Sunday, July 24, 2022

Wine and Food of the Tour de France 2022 Stage 21: Paris



Where are we? 
Off to Paris!





Christian Prudhomme says: The Champs-Élysées, the traditional finishing point for the final stage of the Tour de France since 1975, will be the setting for an unprecedented double-bill, hosting not only the prestigious finale of the men’s race but also the start an historic women’s event. Prior to the Tour’s grand sprinting finale, the first stage of the first edition of the Women’s Tour de France with Zwift will be held on the final circuit in the heart of Paris.


The stage: Stage 21, or as I think of it, a parade with a battle at the end. It was rather sad to see Geschke wearing the polka dot jersey on this ceremonial stage, as he had lost dots and was acting only as a place holder. 
A retirement to celebrate:

This was a lovely gesture:
For those watching at home, don't drink and ride.
Final kom point of the race went to Geschke.
Some familiar sites:
Plus, a smoke art.
Oh look, a doomed breakaway. With 15 kilometers to go, Rutsch, Schachmann, Duchesne and Le Gac had 15 seconds.  Twelve kilometers to go and Le Gac had dropped off. The gao to the trio was shrinking. 
A remarkable stat: all the sprinters listed at the start in Copenhagen are still in the race: Caleb Ewan, Fabio Jakobsen, Jasper Philipsen, Dylan Groenewegen, Wout van Aert, Alexander Kristoff, Alberto Dainese, Mads Pedersen, Danny van Poppel, Hugo Hofstetter, Michael Matthews, and Peter Sagan.
And then came some entertaining attacks, including Pogacar. 
Finally the sprint and Philipsen!
Final GC:


The wine: Champagne Suenen Grand Cru Extra Brut Oiry Blanc de Blancs NV from Copake Wine Works
As always, Champagne to finish things. 
From the producer, some philosophy: OAs the founder of the Suenen Champagne, I have assigned my philosophy to our wines and land since 2009. I wish to convert a unique agricultural produce into wine, in order to authentically represent the essence of my land. As a result, our wine growing and producing techniques will reflect the evolution of our wine year after year.
The fragility of my land and wine require care and a particular attention to the healthiness of the soil. We have reintroduced mechanical work in order to reduce packing down of the soil, thus increasing breathing and promoting land healthiness. By feeding the vine with its essential needs the growing of the roots is stimulated daily, allowing them to reach deep into the chalk layer to extract the finest in minerals and authenticity.
An exhaustive survey was carried out for each plot of land that constitutes my heritage. Each year, with the collaboration of their son Emmanuel, Claude and Lydia Bourguignon from the French soil analysis laboratory LAMS, select vine plots to conduct a detailed land analysis. I truly think that the organic element is my basic work tool and is therefore extremely valuable. Vine grows thanks to the energy found in soil and air. Brought to maturity, the greatly expected grapes will be picked in profusion at a precise moment.
Oak barrels and tuns are used for the wine making process, perpetrating my grandfather’s legacy in the wine and spirit store. I have added an ovoid concrete tun and locust tree barrels in the historical part of the store. The use of wood an earthy natural material, allows the micro-oxygenation process our the wine barrels. Besides, I like to use enamelled tuns for some of our non-vintage wine year.
Thanks to a long aging process, wine feeds on its own organic material during a six to nine-month period. Each year, conditions and production quality define the use of either poor or rich lees. Nowadays, natural yeast is partly used for fermentation of the grapes. In the future and for a first period of time, we are planning on using only our own natural yeast on selected land plots. As for the malolactic fermenting process, it is a natural and time consuming action of the wine itself that needs to be regulated for certain wines and in very specific cases. Finally, wine bottling takes place only when longer and sunnier days come closer again at the Suenen Champagne vineyards.

The food: I turn to Le Tour for this final stage and their choice is perhaps unexpected? Champignon de Paris (Button Mushroom)

Its real name is bispore agaric, and it was first cultivated under Louis XIV in Versailles and then under Napoleon in the catacombs of Paris. Hence its given name in France. But it was only at the end of the 19th century that its cultivation developed, not in Paris, but in Touraine and the Saumur region. As the bispore agaric is the easiest mushroom to grow in a mushroom house, it quickly conquered the whole planet and is nowadays produced mainly in China and the United States.
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