Saturday, May 29, 2021

Wine and Food of the Giro 2021 Stage 20: Verbania to Valle Spluga-Alpe Motta

Where are we? Heading from Piedmont to Lombardy, with a visit to Switzerland.

Verbania: Lonely Planet tells me that: Verbania, the biggest town on Lake Maggiore, makes a good base for exploring the west bank. The town is strung out along the lakeshore and consists of three districts. Verbania Pallanza, the middle chunk, is the most interesting of the three, with a pretty waterfront and a ferry stop.

Valle Spluga-Alpe Motta: The Giro tells me that: Campodolcino, at an altitude of 1070m within the Valle Spluga, is a delightful mountain village above Valchiavenna and is located halfway between the historic town of Chiavenna and the Spluga Pass.

Giro Specialties:

Verbania:Thanks to the winning combination of the gastronomic excellences of lake and mountain, Verbania offers a variety of flavors which it is difficult to resist. For those who love lake fish, unmissable is the experience of a perch, served in exquisite fillets or added as a refined ingredient  to a dish of rice;  another gastronomic experience is a dish of fried “alborelle” (small fish) or the carpione (fish cooked in vinegar) made with the catch of the day. The typical dishes also include rice, cultivated in the nearby rice fields of Novara and Vercelli, often served in combination with lake fish or in the “Milanese” variant with saffron, which is now cultivated on the hills surrounding Verbania. The Ossola Valley offers a wide choice of salami and dry meats: Mortadella Ossolana, the Valle Vigezzo Ham and Goat Violin (goat thigh and shoulder), the lard at the herbs of Macugnaga, the Mocetta and the Bresaola.  Among the local cheeses of mountain pasture, the most renowned is the Bettelmatt whose forms are sold at auction. Numerous and fine the varieties of honeys of the territory: chestnut honey,  robinia honey, linden honey,  rhododendron honey, to name a few. Honey, cheese, salami and dry meats are served with slices of “black bread” (rye bread) the most famous of which is the Black Bread of Coimo. Verbania typical cookies are: Amaretti di Pallanza (almond cookies) and Intresine, butter biscuits with almonds and hazelnuts. Other famous cookies of the area are: Margheritine di Stresa (butter cookies invented by the pastry chefs of Stresa on the occasion of the first communion of Margherita di Savoia, future queen of Italy) and the Fugascina of Mergozzo (sort of thin shortbread). 

Valle Spluga-Alpe Motta: Valchiavenna cuisine: a diverse range of propositions including Crotti, characteristic restaurants and yet also more sophisticated environs. Local gastronomy is best enjoyed in the Crotti, originally cold natural stores formed within the rocks themselves. But that’s not all. Consider too starred restaurants awarded by the most prestigious gastronomic guides. The elevation of local products represents a perfect balance between loyalty to tradition and a curiosity, a quest for innovation. Brisaola, as it remains known in local shops, is key to distinguishing the cured meat from that produced in Valtellina. It goes way back. Indeed in 1400 “carne salada” was reported to be in production, the name deriving from “brisa”, a very salty bovine gland. Anyone wishing to enjoy authentic mountain cuisine should taste Valchiavenna’s noted gnocchi, seasoned with rich Alpine butter and Magnocca cheese available in all family-run restaurants and trattorias. And to finish off a hearty “Alpine” repast what better than to enjoy a “cicchettino” or shot of grappa, distilled from the pomace sourced from Chiavenna wine producers.

Violino di Capra from Valchiavenna is one of those products that are consumed above all in the cold season. They act as a stimulant for conviviality and represent handsomely that sense of sociability which embodies the very real “school of humanity” of the crotti. But Violino di Capra is anything but a simple cured meat. It comes from an ancient local tradition, always guided by the precise rules for the preparation and conservation of the goat’s leg or shoulder. A tour de force of gastronomy, so much so that it’s deservedly become a point of reference for the Slow Food Presidium. The end result is a cured meat that you don’t find in slices¸ but purchase whole. Its name is essentially taken from the shape, reminiscent of that of a violin, with the leg serving as the neck and the muscle mass the main body. The way in which the meat is sliced, taking away curls of meat using narrow blade knives, is remarkably similar to the action performed by violinists whilst playing. Violino di Capra is a classic of Valchiavenna.
The ancient tradition of the movement of people through and over the surrounding Alpine valleys and passes, from Germany, Austria and Switzerland stimulated, and thus made widespread, the techniques of working and salting meats. But today there are very few craftsmen left who engage with and work this special piece of goat along traditional guidelines. As the Slow Food Presidium reminds us, tradition maintains that “il violino” at dinner should pass from hand to hand so that each of the company would slice off his own portion. There was a time too when the piece would have been aged in the crotti with its perfect, natural ventilation for slow maturation. You can still find this “speciality” in some of the town’s butchers and other nearby traditional venues. Some restaurants organise “violino” tastings or menus inspired by such exquisite meats. But it’s a delight to be experienced in company, taking all the time necessary to appreciate a genuine embodiment of local history.

