Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Wine and Food of the Giro 2016 Stage 17: Rosso di Valtellina & Polenta



Where are we? Riding 196 kilometers from Molveno to Cassano d'Adda.
From the Giro site: Molveno
The city lies on the shores of the lake of the same name, at the foot of the Brenta Dolomites.
This “valuable pearl in an even more precious casket”, as the famous Italian poet Fogazzaro used to call the city, gets most of its charm from its stunning natural landscape, with marvellous reflections of the splendid, verdant conifers and beech forests in the crystal blue waters of the lake.
Molveno is a renowned tourist destination, which offers the possibility to go hiking around the lake, to climb up to mountain huts, to go sailing or to engage in winter sports.
COOKING: Carne salada (traditional corned beef), venison and mushroom dishes, polenta, knödel
WINE: Teroldego Rotaliano (red), Metodo classico (white); Grappa trentina
Cassano d’Adda: Favourably located, rising slightly higher than the plain underneath, and with a large number of streams, Cassano has always been a major trading hub and a militarily strategic site.
The city hosts many valuable natural areas, such as Isola Borromeo and the Pignone Park, as well as a number of historical and artistic landmarks, including the Visconti castle and Villa Borromeo – D’Adda.
Cassano d’Adda was hometown to Gianni Motta, cycling champion, and winner of the 1966 Giro d’Italia.
COOKING: Polenta, cassoeula (a traditional pork and savoy cabbage stew), trippa (tripe soup)
The Stage: The expected breakaway to start the day.


Today was expected to be much less of a GC battle and more one for the sprinters or breakaway, but we shall see. Sixty-one kilometers to go and the gap was at 2:40. Fifty three kilometers to go and just over two minutes, so it was on the way down. 

But maybe not down quickly enough?


In the end, after a late attack the surprise winner of the stage would be Roger Kluge.
Stage:

 
GC:
1Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo68:11:39 
2Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge0:03:00 
3Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team0:03:23 
4Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team0:04:43 
5Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha0:04:50 
6Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff Team0:05:34 
7Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx - Quick-Step0:07:57 
8Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team0:08:53 
9Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale0:10:05 
10Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Dimension Data0:11:03
Wine: Balgera Rosso di Valtellina 2010
Nebbiolo from Valtellina, an area that hugs the Swiss border. This wine shows beautiful wild strawberry and minerality. It's fresh, long, and honestly, quite amazing for the price.  
From the importer:  The Valtellina is a very small wine-producing region in the mountains north of Milan, just south of the Alps that border Switzerland. The predominant grape variety is Nebbiolo, usually referred to here as Chiavennasca, and this is (along with the Barolo/Barbaresco area and the string of appellations in northern Piedmont, such as Ghemme and Lessona) one of the best places for this classic variety. The Valtellina valley runs East-West, and the steep slopes on the northern face of the valley are terraced for grapevines in what the Italians call 'heroic viticulture;' the amount of work involved in establishing and maintaining the terracing alone is hard to imagine, never mind working the vineyards. The soils here are largely morainic, the climate distinctly cooler than the Barolo zone, and red grapes are grown at altitudes up to 500 meters or more, which is unusual in northern Italy.

Food:  Polenta prepared simply and topped with leftover Bolognese.
 
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