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Tour de France
Tour de France 2004 begins in Liege, Belgium, on July 3 and follows a winding, generally counter-clockwise route around France, with 22 teams of nine riders each competing along a prologue run and 20 "stages" that wind up in Paris on July 25. "The first race took place in 1903," reports the BBC, "and over a hundred years later it remains as popular as ever. It attracts competitors and millions of followers from all nations." And those millions apparently include a few Wine Advisor readers, who wrote to urge me to come up with a Tour de France wine list, a selection of French wines to match the route so wine-loving racing fans can sip appropriate fluids as they watch the bicycles. Always eager to sign on to offbeat approaches to wine, I'm willing to give it a try! As it turns out, the Tour de France route isn't as well-suited to a stage-by-stage wine list as one might wish: Much of the first part of the race traverses Northern France, wheeling along the country's northern segment from Belgium to the north of Paris and later taking a long run through Brittany, where the northern latitudes and cool climate don't foster commercial vineyards. Later in the Tour, the race's jovially sadistic planners have routed stages through grueling mountain regions of the Massif Central, where you'll find few vineyards; and the routers peevishly bypassed such great wine regions as Bordeaux, Burgundy and Alsace. But it's difficult to travel far in France without finding wine, so here's a quick shopping list for those who'd like to watch some of the stages while sipping something appropriate to the day's races.
WEB LINKS:
Full television coverage in the U.S. is on Outdoor Life Network (OLN) on cable, with its cycling pages at
For more serious bike-racing fans, check Bicycling magazine's Tour de France coverage here:
TALK ABOUT WINE ONLINE If you prefer to comment privately, feel free to send me E-mail at wine@wineloverspage.com. I'll respond personally to the extent that time and volume permit. Now, here's a fine fresh Loire white to sip while watching the Tour riders race to Angers on July 9. Or for that matter, for just about any summery occasion. 
Pascal Jolivet 2003 Sancerre ($16.79)
This clear, light straw-color wine shows a greenish-brassy hue in the glass. Classic Sauvignon Blanc aromas blend a characteristic "grassy" quality with appetizing notes of citrus. Crisp flavors offer fresh citric fruit over mouth-watering acidity, with an attractive, cleansing lemon-peel tang in the long, clean finish. U.S. importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons Ltd., NYC. (June 20, 2004) FOOD MATCH: A fine match with both courses of a simple summer dinner: A Spanish potato-and-egg tortilla and an Italian caprese salad of ripe tomatoes, creamy mozzarella and fresh basil with plenty of olive oil. For a more traditional match, pair it with light seafood and fish. VALUE: The dollar's decline against the Euro is pushing good French and Italian wines dangerously close to the $20 mark, but that being said, this is a better-than-average Sancerre, and the $17 I paid at retail in Louisville (Liquor Barn/Springhurst) is a few bucks below the $20-plus rate that appears to be standard for online vendors. WHEN TO DRINK: Not a fragile wine, it will keep for a year or two, but it's not going to get any more crisp and refreshing than it is right now.
WEB LINK: Pascal Jolivet's attractive and informative Website is online in French and English:
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE: The winery Website offers a useful list of distributors in many countries around the world. Click the "Distributors" icon from its Home Page for details. Also, you can find vendors and compare prices for Jolivet wines on Wine-Searcher.com, Two from Switzerland Now, speaking of Tour de France cyclists pushing their machines up long mountain slopes (not to mention the just-finished Tour de Suisse), here's a report on a couple of appealing wines from the Valais in the scenic Alpine beauty of Switzerland's French-speaking cantons. These intriguing Swiss wines are available in the U.S. only from The California Wine Club's International Selections. For details, see below. 
