TDF 2010 Stage 16: Bagnères-de-Luchon to Pau

The logic exercised by the organizers of the Tour de France sometimes befuddles me. Take today's stage. Lead what's left of the original peloton, after two-plus weeks of long miles around the French countryside, up four massive climbs, two of them Category 1, the other two beyond category. Put one of the most famed, most feared climbs in Tour history, the Col du Tourmalet, at the midway point of the stage. Then plan the same stage to culminate in a long, flat run-in of over 40k from the top of the last climb to the eventual finish...? It's like unabashed punishment for the pure sprinters, who will never make it over all those climbs with a chance, and painfully titillating torture to the pure climbers, who won't attack for fear of spending themselves — or simply being caught by the less gravitationally gifted — on the long, flat run to the finish. Such was the case today....


One of the most inspired rides up the Col du Tourmalet I can remember witnessing — albeit from afar and via the wonders of modern technology — was that of Claudio Chiappucci in the 1991 Tour. A climbing specialist who raced on pure grit (and a little EPO as was later discovered...), Chiappucci made up in spirit for what he lacked in form and style. He was all over his bike, never the epitome of elegance, but nonetheless a force to be reckoned with. After coming oh so close to robbing Greg LeMond of his third Tour wine in 1990, Claudio went on to win the polka-dot jersey and to finish third overall in the '91 Tour, a dual success based largely on his performance up and over the Tourmalet (the highest point in this year's Tour) and on to a victorious stage finish at Sestrière.

Claudio Chiappucci, winner of the Maillot à Pois and first to crest the Col du Tourmalet in the 1991 Tour de France.

I've been loath to comment on the intricacies and specifics of this year's Tour for fear of playing spoiler to those who are running behind, as I often am myself, with catching the details of each day's stage. But after yesterday's action, I can't hold back.

Those of you who have been following the Tour closely will know that SaxoBank team member Andy Schleck, riding in the yellow jersey, dropped his chain just after putting in a strong attack on the upper slopes of the day's final ascent up the Port de Balès. Astana rider Alexandre Vinoukourov, who had been monitoring Schleck's wheel, put in an instant attack, followed closely and swiftly by an even more explosive attack from Alberto Contador. The twice winner of the Tour went on with his attack, joined by contenders Denis Menchov (Rabobank) and Samuel Sanchez (Euskatel).

A good friend of mine, in a brief discussion that night, excused Contador for his actions. The ensuing film footage, just after Schleck's mechanical, showed Contador glancing back over his shoulder, suggesting he may have been concerned as to his competitor's misfortune. On top of that, as the race continued, he was just following along with the driving pace of Menchov and Sanchez....

At first I was inclined to agree. But after watching several repeats of the footage, it's clear to me that Contador knew perfectly well what had happened to Schleck. And he purposefully chose to attack, and to continue with that decision through to the stage finish.

I generally make an effort not to make gratuitous use of f-bombs and other such curses here at MFWT. One such word, one that I wouldn't have expected to ever have need of in this forum, cropped up in a comment from a cohort of mine just the other day. Who knew I'd find use for it so quickly....

Alberto "Douchebag" Contador, no doubt relieved to have a reprieve from Andy Schleck's promised vengeance in today's stage. Thursday should prove interesting....
Photo courtesy of Roberto Bettini.

Alright, that's enough venting for now. Did I mention that today's stage finished in Pau, just after crossing through the town of Jurançon, one of the most important white wine producing regions of Southwest France. No? Well, I should have....

For those who don't know Jurançon, it's a white-wine-only AOC centered around the village of Pau in the northwestern foothills of the French Pyrénées. The long standing tradition in the area was for production of medium sweet to sweet white wines made in the passerillage method from Gros Manseng and Petit Manseng, varieties specific to the southwestern corner of France. Though current trends of ambivalence toward if not dismissal of sweet wines has led to a more prominent market position for the dry wines of Jurançon, such dry wines still bear the add-on tag of "Sec" to designate their dryness, in respect to the old traditions in which Jurançon was generally expected to be moelleux in style.

