Tour de France de Wine et de Spirits

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Tour de France de Wine et de Spirits: Discover the Best Wines and Spirits Along the Route

The Tradition of Wine and Spirits in Tour de France History

Truth be told, the days when Tour de France riders were regularly pictured quaffing from a wine bottle, as they pedalled towards Paris, are long gone. However, certainly for at least the first sixty years of La Grande Boucle, wine (and beer and spirits) were as likely to be found in a rider’s bidon, as the ubiquitous energy drinks will be on July 1, when the riders roll out of Bilbao. The booze in the bidons, along with the famous alcohol sponsors – Pernod and Ricard take a bow – may now be a distant memory, but here at Calais Vins, every year we make it a tradition to identify the very best wines and spirits produced along each day’s stage. So why not sit back, turn your TV on – or better still, book a ferry and experience a stage first hand, not forgetting to call in at our Calais-based shops on your way home – and sample the very best of French wine, smug in your knowledge that your chosen tipple is expertly and lovingly matched to each day’s stage! Extreme, you say? Well, the Tour has always been an event of excess and superlatives!

Gastone Nancini enjoying a crafty tipple

From Wine Bottles to Energy Drinks: Evolution of Rider Beverages

This 110th instalment of the world’s largest annual sporting event will as usual be about so much more than the actual riders and jersey winners. Started as an advert for a newspaper in 1903, it has grown into the behemoth it is today. A vast commercial operation, with every possible angle marketed to the hilt, the Tour has long been a giant advert for its hundreds of commercial partners, for the towns, cities, regions, and villages it passes through, and for France itself. The TV directors long ago realised that a colourful peloton snaking through France in July, with icons such as Mont St Michel, Le Tour Eiffel, the Alps, Versailles, and a thousand others, as a backdrop, made for very good TV indeed. When the race was first televised ‘properly’ in the UK, by Channel 4, the broadcaster was astonished at the viewing figures. Way higher than they expected. Not because there were many more pro cycling fans than they had thought, but because many thousands more were tuning in to watch a three-week advert for France, with a glass of wine in hand, and a bike race in the background!

Calais Vins: Identifying the Best Wines and Spirits Along Each Stage

Stage 1-3: Spain's Basque Region

The Basque Influence and Izarra Liquor

July 1-3/Stages 1/2/3 Spain’s Basque Region This year’s Grand Départ will be the second to take place in the autonomous region of the Basque Country after Saint-Sébastien’s in 1992 and the 25th to be held outside France. These first three stages are, in layman’s terms, bumpy. Mostly involving a mix of third and fourth category climbs, an eventual winner is unlikely to emerge this early in the race. The big hitters are unlikely to show their colours just yet, and it’s more likely that less well-known domestiques will be allowed their 15 minutes of (TV) fame. Whilst conceding that the Tour’s riders will be racing on Spanish Basque roads as they head firstly on a hilly 182km loop from Bilbao back to Bilbao on stage one and then the 209km from Vitoria-Gastiez to Saint Sébastien on stage two. It is in the French Basque region, and specifically in Bayonne, host town for Stage three’s finish as the rider’s arrive back in France, that you will find our first drink selection. Izarra liquor has been a symbol of the Basque region for over one hundred years. Enjoyed by all, this distinctive distillation of more than 13 plants, is perfect on its own after dinner, or mixed into cocktails. Though, be warned, not everyone is a fan of this flowery-tasting tipple! In Ernest Hemingway’s first novel, The Sun Also Rises, he famously turned up his nose at the proffered Izarra! Writing: ‘The waiter recommended a Basque liquor called Izarra. He brought in the bottle and poured a liqueur-glass full. He said Izarra was a flower of the Pyrenees. The veritable flowers of the Pyrenees. It looked like hair-oil and smelled like Italian Strega. I told him to take the flowers of the Pyrenees away…’ Fittingly for our Tour de Wine, Izarra comes in two distinct green and yellow varieties; perfect to drink a toast to the new holders of the Tour’s most famous symbols, the Maillot Jaune of the race’s first leader and Maillot Vert for points supremo!

Stage 4: Dax > Nogaro

Armagnac Country and Chateau Menard Bas Armagnac XO


July 4/Stage 4 Dax > Nogaro Now with their tyres firmly back on French roads, stage four takes the riders 182km into the heart of Armagnac country to a finish in Nogaro. Truthfully it’s a bit of a ‘nothing’ stage. A chance for the bunch to settle down, with no real hills to speak of. Expect either a bunch sprint or a long lone breakaway, Yellow Jersey winning ride by a relative unknown with no chance of ultimately holding onto the Yellow Jersey. Produced just a few kilometres from the route, fittingly today’s suggestion is an Armagnac from the town of Gondrin. Chateau Menard Bas Armagnac XO is a firm favourite with our customers. The perfect after dinner brandy, pair it with cold meats and smoked salmon.

