Friday, July 15, 2022

Wine and Food of the Tour de France 2022 Stage 13: Le Bourg d'Oisans to Saint Étienne

Where are we? Out of the alps! 

Le Bourg d'Oisans: Le Tour tells me that the municipal territory, with a surface area of 5,600 hectares, stretches over 22 km and presents two very different aspects:
- An inhabited and developed plain to the north. A bucolic area bordered by rugged cliffs and steep wooded slopes, the Romanche river takes a short respite before resuming its tumultuous course in a deep valley.
- A high wild valley to the south. A renowned natural area, it encloses Lake Lauvitel, the jewel of the Ecrins National Park.
The environmental quality of the commune is rare: almost the entire commune is classified as a ZNIEFF, 34 pc as a Natura 2000 zone, about 40 hectares as a Sensitive Natural Area, and 700 hectares (at Lauvitel) as an "integral reserve", a unique area in France dedicated to the study of natural ecosystems. With a third of its territory located in the "heart zone" of the Ecrins National Park.
The Bourg d'Oisans plain, once the granary of the Oisans region, is now trying to preserve its bocage landscape by maintaining agricultural activity.

Le Tour specialties: Farcis de l'Oisans (cabbage + pork), gratin dauphinois, crozets (potato gnocchi), génépi, goat cheese. Goodwin brewery. Crafts: about fifty crystal makers extract minerals from the mountain walls and put them on display. There is a partnership with the Chamonix Crystal Museum.

Saint Étienne: Le Tour tells me that Visiting Saint-Etienne means living a permanent design experience: in the architecture, in everyday life, in the development of the territory, but above all at the heart of the local initiatives that flourish in the many collaborative places. They are carried out by artists, designers, scientists or entrepreneurs from Saint Etienne, who are both actors and ambassadors of the city. It is not surprising that Saint-Etienne is the only French city to be awarded the UNESCO "Creative Design" label, alongside Montreal, Shanghai, Detroit and Barcelona. In 2020, Saint-Etienne also received its second Unesco label as an "Inclusive City of Design", and in 2021 it was awarded the highest distinction of the "Active and Sports City" label.
Le Tour specialties:  Pilat wines (Côte-Rotie, Condrieu, Saint-Joseph, Château-Grillet), bugnes, sarasson.


Christian Prudhomme says: It’s fair to assume that an important episode in the battle for the green jersey will be played out in the home of Les Verts, the nickname of Saint- Étienne’s illustrious, green-shirted football team. A profile without any significant difficulty should, in theory, allow the teams that are focused on sprint finishes to make hay today. On stages of this type, breakaway riders will have little room for manoeuvre, but they can still hope for the best...

The stage: A breakaway? A sprint? It was time to find out. In the break: Simmons, Pedersen, Kung, Ganna, Jorgenson, Wright, and Houle. After 73 kilometers, they reached the second climb of the day, the Col de Parménie with a lead of 1:35. 
Along the way:
95 kilometers to go and the gap was 1:30.
83 or so kilometers to go and echelons caused splits in the peloton and a bit of excitement. The main gc riders had all made the front group.
Yikes, crash Caleb Ewan and he looked hurt. He would get back up and continue, but was 2 minutes behind the bunch.
He could not stay with the group though and slipped back again.
Ahead, dropping from the break was Simmons. Under 50 kilometers to go and it was looking like a good day for them. That said, Bike Exchange came to the front of the main peloton, hoping to force a tempo and bring things back together. But was it too late with the gap at 3:25 with 43 kilometers to go?
Twenty kilometers to go and the gap was just over 2 minutes. Fifteen kilometers to go and the gap was much the same. And then the bunch gave up. 
Up front, an attack by Mads Pedersen, very much the favorite in the group. He would be joined by Wright and Houle.
Pedersen! As was expected.

Stage:




The wine: Yves Cuilleron Côte-Rôtie Terres Sombres 2014 from Copake Wine Works
A contender for wine of the Tour Pepper, deep fruit, lovely.
From the importer: The Cuilleron family domaine, located in the hamlet of Verlieu (part of the town of Chavanay) was founded several generations ago (1920). Yves Cuilleron’s grandfather was the first to bottle wine for commercial purposes in 1947. Antoine Cuilleron, the uncle and immediate predecessor of Yves, assumed control of the domaine in 1960 and significantly increased the percentage of wine bottled at the estate and extended the scope of the domaine. Yves assumed full ownership and direction of the domaine in 1987 and, since that time, has built an entirely new facility while at the same time acquiring additional vineyard property. The domaine is now (as of 2012) significantly larger in scope with 52 hectares of vineyards that cover multiple appellations, including principally, Condrieu, Saint Joseph Rouge and Blanc, Cote Rotie, Saint Péray and a series of Vin de Pays from the Collines Rhodaniennes. 

The food:  The local tourist site has recipe suggestions: 
This sounds comforting:
Gratin Dauphinois
Ingredients for 4 people:
- 1 kg Bintjes potatoes
- 20 cl single cream
- 60 cl milk
- 50 g butter
- salt, pepper, pinch of Cayenne pepper, 1 clove garlic
Peel and wash the potatoes. Bring the milk to the boil, take off the heat, add the salt, pepper and unpeeled garlic clove and leave to stand for 5 minutes.
Cut the potatoes into 3 millimetre-thick slices (without washing them), lay in a saucepan, pour on the milk, bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes.
Butter a gratin dish, fill with the potatoes and even them out.
Season the single cream with salt and a pinch of Cayenne pepper and pour over the potatoes. Finish off with the melted butter.

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