Sunday, July 26, 2015

Wine & Food of the Tour de France Stage 21: George Laval Champagne Brut Nature & Croissants

Stage 21 109.5km
Christian Prudhomme's comment
It appeared that the Champs-Élysées avenue had found its master in Mark Cavendish, winner on four occasions of one of the most prestigious sprints of the season. But the triumphant power of Marcel Kittel on the last two visits has maybe marked the beginning of a new era. Paris is still to be conquered.

A parade in the rain. I can't remember the last time it rained for this stage. 
First, a happy sight from yesterday, as injuries at all, Adam Hansen has made it to Paris.
 

An announcement from the race referees: Time will be taken after the riders cross the finish line the first time in Paris. Meaning that the sprinters will still contest the true finish,  but the gc portion of the race will be long over. 



Paris and Froome has won the Tour. Now maybe time for some racing?


Greipel's team is working hard already:


 



Five kilometers to go and they were all together. Nervous time for the sprinters. Greipel again! What a great race for him.

Stage:
 

GC:
 

 


Wine:  George Laval Champagne Brut Nature (base 2010)
From FranklyWines
Frankly says: The Purest Decadence Ever to Cross Our Lips - Love love love this stuff. I'm a sucker for the deft balance of density and purity that this bottle pulls off. The base is 2009, which was a warm year, but Laval's prestine fruit makes for a bubbly that's not heavy. There's brioche and the wee-est hint of butterscotch, but the underlying core is all about minerals and purity. Buy. This. Now.

I say: This was just great.  But Christy has not steered me wrong all Tour. I really couldn't do it without her.





Food: I sometimes think that the folks at the Le Tour site are having fun with their specialties. For today, they list:  Specialities: mushrooms, ham. Maybe it is possible that mushrooms and ham are truly the quintinsential Parisian foods, but I was not inspired.
 
The choice came down to chocolate mousse, K's choice versus croissants, my pick. How to decide? I asked the folks at Podium Cafe to vote. So our final food of the Tour: croissants. I admit to buying rather than making them because, well, Tartine is so close. Their recipe is available in their second cookbook, Tartine Bread. You can read here on TheKitchn what it is like to make them at home. 
Note: I've promised to try this Food52 "Genius Recipe" for chocolate mousse from Hervé This very soon. The description makes me very curious: "
It took a brilliant, adventurous chemist to discover the simplest way to make chocolate mousse at home. Hervé This, the father of molecular gastronomy, discovered how to make a flawless, creamy chocolate mousse out of just chocolate and water."


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