Jurançon Sec, Camin Larredya (Jean-Marc Grussaute) 2004
$15 on release. 14% alcohol. Cork. Importer: Wine Traditions, Falls Church, VA.
One of my long-time favorite producers of Jurançon is Jean-Marc Grussaute at Camin Larredya. Grussaute's Jurançon Sec is a blend of roughly two-thirds Gros Manseng and one-third Petit Manseng, with just a dash of Petit Courbu thrown in for nuance. This is the cuvée now known as "a l’esguit," but in 2004 it was still simply labeled as Jurançon Sec.

According to Grussaute, this wine is best kept for about two years from the vintage. Having enjoyed his wines for years, though, I've always had a gut feeling that his Sec has the potential to grow a good deal further than that. While I've enjoyed bottles at 3-4 years of age in the past, I'm not sure I'd ever drunk one quite as old as this... at least not until tonight.

Straight off, I was surprised at how little obvious evolution the wine had undergone, still displaying a really solid tone in the glass, morphing only slightly from its original silvery green tones to its now subtly golden hue. A whisper of volatile acidity has developed in the bottle, but not nearly enough to be off-putting. What has more markedly changed is a rounding of the wine's textures and flavors, to a more honeyed, caramelized and intensely apple-y flavor profile. While it's much rounder and more perceptibly sweet-fruited than when young, it's still packing a monster punch of acidity, a signature of honest Jurançon Sec. Seriously masculine wine that's very interesting to drink at this point in its evolution.

Am I saying you should age your Jurançon Sec? No. I'm not sure this has "improved" so much as it has simply changed. But I am suggesting that, should you find occasion to procure three-to-six bottles of said wine in the current vintage, it wouldn't be a bad idea to forget about one of the bottles for several years, just for the sake of experience.

By the way, I'm drinking this as I watch today's stage coverage, eat my dinner and write this post. Whoever it was that said men can't multitask was cleerly worng.

Up next: Tomorrow is a rest day at Le Tour, but there's no rest here.

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Drinking Unseasonably: Tasty Alternatives to Sauvignon Blanc

As much as I believe in the practice of eating seasonally, I find the idea of drinking in the same manner far less appealing. Sure, I tend to steer away from heavy hitting reds on sweltering summer nights, but I never lose the hankering for light and lively whites, not even in the icy depths of winter. Following are notes on just such a pair, whites that many might find to be summer sippers rather than winter warmers but that I found to be just what the doctor ordered – brisk, invigorating and matched to what was on my dinner table. They’re also both great alternatives for those that are hooked on Sauvignon Blanc but are looking for a new rose.


Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne “Reserve Selection – Cuvée Gros Manseng,” Domaine des Cassagnoles (Janine & Gilles Baumann) 2007
$11. 13% alcohol. Screwcap. Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA
Domaine des Cassagnoles consistently produces some of the best values in white wine from Southwest France. Their “normal” Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne, a blend of Colombard, Sauvignon and Ugni Blanc, can still be found for around nine bucks a bottle. For about two dollars more, though, you can have this, their “Reserve Selection,” a varietal expression of Gros Manseng.

Though it lacks the sauvage character and underlying complexity of the best whites made at least in part from Gros Manseng in AOCs such as Irouléguy and Jurançon, this is still juice to take seriously. Snappy and visceral, it delivers flavors of golden raisins and orange oil with a cardamom tinged finish. Minerality and medium-high acidity add both balance and structure enough to marry well with anything from sheep’s milk cheeses to roasted fish to herb-crusted white meat dishes.


Mittelrhein Bacharacher Rivaner trocken, Ratzenberger 2007
$14.50. 13% alcohol. Nomacorc. Importer: Petit Pois, Moorestown, NJ.
The great British wine writer Jancis Robinson is at her smarmy and pointed best when writing about Müller-Thurgau, which she describes as a “decidedly mediocre but gruesomely popular German crossing developed in 1882 for entirely expedient reasons by a Dr. Hermann Müller, born in the Swiss canton of Thurgau…”. Robinson cites Müller-Thurgau as a cross between Riesling and Sylvaner, or perhaps Riesling and another clone of Riesling. More recent research suggests it’s actually the result of a crossing between Riesling and Chasselas. In any event, one goal among many was to produce a vine that would grow and ripen in spots where Riesling would not. That, at least, is Jochen Ratzenberger’s raison d’être for growing Müller-Thurgau. He prefers to call it Rivaner, one of several synonyms for M-T, believing the name to carry fewer negative connotations. It may be a moot point here, as neither Müller-Thurgau nor Rivaner are household varieties on the US wine market.

