Wednesday, May 22, 2024

Giro 2024 Stage 17 Selva di Val Gardena to Passo Brocon


Where are we?  South Tyrol and Trentino

Selva di Val: The Dolomites!

Giro Specialties: The gastronomic culture of the region is another highlight, and visitors can enjoy authentic South Tyrolean dishes in cosy mountain huts and typical restaurants. The local cuisine offers a delicious combination of intense flavours, with authentic cheese dishes, quality meats and local products. Some of the most characteristic dishes include barley soup ‘Panicia’, potato sheets with sauerkraut ‘Grosti da patac y craut’, mosa ‘Jufa‘, D-shaped spinach cakes ‘Crafuncins da ula vërda‘, fruit bread ‘Fuiacia’ and many others.

Passo Brocon: The Giro tells me that The Brocon Pass is a bridge between the Tesino plateau and the Vanoi valley. During the summer season, the Brocon Pass is a popular tourist destination, especially for its range of excursions and walks with splendid views. The winter season is all about skiing, with a vast choice of fun activities on the snow, from downhill skiing to snowboarding, from cross-country skiing to mountaineering as well as more family-oriented forms of entertainment. From a historical point of view, the pass was an important strategic point during the two world wars due to its location. Signs of the conflicts, such as underground bunkers and trenches dug by the Austrian militia, are still visible today.

Giro specialties: Typical and genuine products can be tasted in the restaurants of the Valsugana del Tesino, discovering the ancient flavours of the Lagorai and enjoying products and dishes that have contributed to writing the history of these valleys.
Le Verde: local cuisine is closely linked to the territory and characterised by simple dishes using the products of the land, as is the case for all Trentino cuisine. Among the vegetables, an important food resource was once potatoes, beans, turnips and cabbage; the latter, thanks to fermentation processes inside wooden tubs, were preserved both in the form of sauerkraut and “green”. But unlike the better-known sauerkraut, found throughout the Alps and in much of the Germanic world, “le verde” can only be found in the Tesino basin, it is still particularly appreciated and proposed according to ancient recipes, such as ‘Smacafame’, or combined with tasty meat cuts.
Malga cheese: the alpine dairymen and shepherds who spend the summer months in the mountains to graze their cows and produce cheese, ricotta and butter are the clearest symbol of the ancient rhythms and deep-rooted traditions of the Lagorai. Malga cheese is capable of bringing back to the palate all the fragrances of high-altitude pastures. Malga cheese differs from mass-produced cheese because it cannot be separated from the territory: the milk from grazing cows has unique organoleptic characteristics that make it absolutely unmistakable.
The small fruits of Tesino: strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries, as well as white and red currants. So many fruits are cultivated by the young entrepreneurs of local farms, offering the possibility of savouring the true taste of the mountain.


The stage: A stage for the break? Another day for Pogacar? It would be hard to bet against him.
There would be a break, there would be people falling off and eventually, one rider solo.
Under 10 kms to go and his gap was about 40 seconds. The main peloton was 2:18 back. His gap would continue to grow.
Once again riding away from his rivals, Pogacar. But with only two kms to go, ot seemed like Steinhauser would be safe.
And he would make it. Great ride by him today to take a stage win during his first grand tour. 


The wine: From 2013
Kuenhof Kaiton Riesling 2011
From importer Oliver McCrum Wines:
Kuenhof, owned by Peter and Brigitte Pliger, is one of the best white wine estates in Italy. Their steep, stony vineyards are in the part of the South Tyrol called the Val d'Isarco (or Eisacktal), not far from the border with Austria. They grow Sylvaner, Veltliner and Riesling organically, and their wines show an almost electric mineral character. If the duty of a great wine is to be distinctive, these wines stand out like beacons -- great terroir, careful grape-growing, brilliant winemaking, and extraordinary wines.
Most of the winegrowing in the area known as the Alto Adige (also known as ‘Südtirol’ in the German spoken by the locals) is along the Strada di Vino, just south of Bolzano. The Eisacktal is a separate, very small appellation about half an hour north-east of Bolzano, on the way to the Brenner Pass and Austria. The climate is different here, Continental rather than the Mediterranean found around Bolzano, most of the vineyards are at high altitude (in the case of Kuenhof, between 1,800 and 2,300 feet above sea level), and the soils at Kuenhof are very distinctive, containing schist, quartz phyllite, lots of stones, and morainic layers of crushed rock. The vineyards are terraced, exposed to the south-east, and quite steep. The most recent plantings are in an area that Peter identified as being famous for grape-growing a century ago, but that had fallen into disuse, perhaps because the monetary investment (to repair terraces) and time was too great. Density is high, at 8,000 plants per hectare.
'Kuenhof' is a farmhouse that dates from the 12th century. Just south of the town of Brixen/Bressanone, it was for centuries owned by the Bishop of Bressanone, and then for the last 200 years it has been in the family of the current owners.

I said: Screw cap! I don't open many of those during the Giro. The grape that I tend to miss the most during this project is Riesling. Not that there are not Italian Rieslings, but many of them are just not that satisfying. Very pale straw in color. Some petrol, citrus and green on the nose. Lots of minerals and some flowers as well. Held up and was very nice on day two.

The food: avarone Vezzena cheese
From Slowfood: This cow’s milk cheese is made with milk from two milkings, one of which is skimmed for cream. The technique is the same as for other medium-fat Alpine cheeses, but Vezzena is made unique by the wild herbs of the Lavarone plateau and a long aging. Even when very aged, it still preserves an exceptional buttery smoothness, releasing aromas that change depending on exactly when the cows were pastured. After a year or a year and a half, the eyes disappear and the very yellow paste becomes slightly grainy. The fragrance becomes more complex and herbaceous, spiced notes fill the mouth. It takes time for Vezzena to reach its full potential and for it to be obvious why it is one of the jewels of Trentino cheesemaking and why Emperor Franz Joseph wanted it on his table every day.
I say: Very firm, reminds me of gruyere
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