Saturday, June 29, 2013

Tour de France Cocktails, Corsica and Stage 1

Good morning sports fans! If you're like me, you're watching the Tour de France right now. Later you might need to pair your cycling spectation with some libation. Bicicyling Magazine is your huckleberry, and I love them for it. Check out their roundup of TDF themed cocktails!

http://www.bicycling.com/tour-de-france/tour-features/toast-tour-de-france

Corsica is looks rustic, lush, and hot to me. Very pretty hills. Neat rows of grape vines, too. Looks to be Cav's day, but you never know. Gorgeous shot along the coast. Reminds me a lot of the terrain around Santa Barbara and Ojai. If you want to ride a lovely century or metric century, and you don't mind some climbing, check out the Ojai Century. You'll ride through foothills and avocado and orange groves, and fly along PCH, too! Loads of fun. Southern California is so beautiful, and a great place for road cyclists.

For a Corsican wine, here something that sounds good. This excerpt is from The Examiner:

"The Domaine Maestracci ‘E Prove’ 2010 white is a fresh, acid-driven delight, brimming with limey citrus notes tingling the lips, apple and pear fruits in tangy abundance expanding in the mouth, and a long, leisurely finish that lasts until the next sip begins. This is Vermentinu, the primary white grape of Corsica, known as Vermentino in nearby Italy and Rolle in the south of France. It’s a grape that deserves much more prominence and share of mouth than it gets, and the Maestracci is a perfect example of why it excels in Corsica."

I just read on Miss Elisabeth's blog about how you can get a calzone in Corsica stuffed with a lightly poached egg, mozzarella and prosciutto. They have lots of local cheeses and cured meats, as do all parts of France and Italy. I bet all that would pair quite well with those crisp Corsican white wines. Yummy!

Below is the link where you can read the entire post about that calzone. It will make you want to visit Corsica! Suddenly I do! But why not? After all, my two favorite places in Europe are Italy and France, and Corsica is a blend of both.

http://blog.misselisabeths.com/home/2010/11/8/the-terroir-of-corsica-and-corsican-specialty-foods.html

Happy Tour de France, Everyone!!! I love July!