Wine and Food of the Giro 2016 Stage 5: Greipel, Grecomusc & Foccacia

The second longest stage in this year's Giro. Starting in yesterday's finishing town Praia a Mare, they head to Benevento. 

Last year I wrote:Benevento is a city of Campania, capital of the province of Benevento, fifty kilometres northeast of Naples. The former capital of the formidable Samnites fell to the Romans in 321 BC and changed its name from Malaventum to Beneventum. The seat of a Lombard duchy, then subsequently a powerful principality, the town was the site of the famous Battle of Benevento, in which Charles of Anjou defeated King Manfred and became the new King of Sicily. 

 From the Giro site: Benevento is also known as the “city of witches”, and this legend further enhances its special charm.

COOKING: Pasta, such as cecatielli and caratelli; fiavole (puff pastry with an egg and cheese stuffing); panzerotti di San Giuseppe (with chickpeas and cinnamon); mugniatielli (meat rolls with lamb offal and legumes); cardone (Christmas soup); nougat

WINE: Liquore Strega (saffron-based liqueur), Falanghina (white), Aglianico, Sannio and Taburno (red)

The stage:  Am expected sprint stage. Once again, a breakaway to start things off.

The breakaway / La fuga#giro pic.twitter.com/G6Bbq7YEH6

— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 11, 2016

With 110 kilometers to go, they had 4:27 over the peloton. Happy birthday today to Marcel Kittel and Adam Hansen. 

#Giro @HansenAdam brings some water bottles to his teammates, even on his birthday! Still 62km to go, gap is 4'13". pic.twitter.com/MhkdPHJfO2

— Lotto Soudal (@Lotto_Soudal) May 11, 2016

Inside the final fifty kilometers and the gap was around two minutes. On Eurosport a long discussion of the possibility of a Giro start in Japan. Main topic: jet lag. Twenty seven kilometers to go and the gap was at ~1:20. Twenty kilometers to go and down to about twenty seconds. Crash with Bobridge and Timmer and a bike change for Majka. Under fifteen kilometers to go. Ahead: cobbles and a climb. As the come across the finish for the first time, the break was caught. Out the back, Kittel. Yay! Greipel! As I've said before, without Cav at the Giro, Greipel is my sprinter of choice.

Stage: Andre Greipel

Pink:  Tom Dumoulin

Wine: Contrade di Taurasi Cantine Lonardo 'Grecomusc' 2013
From the importer:  Contrade di Taurasi is owned by Sandro Lonardo, a schoolteacher, and his wife Enza. They make Aglianico IGT, Taurasi, and small amounts of a white wine made from Greco Musc’, an indigenous white variety (grown ungrafted, interestingly). Their vineyards are all exposed directly south, which is ideal, and are at about 1300 feet above sea level, which may explain how a wine picked in the beginning of November in a warm climate can come in at relatively modest alcohol (between 13 and 13.5% in most vintages). All the vineyards are in the official Taurasi zone, but more than half of the fruit is declassified to IGT Aglianico, which improves the Taurasi and gives us an excellent, more forward example of Aglianico to drink while we're waiting for the Taurasi. Click here for a link to the Contrade di Taurasi website.

I say: Lovely, crisp but also fruit, zingy, citrus, mild apple

Food: Foccacia. Recipe this time from the wonderful Hot Bread Kitchen book, this time topped with asparagus and rapini flowers because how could I resist rapini flowers?