July 5/Stage 5 Pau > Larens Things get a lot more serious today as the Tour heads back into the French Pyrenees, and the first Hors Catégorie climb of this year’s race, the 1540m Col de Soudet. Here on the roadside, or back home in front of the TV, we’re taking life at a far more leisurely pace! Watching the 163km of stage 5 unfold you’re guaranteed a feast for the eyes, as the peloton heads through some of the most stunning scenery France has to offer. Early on this stage the riders pass through Jurançon, home to the famous white wines; reputedly the favourites of Henri IV, the first Bourbon King of France. But we’re not going to be that obvious with our selection of the day! Three of Alexandre Dumas’ fictional Musketeers – Aramis, Porthos and D’Artagnan – were based on real-life figures associated with the Barétous valley, through which the race passes today. Interestingly, a theme echoed by French cycling star Julian Alaphilippeas when he talked about his chances in this year’s event, saying: “There are three big musketeers now: Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard and Wout Van Aert. Today, I’m a little musketeer but I look forward for stage one on Saturday.” So, of course, we could recommend an Anjou wine, beloved of the fictional musketeers, such as a firm favourite of ours, Anjou Villages Brissac Croix de Mission. But that’s from the Loire Valley and a bit obvious, so today’s choice is instead a splendid Madiran Château Bouscassé 2015 by Alain Brumont. Located just off today’s route in the commune of Maumusson-Laguian. From Château Bouscassé, a property that has been in the same family’s ownership for generations, this full-bodied red draws comparisons to Saint Emilion Bordeaux wines! So, relax and watch the riders toil up the mountains, glass of red in one hand, TV remote in the other! For British tastes, the wine pairs perfectly with spicy dishes, so perhaps a takeaway curry could be on the cards?

Jurançon and Alexandre Dumas' Musketeers: A Taste of the Pyrenees

July 6/Stage 6 Tarbes > Cauterets-Cambasque Another big day for the climbers on stage six. Including the 2115m Hors Catégorie legend that is the Col du Tourmalet; climbed by the Tour’s riders for the 86th time! Today’s stage starts in Tarbes, before heading south and then west into the high Pyrenees. Early on the riders will pass the Sarrancolin and Beyrède quarries, famous for the marble of the Château de Versailles. At 75km, in Campan, the riders will pass the statue of ‘Old Gaul’, cyclist Eugène Christophe, who in 1913 created one of Tour’s great legends, when he was forced to fix his broken bike in the local blacksmith’s forge; as no outside assistance was then allowed, he was duly disqualified from the race lead and a legend was born! Away from the cycling, this is a region rich in wines, here you will find Madiran, Jurançon, Pacherenc, Saint-Mont, Côtes de Gascogne, Tursan, Buzet, Béarn, and more. So, for today we’re going to recommend another classic red wine. The 2018 Montus Madiran Vin Rouge, again by Alain Brumont, is a full-bodied red, the perfect match for hearty meat dishes.

Madiran Château Bouscassé 2015: Full-Bodied Red for Mountain Watching

July 7/Stage 7 Mont-De-Marsan > Bordeaux Now you’re really talking wine! As stage 7 takes the riders right into the heart of Bordeaux, French wine country that the Tour’s planners would surely categorise as Hors Catégorie. At just 170km, and mostly flat, today will likely be a day for the sprinters. Expect huge crowds at the finish in Bordeaux. Along the way the Tour will pass through small towns and villages, pass by famous churches, castles and chateaus, including Malromé Castle, owned by the Countess Adèle de Toulouse-Lautrec, mother of the famous artist Henri, who died at the castle aged just 36, in 1901. We could recommend an absinthe, in memory of the great painter, but truthfully he had a long and unhappy relationship with that particular spirit, so we’ll play it safe with a red from the region! Today’s selection is a fantastic red Saint Emilion, offering great value for money – particularly for British customers shopping tax free! The 2020 Rocher Gardat Montagne Saint Emilion is from a small family-owned vineyard in Montagne, just east of Bordeaux. Featuring Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes, this wine is perfect with red meat, cheese and patê! Enjoy. And don’t forget to check back for next week’s guide to the next seven stages of the world’s greatest bike race! And some more tempting wine selections!

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