 The 3-day Grand Depart in the Basque country of Spain. Three days of wonderful white wines. Rioja Alavesa, Rias Baixas Albarino, and Txakoli - The wines of the Spanish Basque region.  Albarino, Txokolina, and Rioja Alavesa white wines. Image by Lisa Kolick Today is preparation and relaxation day. The day before the start of the Tour de France. Tomorrow’s stage is very intense. I need a wine for relaxing, so I have chosen a La Rioja Alavesa, producers of dry white wines from just south of the Basque - 2021 Bodegas y Vinedos de la Marquesa Rioja Valserrano Blanco. This is a fuller bodied white wine with fruity aromas and lively acidity. The perfect wine to drink while I relax before the intensity begins. I like to serve this wine a bit warmer than most whites. When this wine is room temperature the fruity aromas pop out of the glass while the fruity flavors and acid blend to perfection. Try this experiment: open the bottle while still cool/cold, pour the wine, and taste; wait 30 minutes and taste the same glass of wine again. Let me know if you like it colder or a bit warmer.
Tomorrow begins the 110th Tour de France. I will be up at 5am PDT to watch the start. This year's race route is very different from previous years. The race will go to places it hasn’t been to in a long time, there is only one time trial, five mountain ranges and very challenging from the get-go. The first three stages of the Tour de France race through Bilbao and San Sebastian, in the “green” Spanish Basque Country on the way to French Basque Country, north to Bayonne, France. The Basque Country provides narrow roads, twists, turns, and climbing. Tomorrow there will be 11 climbs totaling 3300m with many many people on the race route. There are no warm-up days. The consensus from the commentators is that we are likely to see head-to-head racing from the favorites, Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard on day one. This would be unusual.
There are a number of stories getting ready to play out in the 2023 Tour de France: Will Cavendish win his 35th Tour de France stage? Will Peter Sagan and Thibaut Pinot each win a stage in their final Tour de France? We will find out over the next three weeks, I am rested and ready to go! Let’s get on our bikes and ride!! Comments are closed.
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