The Drunken Geographer

Tour de France Stage 7, Barcelona to Andorra

thedrunkengeographer — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:55:40 +0000

Stage seven is the second day in Spain for the tour riders as they leave the Costa-Brava wine region and wind their way from Barcelona which is just north of the Penedes wine region . The Penedes region is much larger than the Costa-Brava and is famous worldwide for their Cava wine. Just like Champagne, Cava wine is bubbly and is made that way through an old process that uses the natural properties of yeast and sugar to give it that sparkle. This process can take anywhere from 9 months to two years depending on the quality of Cava the wine makeer wants to produce. The main grapes used to make cava include Macabeo, Xarello, and Parellada. Cava can be broken down into several categories that are based on how much sugar is in the wine, here is the breakdown:

Brut Nature: up to 3 g per liter
Extra Brut : up to 6 g per liter
Brut: up to 15 g per liter
Extra seco: between 12 and 20 g per liter
Seco: between 17 and 35 g per liter
Semi-seco: between 33 and 50 g per liter
Dulce: more than 50 g per liter

TDG loves his Cava at the Extra Brut level, not too sweet and dry! What do you like?

Tour de France, Stage 6: Girona to Barcelona

thedrunkengeographer — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:26:42 +0000

Spanish wine regions

Today the tour takes a brief detour into Spain which should make many of the Spanish riders happy. They will be starting off from Girona along the rocky and rugged coastline in the northeast corner of Spain that sits in the heart of the Costa-Brava wine region. The Costa-Brava is a smaller area with only 41 vineyards but produces 6.2 million liters of wine a year! These wines are made up of the Garnacha red grape and the Xarel-lo white grape and have been rated well above average 24 of the last 25 years. What makes these wines so good are the favorable growing conditions they are grown in. This region receives plenty of sunlight and has a great variety of well drained (grapes don’t like excess water) and fertile soils in comparison to the rest of Spain, which is a key to growing high quality grapes.

You can see the rest of this post and some always intriging notes by visiting my geographic foodie counterpart at The Hungry geographer by clicking here.

Well Done Thomas Voeckler!

thedrunkengeographer — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:07:39 +0000

A Frenchman TDG likes? Believe It!

The Peloton was broken up by another nasty crosswind today which worked to the advantage of a six man breakaway. The man in that breakaway who made the most of it? Well that would be none other than my favorite French cyclist Thomas Voeckler. He attacked the group of six with 5km to go and stayed clear for his first TDF stage win.

Now the wind had alot to do with his victory but so did the fact that there was some major fighting between teams with sprinters. No one in the main field wanted to do the work of pulling the breakaway in because they Didn’t want Mark Cavendish to win his third stage in a row. Cavendish and his Columbia teammate well respected American George Hincapie both spoke out against the other teams for doing this. There’s nothing too wrong with that but I say if you want to win the race Mr. Cavendish then do some work!

Tour de France, Stage 5: Le Cap d’Agde to Perpignan

thedrunkengeographer — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:30:45 +0000

A Vineyard outside of Perpignan

Today the peloton will be traveling through the Cotes Du Roussillon region of France, before ducking down into Spain for a few days. This wine region is very rich as it is one of the sunniest (but not too hot) regions in the country. This allows for a full and long growing season that makes this area highly productive. The major grapes in this region include Carignan, Cinsault and Grenache. Like the rest of southern France this area makes mostly red and rose colored wines. A favorite wine of TDG from this region is Muscat de Rivesaltes a fortified wine (with nuetral grape alcohol) that produces a light wine with some sweetness that is perfect to drink in the summertime with a bowl of ice cream (while watching the Tour!)

To read the entire post that includes The Hungry Geographer’s thoughts on Le Cap d’Agde click HERE.

Team Time Trial Review

thedrunkengeographer — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:25:43 +0000

TDG doesn’t like to say he told you so, but I really have no choice. All these so called experts were saying team Columbia would be in the mix to win yesterday’s stage but I didn’t buy it at all. Why? First of all they only have one true time trial specialist (Tony Martin) and the entire team spent their time in the front of the field after the crosswind broke the peloton in two in Stage 3. Astana and Garmin were the two top teams (just like I predicted) and I was surprised that Astana won by as large as they did. Garmin had a very strong effort but the best cycling team in the world showed why they are the top dogs.

