raisins
  • 10 prunes
  • 10 dried kergnes (pears) 
  • Salt and pepper 
Peel and finely grate the potatoes. Drain them and remove excess moisture with a cloth before placing them in a large bowl. Add the raisins, and then the prunes and dried pears cut into small pieces. Mix the ingredients to obtain a homogenous and consistent paste. Season. Line the mould with rashers of smoked bacon. Fill the mould with the potato mixture and cover. Place the sealed mould in a saucepan full of water and leave to boil for 3 or 4 hours. Empty the mould onto a plate (the farcement should be firm and not collapse). Serve cut into slices.
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