Le Tour

[Red Smurf]

Tonight is the start of Le Tour and I'm excited. The time when my two passions, wine and push bike riding, meet.

I'm starting it off with some 11' Francois Mikulski Meursault. My first of his wines that I have been wanting to try for some time now.
This years Tour should be a cracker. Pay close attention to stage 15, the climb to Mont Ventoux. I'll be sipping on some Cotes du Ventoux from Saint Jean du Barroux, but especially pay close attention to the stage I'm most looking forward to. Stage 18 up the dreaded Alpe-d'Huez....twice probably hit some Savoie. Stage 20 up to Annecy-Semnoz where I'll be quietly sipping on some 28' Lafite and 64 Cheval Blanc and watching Le Tour won or lost. . Then Pol Roger always makes an appearance to toast the Peloton into Paris.
Ahhh....its a good time of the year!

Anyone else planning a Frenchie or two?

Cheers,
Smurf

[ross67]

Smurfy
Love the tour but not French wine I'm afraid.... Sorry about that.
Ill certainly raise a glass or 2 of some great SA Shiraz instead.
The 100th tour ..... Can't wait.

Ross

[9redpens]

For me;
2008 Morning Sun Chardonnay
2002 Print Label Shiraz

I do own a Pol Roger!!!!

Ross, little French wine like me or you really don't rate it??????

[Matt]

I keep getting stung on French stuff as well. Need to get some tips!

[Scotty vino]

Watching last nights stage it was interesting to see the amount of vineyards the peloton were passing.
Can't say I've tried a Corsican wine. Anyone?

Vino or Velo?
I can never decide which I like more.

[Chuck]

We too love watching the TDF but the closest we get to french wine is dinking cabernet. Last night a Vasse Felix 2005 Margaret River Cabernet. Superb. Then we jumped into the water bed, snuggled under the doona to watch the race for a few hours. SWMBO lasted about half an hour before passing out.; me not much longer. Sometimes the simple things in life are the best.

Carl

[sparky]

Following the wine regions VERY loosely I'm hitting the Rhone blends and Shiraz in the first week, getting stuck into Cabernet, Cabernet Blends & Chardy the second week, making a token Loire effort with a bottle of Quincy I rustled up as I don't have any Sauv Blanc or Chenin in the house. Bastille Day weekend is bookmarked for a duck and Pinot indulgence as the Frenchman go mad in the hills and there will be more Pinot & Shiraz to follow in the last week.

As I'm struggling to keep control of my inventory at the moment, I'll be drinking whatever I've got along those themes in an effort to clear to the stocks a bit. Three days in, I'd better get started!!

Depending on how the Aussies are doing, it could be Barossa Shiraz all the way and I hope someone cracked a Delatite last night to toast the boy from Mansfield?.. That was a stage well worth seeing - Clarke sticking it to them most of the stage & Sagan getting beaten on the line by Gerro!!

[damonpeyo]

Did I see that Aussie support bus got stuck in one of finishing line frame?? Hilarious!

[Mike Hawkins]

A couple so far...

1996 R&L Legras St Vincent

2009 Doisy Vedrines

[Sharkey]

Well so far the Aussie Orica Greenedge team has stolen the limelight on 3 out of the 4 stages so it seems more appropriate to be drinking beer!

On stage one the OGE bus being stuck on the finish line was a marketing coup that will be talked about for years - long after everybody remembers who actually won the stage.

On stage 3 we had Simon Clarke as the obvious strong man in the breakaway picking up all the mountains points they contested. If the break stayed away he would have been the clear favourite to win the stage. Once the breakaway was caught the remains of the Greenedge team drove the pace on the front and then Gerrans out sprinted the seemingly unbeatable Sagan for the teams first ever TdF stage win.

Stage 4, the Team Time Trial, was expected to be contested between Omega, Garmin and Sky. But the previous days win seemed to inspire the Greenedge boys and they came through for the upset by less than a second. This was enough to put Gerrans in the yellow jersey - one of the most recognised icons of sport.

I can't wait to see what happens next.

[Red Smurf]

I was basically jumping up and down last night when the Green edge boys crossed the line first in the TTT. This is a massive achievement against the competition they had. They should keep yellow to the mountains as well.
On the wine front, also had a 2004 Benedicte & Stephane Tissot Arbois Vin Jaune Les Bruyeres. Sour grapefruit, lightly nutty, full with heavy hitting acid. I think I like the 05's more. Some Aussie ring ins as well. 05' Lakes Folly Cab. VG and 91' Lindemans Limestone excellent after the dirty earth smell blew off. This has happened twice so if you have any, give them a decent decant.

[Sharkey]

Here is the latest official Orica GreenEDGE video:

Orica GreenEDGE Rocks - youtube

Cameo appearances by Eddie Merckx, Philippe Gilbert, The Devil and the OGE bus driver.
I love them measuring the height of the bus.