Results
1	Astana	0:46:29
2	Garmin – Slipstream	0:00:18
3	Team Saxo Bank	0:00:40
4	Liquigas	0:00:58
5	Team Columbia-HTC	0:00:59
6	Team Katusha	0:01:23
7	Caisse d’Epargne	0:01:29
8	Cervelo Test Team	0:01:38
9	AG2R-La Mondiale	0:01:49
10	Euskaltel – Euskadi	0:02:10
11	Rabobank	0:02:21
12	Quick Step	0:02:26
13	Silence – Lotto	0:02:36
14	Francaise Des Jeux	0:02:46
15	Team Milram	0:02:49
16	Cofidis Le Credit en Ligne	0:02:59
17	Lampre – N.G.C	0:03:25
18	Agritubel	0:04:18
19	BBox Bouygues Telecom	0:04:42
20	Skil-Shimano	0:05:23

Tour de France, Stage 4: Montpellier

thedrunkengeographer — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:07:03 +0000

Could Lance be back in yellow today?

More great tour content from myself and the Hungry Geographer right here.

Today is a big day for the overall contenders. The team time trial will sort things out and the man who may benefit the most is someone you may have heard of before, Lance Armstrong. If Astana wins the team time trial as expected he should be in yellow at the end of the day. That may change the team dynamics because Lance and team leader Alberto Contador are both capable of winning the tour. Toady’s team time trial contenders include, Astana, Garmin, and Saxo Bank. People are talking up Columbia/High Road but I don’t buy it. Astana and Garmin will finish 1-2 I would be shocked if they didn’t.

Fear the Crosswind…..

thedrunkengeographer — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:20:50 +0000

The seasons don’t fear the reaper but today the boys in the tour feared the crosswind. Only a few select riders caught the break and now the tour is potentially turned upside down. The big cog turning this thing is Lance Armstrong who now sits in third. He caught the break but Astana team leader Alberto Contador did not and is now behind Lance by a few seconds. Does anyone really think that if Lance has the proper form in the mountains later this week that he will ride in support of Alberto? I think we all know the answer to that question.

Tour de France, Stage 3: Brignoles to La Grande-Motte

thedrunkengeographer — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:54:28 +0000

Cancellara in Yellow

More tasty morsels (steak and pastis) for stage 3 of the tour from myself and the Hungry Geographer by hitting this oh so magical LINK……enjoy!

As for the tour so far, I have quite enjoyed it! Things have gone to plan, the best time trialer in the world (Fabian Cancellara) won the stage 1 time trial and the best sprinter in the world (Mark Cavendish) won the stage 2 “flat” sprint. This bodes well for the best all around rider (Alberto Contador) in his quest to wear yellow coming into Paris!

Tour de France, Stage 2: Monaco to Brignoles

thedrunkengeographer — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:27:56 +0000

Hope you like seafood because The Hungry Geographer has a very nice seafood idea from the south of France today. You just might learn about wine from your very own Drunken Geographer from that region as well! Hit this LINK to read all the TDF glory.

Tour de France, Stage 1: Monaco

thedrunkengeographer — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 05:20:16 +0000

New post up on the Hungry Geographer , it offers some food thoughts from the hungry geographer and some wine thoughts from me on todays stage of the tour. There will be daily food and wine updates throughout the tour on The Hungry Geographer, while this sight will be running content featuring my own thoughts and predictions on the tour.

Tour Predictions

Here are a few pre-tour predictions:

Final Podium Finishes

1. Alberto Contador, Astana

This guy is young and is in good form after not racing in last years Tour. He is a true superstar and the only person capable of beating him is on his own team.

2. Carlos Sastre, Cervelo

Last years Tour champion will be in the picture again to prove that last year was no fluke. Sastre is a strong rider in the long tours that always has energy and gives maximum effort in the final week of a long tour.

3. Lance Armstrong, Astana

What can I say? We all know the story. Lance is back and if there is any slipup from Contador, Armstrong will be the top dog on the team an d will have the motivation and willpower to win yet another tour.

Others to watch for: Cadel Evans and Denis Menchov