Friday, September 4, 2020

Wine and food of Le Tour 2020: Stage 7

From the race director: In the areas of Aveyron and Tarn where one doesn’t quite know what “flat” means, the roads are never easy. Other than the hilly course, before visiting Castres, the plans of the sprinters’ teams could be troubled by the wind that can be very strong in the region.

Translation: this could be a spring stage, but don't be surprised if it all blows apart instead.

Le Tour has this to say about today's region: Known for its Millau viaduct, Aveyron is an attractive department at the centre of a triangle formed by the cities of Toulouse, Clermont-Ferrand and Montpellier. It is divided into several natural regions such as Aubrac or Larzac. The Truyère, Lot, Aveyron and Tarn rivers cut deep valleys on its soil. Aveyron has 10 Plus Beaux Villages de France and the Soulages museum. Several of its sites are listed as World Heritage by Unesco (Conques, the GR65 – French routes to Santiago de Compostela -, the Causses and the Cévennes). Gastronomy is important in Aveyron thanks to a variety and subtlety of local products from various terroirs with a strong identity. The markets prove it daily with a profusion of products: cheeses, meats and dishes, wines…
The Millau viaduct breaks many records. It stands at 343 metres (higher than the Eiffel Tower). Despite being 2,460-metres long, it only rests on nine pillars planted in the Tarn valley. Conceived by French engineer Michel Virlogeux and designed by British architect Lord Norman Foster, it fits perfectly into a grandiose and intact natural landscape.

Specialties Millau: aligot (mash and cheese), estofinade, Roquefort, Fleur d’Aubrac (meat), Aveyron veal, spit cake, farçous, truffade (truffle omelette), fouace, soleil de Marcillac, tripous, trénels, cheese soup, flaune, échaudés…
Sepcialties Lavaur: bougnettes, melsat (delicatessen), pink garlic from Lautrec, Gaillac wines. Garbure (soup).


The stage:
And, indeed, early in the stage the peloton did blow apart!
💪 And this is the result of the very high pace set by the Bora-Hansgrohe riders : the peloton has broken into pieces!

💪 Et voici le résultat de ce rythme élevé: le peloton est en morceaux ! #TDF2020 #TDFunited pic.twitter.com/fmeHW2o9fF
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) September 4, 2020
The question was: would it remain that day or would the dropped riders make it back?  Le Tour had some details: The yellow jersey peloton comprises 92 riders while the Bennett group at 1'45'' has 57 riders. Bora keeps pulling the peloton with the intermediate sprint at km 58 in mind. At that sprint point it was Matteo Trentin beating Peter Sagan. Bryan Coquard was third, Julian Alaphilippe fourth.
Back into green went Sagan!
Ninety five kilometers to go and a solo attack by De Gendt.
Small crash in the peloton with Soler among those involved. They would all be back riding quickly.
Tractors! Sixty five kilometers to go and De Gendt was twenty five seconds ahead of the yellow jersey group. Forty five kilometers to go and De Gendt had fifty seconds.
DeGendt caught and more splits! Among those not in the front group, Porte, Pogacar, and Landa. 
Mechanical for Carapaz and he would chase in between the groups before eventually being caught by group two.
Fifteen kilometers and a minute between groups one and two.
There were forty left in the front group as they approached the finish.



The wine: Fabien Jouves Maas del Perie Les Agudes 2019
Christy says: - Cahors (but this is a white kitchen sink blend, so it's not really "cahors"

The importer tells me: Fabien Jouves is from an old farming family in Causse and became a winemaker in 2006 when he created his first cuvée, “Mas del Périé”, on the highest slopes of Cahors.

Jouves’ estate, 21 hectares in the junction of Quercy and Cahors, was selected to highlight the many expression of Côt. Reinforcing this is Fabien’s commitment to biodynamic viticulture that respects “life, plant, man, and the environment.” Following biodynamic agriculture adds strength to his terroir by supporting the whole environment from the vines to the animals.

The vinification is completely natural without any oenological inputs. His wines are then aged in concrete vats, barrels, or casks, according to its characteristics and personality.

See more here from Eric Asimov.


The food: Potatoes, cheese, butter, why not? As tasty as we found it, our pictures were lousy. You can see a few better images, along with a recipe at SeriousEats.
The tourist website provided an easy recipe:
Serves 6 :Ingredients
* 1 kg of floury potatoes
* 100 g of butter
* 250 g of creme fraiche
* 400 g of tome fraîche de Laguiole
* clove of garlic
* Salt pepper
Cook
Prepare a classic mash potatoes, add to this purée the butter and the creme fraiche. Season with salt, pepper and a hint of garlic.
Heat up the mash and add the cheese cut in small strips, then stir slowly with a wooden spoon. (This takes a little while and is very good arm exercise!)
When the mixture becomes stringy the Aligot is ready!
Serve with sausages or a pork or beef roast.
Enjoy!
Tip: take the cheese out of the fridge early enough, the stirring will be much easier.
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