Sunday, July 10, 2022

Wine and Food of the Tour de France 2022 Stage 9: Aigle to Châtel les Portes du Soleil

Where are we? Heading back to France. 

Aigle: Let's learn a bit about the local grape: The cultivation of vines has been part of Aigle's identity since the 8th century, when the first mention of vines in the city of Aigle was made. Indeed, the vineyard has left its mark on the Aigle landscape, as the town is surrounded by a sea of vines. Those vines produce the most famous Swiss wine, Chasselas (a dry white wine). Aigle is considered to be the centre of the Chasselas triangle, a region between Geneva, Biel and Sion, which accounts for 75 pc of the world's Chasselas production (for wine-making purposes). Historians trace its origins to the Egyptians, a hypothesis confirmed by the discovery of grape seeds. Legend has it that in 1523 a diplomat brought some plants from Constantinople to France. Opinions are divided as to whether the origin of Chasselas comes from France or whether the Romans had previously imported it... it is certain, however, that Chasselas has found a favourite place in the Pays de Vaud and in Aigle.  
Le Tour Specialties: papet vaudois (Swiss potée), saucisson vaudois, white wines from the Chablais.

Châtel les Portes du Soleil:  The local tourist site has a hike for us: Culminating at an altitude of 2432 m, the Mont de Grange (Natura 2000) dominates the Abondance valley. The most discreet hikers will be able to observe chamois, marmots, ptarmigan, foxes... As well as many mountain flowers.
Since 2003, the site has belonged to the European Natura 2000 network, covering an area of ​​1261 hectares.

Natura 2000 is a network of protected natural sites throughout Europe, identified for the rarity or fragility of their wild species, and the natural habitats that shelter them. The objective is to preserve the biodiversity of these spaces in the long term without banishing all human activities and to enhance the natural heritage of this territory. Natura 2000 is not a nature reserve in the strict sense.

Le Tour specialties:  Potato fritters, Polenta, cabbage sausage, diots in white wine, fondue, raclette, rissoles, apple Matafan (apple turnover cooked in a pan), fish from Lake Geneva (féra, perch, arctic char, trout), cheeses (AOC Abondance, vacherin, tomme and raclette), Berthoud (a dish made from Abondance cheese and white wine)



Christian Prudhomme says: A demanding week comes to an end with the first authentic mountain test. The riders will have to adjust to a new tempo on the consecutive stages in Switzerland, although they won’t push them to their limits. A breakaway group with a good balance of riders could well take advantage of this comparative gentle entry into the Alps. In the final, a strong rider could impose himself on the Pas de Morgins and take victory in Châtel.

The stage: After much back and forth, we had our first very large breakaway of the Tour: Nils Politt and Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Warren Barguil (Arkea-Salsic), Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Easypost), Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadier), Bob Jungels and Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R-Citroën), Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Franck Bonnamour (B&B Hotels-KTM), Carlos Verona (Movistar), Simon Geschke and Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Luisle Sanchez (Bahrain-Victorious), Kobe Goossens (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Joe Dombrowski (Astana), Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo), Guy Niv and Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech), Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates), Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies). van Aert had not been in the front initially, but bridged and was able to take maximum points at the sprint point to consolidate his lead in the green jersey.  With 125 kilometers to go, they had over 2 minutes.
On the road:
Beyond the dreams of cheese, it was rather gorgeous. Nice bridge: At the front of the race, a fight between Geschke and Jungels for kom points created some excitement. Geschke would win that battle and go into the virtual polka dot jersey.  With 48 kilometers to go: Jungels had surged ahead and was 45 seconds ahead of a chase group of 13 of his former breakaway companions. The peloton was 2:20 behind.
He would continue on. Twenty kilometers to go and he still had 2 minutes over the chase group. 
Attacking from the chasing group, Pinot! After his bad luck yesterday, it would be nice to see some success today. Into the lead of the king of the mountains competition went Jungels. But behind, Geschke grabbed enough points to take the virtual jersey back!
With 3.5 kilometers to go, Pinot was 25 seconds behind Jungels and it was looking good for Jungels to hold on. And he did. great ride from him today.

Stage:

GC:



The wine: Cidrerie du Vulcain Poire 2019 from Copake Wine Works Christy says: Swiss Cider! Delicious - one of my very favorite ciders in the world!
A combination of eight different varieties of pears from untreated century-old trees grown organically.
An importer tells me that" Jacques Perritaz is the Swiss version of Johnny Appleseed. Rather than planting trees, however, Jacques protects and perpetuates the fruit heritage of the Swiss Alps by crafting organic, natural ciders. Jacques works his magic in the bucolic pastures just south of Fribourg, Switzerland, an area justly renowned for its dairy cows, cream, and cheese. 
He carefully selects heirloom varieties of apple and pear from small, isolated stands of fruit trees (150-200 trees in total) that occasionally emerge from the Alpine pastures. For all his ciders, Jacques forages the organic apples and pears from a total of 150-200 trees annually.

The food: The local tourist site conveniently has a recipe for potato fritters:
6 potatoes
2 eggs
1 T of floor
Salt
Pepper
Chive
Fresh cream
Grate the raw potatoes and add the beaten eggs, salt, pepper and sifted flour.
Mix everything well.
In a frying pan, put a little oil.
With a tablespoon take the preparation and make patties, the size of your palm.
Cook and brown well on each side (about 3 minutes on each side).
Place on absorbent paper to drain and remove excess fat.
Sprinkle with chopped chives and accompany with fresh cream.
Served with a green salad, my grandmother's potato fritters are ready to eat!
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