Planting Rivaner on the lower slopes and flatter portions of his property, Ratzenberger is able to utilize land that might otherwise lay fallow. Farming those vines to low, healthy yields enables him to produce a wine that, though simple, bucks the stereotype of flabby, industrial Müller-Thurgau and might even appeal to Ms. Robinson. Soft on the front-palate and explosively floral on the nose, this brims with yellow peach and white apple fruit. Its acid profile is much softer than the Riesling grown further up the hill, and there’s much less of a terroir imprint – none of the distinctly pungent minerality that’s found in Ratzenberger’s Rieslings. But served cold, when its herbal finish is refreshing rather than vegetal (which it can become if served too warm), it’s a pleasure to drink, whether alone or alongside light fish, vegetable and poultry dishes.

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Wines at the Bistro

Friends and I headed out to Bistro on the Brandywine for dinner a few nights ago. Taking advantage of their BYOB policy, which continues in spite of the recent approval of their liquor license, we carried along a few bottles with a view to ensuring enough versatility to suit the restaurant’s French bistro influenced menu.

Cheverny, Le Petit Chambord (François Cazin) 2006
François Cazin’s low-yield farming shows through in spades in the richly concentrated fruit and slightly unctuous texture of his 2006 Cheverny Blanc, a blend of 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Chardonnay. Given its high alcohol (14.5%) and marked residual sugar, I can’t help but consider this atypical for Cheverny. The herbaceous and mineral edge I expect from the AOC are missing and subdued respectively, replaced by round, ripe lemon and tangerine fruit and aromas of white tree blossoms. Cazin was obviously working with some pretty ripe raw materials in this vintage. The wine stops just short of being fully honeyed. On the up side, its alcohol is not at all apparent. There’s a chalky acidity that stands out on the mid-palate. In spite of all the concentration, its purity of fruit, along with that high-toned acidity, helped to make this pretty satisfying as an aperitif. It also worked well with the daily salad special of field greens, goat cheese and roasted golden beets. $16. 14.5% alcohol. Natural cork. Importer: Louis/Dressner, New York, NY.

Irouléguy Blanc “Ilori" ("Les Jonquilles"), Domaine Brana 2004
When I learned a few years back that the shop where I spend my days would be dropping the Wine Traditions portfolio, I was dismayed. Importer Ed Addiss brings in a book of characterful wines from a cadre of small estates, with particular strength in SW France. I made sure to snag a couple bottles each of a few of my favorites before they’d no longer be easily accessible. This is one, especially tasting it now, which I wish I’d gone long on.

“Ilori” is Basque, “Les Jonquilles” French, for Narcissus jonquilla, the yellow wildflowers native to southern Europe that grow widely on the terraced hillsides in Irouléguy. This is Domaine Brana’s “basic” white, a blend of Gros Manseng and Petit Courbu, vinified without wood influence. At first sniff, it gave off a cheesy pungency that I’ve noticed before in Jurançon Sec and other Pyrenéean whites. With air, that funk transformed into a much fresher expression of lime pith, kumquat and hay, with mountain meadow floral and herbaceous notes evocative of the wine’s name. Although it’s a tad lower alcohol than typical for Irouléguy Blanc, it still shows the area’s savage power and dryness via its combination of visceral acidity and intense persistence. Lip smackingly good even at first, it just kept getting better right up to the last drop. Spot on with the saffron cream sauce in which our mussels were cooked. $14 on release. 13.5% alcohol. Composite cork. Importer: Wine Traditions, Falls Church, VA.

Barbera d’Alba “Cascina Francia,” Giacomo Conterno 2005
What can I say about this that hasn’t been said before? The wines of the Giacomo Conterno estate are a benchmark for the traditionalist style in Piedmont. They are widely considered to have few if any peers, particularly in the context of their famous Barolo Riserva, “Monfortino.” Though the winery is located in Monforte d’Alba, this Barbera is sourced from the estate’s 16-hectare vineyard, Cascina Francia, located high on the hillsides of Serralunga d’Alba. This is wine that somehow manages to capture the innately rustic personality of Barbera yet express it with elegance, structure and fine balance. The characteristic muscle of Serralunga fruit is all there. Plum and mulberry fruit and dense earthiness are followed by a hint of cocoa-driven opulence and restrained spiciness, the influence of a two-year aging regimen in old botti of Slovonian oak. Hardly every day Barbera, this is profound, a real vino di meditazione. There may not be a better pairing out there for the short ribs and gorgonzola gnocchi served at the Bistro. $30. 14% alcohol. Natural cork. Importer: Polaner Selections, Mount Kisco, NY.

