Friday, July 16, 2021

Wine & Food of Le Tour 2021, Stage 19: Mourenx to Libourne

Where are we? Leaving the Pyrenees.
Mourenx: Le Tour tells an interesting story: To accompany the discovery of the natural gas deposit at Lacq and the development of an industrial complex, the first new town in France was built in 1958 near a village of 200 souls: Mourenx. This "mushroom" town was built at an extremely fast pace and a few years later had almost 12,000 inhabitants. A striking project in the rural landscape of Béarn: General de Gaulle in 1959 and Nikita Khrushchev in 1960 came to measure the extent of this symbolic construction site of the Sixties and the industrial development of France.
At the heart of this immense and modern building site, the first inhabitants invented a social life and gave a collective soul to the city. They were called "The Pioneers". Mourenx then became a formidable human adventure thanks to the strong solidarity that was established within this young population coming from various territories and backgrounds. This state of mind and this particular atmosphere are still anchored in the town's DNA: life in the neighbourhoods, a wealth of associations and culture, urban renewal and modern infrastructures...
The town of Mourenx remains closely linked to the industrial basin where international companies and start-ups are driving the conversion to renewable energies and the chemistry of tomorrow.The urban landscape has also undergone profound transformations. Rehabilitation, demolition and reconstruction have followed one another for more than 10 years to create a new town that is greener and more accessible to all.

Libourne: Le Tour is sending us surfing: The Libourne tidal bore is surfed by riders from all over the world because the Dordogne wave is unique. As it moves rapidly over the water coming in from the ocean, this spectacular natural phenomenon swells, slips, breaks, foams, reappears, breaks in the Dordogne river bed and moves inland to Libourne and beyond, over 100 km from the ocean. In France, the Libourne tidal bore is number one. Some celebrities like Guillaume Canet and Marion Cotillard have made a habit of coming to surf this exceptional wave every year.

Le Tour Specialties:
Mourenx:  Jurançon wines, Roussanne fishing (since the 16th century), Béarn cider, cheeses, ice cream... and all the specialities of Béarn
Libourne:wine (3 renowned appellations in the commune Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, Lalande de Pomerol...), lamprey à la Bordelaise (river fish similar to eel), bouchon du Vigneron (biscuit, a Libourne speciality)

Christian Prudhomme says: On the traditional “Landes stage”, one logically predicts a bunched sprint based on the number of sprinters still in the race after surviving the mountains. But will they be able to master the events and circumstances? Redesigned and coming after three weeks of racing, it could also suit a courageous adventurer.

The stage: The question of the day was: will Cavendish's team have the legs to keep the break close, to give him a chance at 35? Or were there legs tired from the mountains and they could not control things?
It was not an easy start to the stage with crashes and some anger in the peloton. Eventually, there would be a group of twenty in the front: Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma), Julien Bernard, Jasper Stuvyen, Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo), Davide Ballerini (DQS), Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe), Christophe Laporte (Cofidis), Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Fenix), Michael Valgren, Jonas Rutsch (EF Education-Nippo), Elie Gesbert (Arkea-Samsic), Casper Pedersen (DSM), Brent Van Moer (Lotto-Soudal), Ion Izagirre (Astana), Simon Clarke, Max Walscheid (Qhubeka-NextHash), Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies), Franck Bonnamour (B&B-KTM), Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Wanty Gobert) and Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious).
Eighty five kilometers to go and their gap was 1:50. Seventy seven to go and it was out to four minutes.
Cav seemed content.
Sixty five kilometers to go and the gap was more than seven minutes. Fifty five kilometers to go and it was ten minutes. As they rode along, attacks from within the break and they would eventually split.
I was enjoying the scenery.
Twenty sic kilometers to go and Mohoric attacked off the front of the break.  Seventeen kilometers to go and he had about fifty seconds. Eleven kilometers to go and he had forty seconds. Behind him, the chase continued to attack each other.
The peloton, by the was, was eighteen minutes back.
Mohoric would hold on for the win!
Stage:
Pos.Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain Victorious4:19:17
2Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis0:00:58
3Casper Pedersen (Den) Team DSM
4Mike Teunissen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
5Nils Politt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe0:01:08
6Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
7Michael Valgren (Den) EF Education-Nippo
8Georg Zimmermann (Ger) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
9Anthony Turgis (Fra) TotalEnergies
10Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo  


The wine: Closeries Des Moussis Debordant 2017
Christy says: Pascale Choime and Laurence Alias founded this micro-winery in 2008. These two friends have created a beautiful anomaly in the land of big Bordeaux: lady run, micro-scale, organic farming integrated with biodynamic principles, and lovely, elegant wines made with a light touch.

This bottling includes fruit from both Blaye (within Bordeaux) and Duras (not Bordeaux) so it's tecnhincally a Vin de France, not a Bordeaux. It's a blend of malbec and merlot, so the fruit leans a little deeper and darker (think dark cherries with a whiff of cocoa power) than your usual merlot-dominated Bordeaux.

The food: Béarnaise Sauce , recipe from Epicurious

INGREDIENTS

    • 1 tablespoon plus 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
    • 3 tablespoons minced shallots
    • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
    • 2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
    • 2 large egg yolks
    • 1 tablespoon (or more) fresh lemon juice
    • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon

PREPARATION

    1. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and a pinch of salt and pepper; stir to coat. Stir in vinegar, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until vinegar is evaporated, 3-4 minutes. Reduce heat to low and continue cooking shallots, stirring frequently, until tender and translucent, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer shallot reduction to a small bowl and let cool completely.
    2. Meanwhile, fill a blender with hot water to warm it; set aside. Melt remaining 1 cup butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until butter is foamy. Transfer butter to a measuring cup.
    3. Drain blender and dry well. Combine egg yolks, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon water in warm, dry blender. Purée mixture until smooth. Remove lid insert. With blender running, slowly pour in hot butter in a thin stream of droplets, discarding milk solids at bottom of measuring cup. Continue blending until a smooth, creamy sauce forms, 2-3 minutes. Pour sauce into a medium bowl. Stir in shallot reduction and tarragon and season to taste with salt, pepper, and more lemon juice, if desired. 
    4. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 hour ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.
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