Saturday, September 19, 2020

Wine and Food of Le Tour 2020 Stage 20

From the race director: The end of Tour time-trials are the less predictable of the discipline. They’re even less when the course on the menu is an uphill climb like the one to La Planche-des-Belles-Filles, 5.9kms long at an average of 8.5%. If the gaps are small, the positions on the podium could dramatically change.

Specialties Lure: potée comtoise, cancoillotte (melted cheese), Luxeuil ham, craquelés lurons (biscuits), griottines from Fougerolles, trésor des Ballons (pastry created by chefs from the Ballons des Vosges Regional Nature Park)

Specialties La Planche-des-Belles-Filles: cancoillotte cheese, Charcenne wine and cheese, Fougerolles AOC kirsch, Villeminfroy water, Grillotines of Fougerolles, myrtles in Belfahy, Montbozon biscuits, Luxeuil lace, Passavant-la-TarbesRochère glass and crystal.


The stage: Why hello time trial. We've missed you. Time trials at the end of grand tours are designed for drama: two rivals close enough on GC that a winning ride is essential to keep the race leader's jersey. There was also the race for the stage win, which is a very different animal during a time trial than during a road stage, the old cliche of each man for himself.  
With a little over half the riders having started, our stage leader was a name we had seen recently:
Some trivia for the day: Since 1934, only five editions of the Tour de France had only one time trial: 1934, 1947, 1948, 1953 and 2014. On the other hand, the 1979 edition of the reached a record number of 7 time trials for a total number of kilometres of 340km.

Cavagna would hold onto that position for a long time.
Looking very good on the road was Van Aert. And he would come in with the best time of the day: 57' 26".
Having a good day on the bike, Pogacar. He would pass Lopez, his two minute man. Also very fast, Dumoulin. He would come in at 57:16 and into the hot seat.
Behind him, Pogacar still seemed to be having a better day than Roglic.
This was looking like a shocking stage.
Riding himself onto the podium: Richie Porte!
Pogacar in at 55:55. Wow. Roglic would come in  5th on the stage, 1'56'' down on Pogacar. I, for one, would have lost a bet today.

And the GC heading into Paris.

The wine: Meyer Fonne Pinot Noir Altenbourg 2015
I opened this after a long breaking news day and actually said out loud: wow, this is good.
From the importer: While Alsace is predominantly a white wine–growing region, roughly ten percent of its vineyard land is planted to Pinot Noir. This has typically gone toward the production of sparkling whites and rosés, but recently Alsatian reds have been gaining significant momentum, as ambitious vignerons seek to take advantage of the increasingly warm climate to craft serious red wines. Furthermore, the varied soil types on the eastern flank of the Vosges give many expressions of the grape.
The 2015 is Felix Meyer’s inaugural “Altenbourg” bottling and it has come out of the gates with an electric start. This is a rich, ample, seductive wine with notes of tea leaves, strawberries, and blackberries, ready to drink now or in 5-10 years. Its class reaches that of many premier cru red Burgundies, so if you have not experienced the beauty of top-notch Alsace Pinot Noir, this is a perfect place to start.


In 2015, the Park ordered a travel cake recipe from the final year students of the JBS Chardin high school in Gérardmer and the packaging and communication research to the pro license students of the IUT of St-Dié-des-Vosges. The territory of the Park is known for its blue line, its balloons and its industrial valleys and for its different gastronomic features. Until now, there has not been an emblematic common cake from the south of the Vosges Mountains that you can share during a hike or bring back from your vacation to offer it to your neighbors.

The Trésor des Ballons, an ambassadorial cake created by the Park, is a collective project whose creation has been entrusted to young people, a symbol of the future and renewal. The park accompanied them in the discovery of the smells, colors, shapes and products of its territory.

The recipe for this so-called travel cake was created by the students of the professional high school JBS Chardin in Gérardmer , the packaging research by a trainee from the IUT of Colmar , the communication by the students of the professional license of the IUT of Saint- Dié-des-Vosges .

Storyteller Françoise PECCHIURA was invited to write the legend. The molds were designed by the company de Buyer from Val d'Ajol.

The Ballons treasure has been marketed since July 2016 in 39 pastry shops in Haut-Rhin , Haute-Saône, Territoire de Belfort and Vosges. The brand belongs to the Park and an agreement specifies the details of this partnership with professional unions and pastry craftsmen. It confirms everyone's commitment to making quality pastry and promoting the use of products in short circuits. Its rectangular shape and the design of the communication make it a modern and authentic product at the same time.

This financier with wild blueberry, brimbelle, gingerbread dough base and blueberry jam. The soft pastry can be kept for 15 days without the need for particular freshness. Enough to easily feed a hike or constitute an ideal present when returning from a stay in the Vosges heights.
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1 comment:

  1. dustbunny8September 19, 2020 at 7:52 PM

    Always enjoy your food and wine of the Le Tour' thank you for doing it again in this crazy year. Anything like normal is a treasure.

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