The Stage: I did say that today would likely be more challenging than yesterday. The break of the day: Dries De Bondt, Louis Vervaeke (Alpecin-Fenix), Simon Pellaud (Androni-Sidermec), Giovanni Visconti (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Felix Großschartner (Bora-hansgrohe), Vincenzo Albanese (EOLO-Kometa), Taco Van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) and Nico Denz (Team DSM).
Just under eighty kilometers to go and they had about 3:30. Behind, a grupetto was already forming. Ahead, the break would fall apart with Felix Großschartner, Louis Vervaeke, Giovanni Visconti and Vincenzo Albanese in the lead. They would eventually be joined by Pellaud.
With a bit more than sixty kilometers to go, Team DSM came to the front working for Bardet. That pace brought the gap under two minutes.
There was a bit of snow: At the summit, the peloton was less than one minute back. It was time for a very long descent, with Bardet and teammates getting a gap, followed by Caruso and Bilbao.  
Rain on the road was menacing.  As they continued, it was time to head back toward Italy, after their quick trip to Switzerland. Amazing road alert.
At the summit, the gap was forty three seconds as the front group faced the wet descent. Under twenty kilometers to go, the gap was still almost forty seconds. The final climb would start with 7.3 kilometers to go and we were hoping for fireworks. But it was clear no one was stronger in the gc group than Martinez and Bernal. 
On a positive note, Caruso would hold on for the stage win. On either a bad or good note depending upon your take, Martinez would once again by the rider of the day, bringing Bernal to the finish in great shape.

Stage:
Pos.Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious4:27:53
2Egan Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers0:00:24
3Daniel Martinez Poveda (Col) Ineos Grenadiers0:00:35
4Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM
5João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-QuickStep0:00:41
6Simon Yates (GBr) Team BikeExchange0:00:51
7Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech0:01:13
8Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-Nippo0:01:29
9Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team0:02:07
10Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team0:02:23

GC:
Pos.Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Egan Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers85:41:47
2Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious0:01:59
3Simon Yates (GBr) Team BikeExchange0:03:23
4Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech0:07:07
5Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM0:07:48
6Daniel Martinez Poveda (Col) Ineos Grenadiers0:07:56
7Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-Nippo0:08:22
8João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-QuickStep0:08:50
9Tobias Foss (Nor) Jumbo-Visma0:12:39
10Dan Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation0:16:48


The Wine: Diego Conterno Barolo
Back to Dig for this treat.
The importer tells me that: A rising star in the southern reaches of the Barolo zone, Diego Conterno and his son, Stefano, craft elegant, lively Nebbiolo wines in Monforte d’Alba.

Trained by Piedmont legend Beppe Colla years ago at Prunotto, Diego with his cousins helped establish Conterno-Fantino in 1982. After nearly two decades of crafting bold wines at this modern Barolo estate, Diego felt it was time for him to explore a more natural expression of Nebbiolo.

He left the family project to start his own in 2000, bringing with him from his family’s holdings a nearly five-acre plot in ‘Ginestra,’ unquestionably Monforte’s top cru. In 2010, his son Stefano joined the estate, adding a new energy and focus to its already growing reputation for quality in Monforte.  

Crucially, Diego Conterno wines “blend the energy and brawn of Monforte with the translucence of traditionally inspired winemaking,” says Antonio Galloni. Rich and potent yet utterly suave in perfume and flavor, wines across the board are made naturally, fermented on indigenous yeasts in neutral cement tanks and aged in traditional large oak cask (botti). All vines are cared for organically.


The Food: Bettelmatt cheese
From the importer: The history of using alpine huts in Val d’Ossola has been known since before the first century. The mountains of this area, even at very high altitudes, have wide, sheltered pastures for the animals and it is this characteristic that the local alpine shepherds have turned to good account in creating excellent cheeses throughout the centuries.  The most famous alpine cheese-making hut in the Ossola area is Bettelmatt, in the high Val Formazza, in the northern part of Ossola, but equal fame has spread to those in Toggia, Kastel, Sangiatto, Lago Vannino, Alpe Forno and Poiala – all situated at over two thousand metres and all in the Val Formazza. They have a very limited production of only a few hundred forms each every year. These are all made during July and August and used to be brought down to the valleys by mules but, more recently, they make the trip down in helicopters. Since the summer season of 2003, in order to distinguish them from the=
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