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Some Sips from Southwest France

To allay any fears that I somehow made it through an eight course tasting menu without a drop of wine, here are a few tasting notes from a recent dinner at Talula’s Table. When picking out bottles to cart along for the evening, I quickly saw a mini pattern developing with the whites, both of which were from the greater southwest of France. So I decided to continue that theme straight through the evening.

Blanquette de Limoux “Le Berceau,” Maison Vergnes (Domaine de Martinolles) NV
Although technically located in the Languedoc-Roussillon, Limoux’s situation in the eastern foothills of the Pyrenées often leads its wines to be considered in the context of the greater southwest of France. Maison Vergnes produces some of the best quality and best value wines of the AOC, with this, their flagship non-vintage Méthode Traditionnelle bottling, slotting into the always sweet under-$15 price range. It’s a typical blend to the area, constituted mostly of the local specialty Mauzac, salted and peppered with small quantities of Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc.

I was particularly keen to see how this bottle would show, as it had been hiding in my cellar for a good three or four years since purchase. The verdict was good. Hay-toned colors suggested continuing youth. The characteristic yellow apple fruit of Mauzac, along with brioche and lanolin, were still in plentiful evidence right up front. Medium mousse, generous texture and medium-bodied impact. With a bit of air, elements of bottle development began to appear, with a touch of oiliness in the rear palate and a finish redolent of roasted brazil nuts and hazelnuts. $12 on release. 12.5% alcohol. Natural cork. Importer: Wine Traditions, Falls Church, VA.

Jurançon Sec, Domaine Castera 2006
Moving deeper in to the Pyrenées, Jurançon is an appellation noted first and foremost for its sweet, passérillage influenced wines; thus, the dry whites from the region always carry the “sec” designation for clarification. A blend of Gros Manseng and Petit Courbu, this is seriously big wine, not from oak – there is none – or rich, fat textures but rather from a combination of high acidity, intensely vinous texture and naturally high alcohol. It wears that alcohol well. Grippy texture. Loads of lime oil, wildflowers and white stone minerality. Not for casual sipping but great with food where something with cut and power is demanded. It was a brilliant match with the falafel-crusted halibut served at Talula’s and would pair extremely well with Basque sheep’s milk cheeses such as Ossau Iraty or Pyrenées Brebis. $16. 14% alcohol. Synthetic cork. Importer: Wine Traditions, Falls Church, VA.

Côtes de Bergerac, Château Haut-Bernasse 1999
Like the Blanquette de Limoux, this had been resting in my cellar for quite a few years. Unlike the Blanquette, I hadn’t planned to keep it for so long, it had just gotten away from me. I was curious to check in on its development, wondering if it would still be holding up. The color was good, a deep garnet red, semi-opaque and showing only moderate hints of maturity. Alas, a quick sniff was all it took to end the show, as the bottle was profoundly corked. Regardless of price, it’s a much bigger drag to run into a cork tainted wine when it’s been cared for so well and for so long as opposed to when it’s just come home from the wine shop. This bottle was stoppered with one of those hideously cheap composite corks that seem to be even more prone to TCA infection than “whole” corks. $14 on release. 12% alcohol. Natural cork composite. Importer: Petit Pois, Moorestown, NJ.

Cahors, Clos la Coutale (V. Bernede & Fils) 2004
A more than adequate stand-in for the spoiled Bergerac. When first opened, this showed classic Cahors rusticity, with wooly, stewed black fruits and earthy, iron-like aromas. Tannins were not as intense as in some of the more powerful wines of Cahors but were still typically dusty and chunky. As it opened, purer blackberry and plum emerged. Texture became more refined. Then, as the night wore on, country wine character returned, with aromas of tar and sun-baked rocks leading to a finish laced with hints of clay, leather and sour black cherries. An excellent value, this would be great to keep around for summer grilling. $17. 12.5% alcohol. Natural cork. Importer: Kermit Lynch, Berkeley, CA.

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