Friday, July 22, 2022

Wine and Food of the Tour de France 2022 Stage: 19: Castelau Magnoac to Cahors

Where are we? Out of the mountains and into the Lot.

Castelau Magnoac: A first time stage city!  The name Castelnau-Magnoac is a remnant of the castle built in the 13th century by the Viscount of Labarthe, but now destroyed. The originality of Magnoac lies in its history: it formed a political unit with three other lands: the Four Valleys grouping Magnoac, Neste, Barousse, and Aure. In the 13th century, the Four Valleys passed to the Counts of Armagnac. It was only under Henry IV that the they were definitively attached to the crown of France. At the time of the revolution, the Four Valleys were united with Bigorre to form the department of Hautes-Pyrénées.

Le Tour specialties: black pork from Bigorre, black Gascon chicken from Astarac-Bigorre, duck breast in a casserole, pigeon salmis, alicuit or alycot (poultry offal stew), massacanat (omelette enriched with onion rings and pieces of veal), millasson and spit-roast cake (pastry)

Cahors: From Le Tour: Cahors is of course a wine. Cahors is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its AOC. It was in 1971 that Cahors obtained its appellation but, due to Covid, the festivities were postponed to this year.
The history of Cahors goes back well before 1971. As early as the 12th century, Cahors wines were exported to Northern Europe via the port of Bordeaux. In the 16th century, Francis I introduced Cahors wine at Renaissance banquets and in the 18th century, Czar Peter the Great consumed it extensively and the Russian Orthodox Church declared it a liturgical wine. A victim of phylloxera at the end of the 19th century, the vineyard took several decades to recover before obtaining the Holy Grail of the AOC in 1971. Since then, the policy of quality production has borne fruit and today, Cahors is distinguished by an emblematic grape variety, Malbec, and its great diversity of terroirs.
The vineyard is located on two main types of terroir: the limestone Causses and the Lot valley. Such a wealth of terroirs is not found in all vineyards and undeniably contributes to the uniqueness of the Cahors appellation. Thus, with the same Malbec grape variety, we obtain different wine profiles depending on the terroir of origin of the vines.

Le Tour specialties: duck in all its forms, Quercy lamb, black truffle, Rocamadour (cheese), Quercy melon, walnuts, saffron, Cahors wines.



Christian Prudhomme says: Curiously, after passing through the departments of Gers and Tarn-et-Garonne, the Tour’s sojourn in the Lot offers a nod back to the race’s opening days: the castle of Cayx, located close to Cahors, belongs to the Danish royal family. Among their subjects riding in the peloton, there should be no lack of sprinters who are capable of shining in Cahors.

The stage: For the breakaway or the sprinters? Time would tell, but the early break was not given a large gap. Another protest on the road, much shorter than the last.
I also learned a new term. He would not succeed. With 100 kilometers to go, the break of Honoré, Simmons, Van der Hoorn and Mohoric had 1 minute. 
Some excellent field art on the road.
The break continued to stay away, but with a small gap.
Setting off alone at the front, Simmons. Behind, the peloton had split in two.
Plus, a puncture for Pogacar. The race would come back together, but a little but of excitement was nice. Pogacar attack! He made no progress, but still nice to see. 
Thirty two kilometers to go and there was a new break group of Fred Wright (Bahrain), Alexis Gougeard (B&B) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek). Fifteen kilometers to go and they were holding onto 30 seconds. Wow. Just when it looked like it was setting up to be a sprint, Laporte attacked and took the win! A French stage win at last.
Stage:

GC:


The wine: Clos Siguier, Cahors 2018 from Copake Wine Works
Christy says: a fresh, juicy style of malbec. I once called this a gamay in a blind tasting, so you get an idea of how fresh it is!
From the importer: Gilles Bley knows the history of Cahors and can trace his winegrowing roots in the AOC back many generations. His intimate understanding of the Malbec (Côt) and Tannat vines on his 15-hectare estate led to a desire to create wine that highlights this storied region’s unheard potential for delicacy. Cahors is divided into two distinct terroirs — this appellation is traditionally known for its heavy and brooding black wines that take years to reveal any fruit. These dark tannic wines come from the heavy soil down by the Lot River. Gilles Bley’s vines, by contrast, are on the lesser-known, better-drained terroir, up on the flat terraces above. His wines express the lighter and brighter side of Cahors. He produces wines that are surprisingly bright and fruit-driven with depth of red and black fruit, subtle terroir and silken tannins. Clos Siguier produces wines that are at once readily accessible, but also age-worthy. Drink now or put down for a few years. All grapes are handpicked.

The food: Millasson, recipe from Saveur 
Yield: serves 8

Ingredients

  • Unsalted butter, for greasing
  • 1 1⁄4 cups flour, plus more for pan
  • 2⁄3 cup sugar
  • 1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
  • 4 cups milk
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 4 eggs
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 425°. Butter and flour a 10″ pie plate; set aside. Whisk flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Whisk milk, vanilla, and eggs in another bowl until combined. Slowly whisk dry ingredients into wet ingredients to make a smooth batter. Pour batter into prepared pie plate; bake until browned in places, puffed in the center, and set around the edges, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature. Chill 30 minutes before slicing.
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