Alpege 2002 Pinot Noir du Valais
Fairly dark garnet with reddish-purple glints against the light, on the dark side for a Pinot Noir. Its complex and appealing aromas show a kinship with the French style: Earthy and herbal "forest floor" notes add interest to fresh sour-cherry fruit. A bit austere on the palate but beautifully balanced; vibrant fruit and cleansing acidity make for an appetizing and palate-cleansing food wine. Its overall style reminds me a bit of a high-quality village Beaujolais, but there's no need to seek French analogies in a wine that's distinctively Swiss. Available in the U.S. only from California Wine Club. (June 3, 2004) FOOD MATCH: As noted, it's an exceptionally food-friendly wine, capable of matching a wide variety of red meat, poultry and cheese. It served very well with a roast free-range chicken infused with plenty of garlic and herbs tucked under the breast skin. WHEN TO DRINK: Lacking experience with Swiss wines, I'm reluctant to overestimate ageworthiness, but its distinct Pinot character, fruit and excellent balance suggest that there'd be no harm in keeping it several years under good cellar conditions.
WHERE TO BUY THIS WINE: Available in the U.S. only through California Wine Club's International Selections. Call 1-800-777-4443 or visit 
Jacques Germanier 2002 Chardonnay Noble Cepage du Valais
A pretty brassy tinge adds visual interest to this very pale straw-color wine. Fresh apple and peach aromas are pleasing and complex, with a distinct white-flower note in the background; swirling brings up just a touch of almond. Juicy and round flavors, lush fruit on the first taste gains structure from gentle acidity that builds to a pleasing lemony snap in the finish. Excellent wine. Available in the U.S. only from California Wine Club. (June 10, 2004) FOOD MATCH: Like any fine Chardonnay, this would make an excellent match with poultry and richer seafood. WHEN TO DRINK: So well-balanced and fresh, it's ready to enjoy, but given reasonably good storage conditions, on its side in a coolplace, I wouldn't expect it to fade over the next couple of years at least.
WHERE TO BUY THIS WINE: Available in the U.S. only through California Wine Club's International Selections. Call 1-800-777-4443 or visit 
The California Wine Club: This week's 30 Second Wine Advisor introduces you to two outstanding selections from Switzerland. If you're interested in trying the Jacques Germanier 2002 Alpege Pinot Noir du Valais or the 2002 Chardonnay Noble Cepage due Valais, sorry but you won't find them in any local store! In fact these wines have been imported directly by The California Wine Club for their International Selections series and are only available through the Club. The International Selections ships every other month and includes two bottles of wonderful tasting wine from countries like Switzerland, France, Germany, Spain and every fabulous wine growing region in between! The cost averages $75 and includes an engaging four-color newsletter, Passport. These are wines not currently available in the U.S.!
To join The California Wine Club's International Selections call 1-800-777-4443 or visit This week on WineLoversPage.com Here are links to some of our recently published articles that I think you'll enjoy:
• Wood on Wine: Dr. Feelgood's Love Potion
• Dave McIntyre's WineLine: Training Your Wine Consultant
• Robin Garr's Wine Travel Diary: Burgundy and Champagne 2004 Last Week's Wine Advisor Index The Wine Advisor's daily edition is usually distributed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (and, for those who subscribe, the FoodLetter on Thursdays). Here's the index to last week's columns:
• Introducing Selby (June 18, 2004)
• Anything AND Chardonnay (June 16, 2004)
• Scoping out Mount Palomar (June 14, 2004)
• Complete 30 Second Wine Advisor archive:
• Wine Advisor FoodLetter: Lebanese Kibbeh (June 17, 2004)
• Wine Advisor Foodletter archive:
SUBSCRIBE: Administrivia To subscribe or unsubscribe from The 30 Second Wine Advisor, change your E-mail address, or for any other administrative matters, please use the individualized hotlink found at the end of your E-mail edition. If this is not practical, contact me by E-mail at wine@wineloverspage.com, including the exact E-mail address that you used when you subscribed, so I can find your record. We do not use our E-mail list for any other purpose and will never give or sell your name or E-mail address to anyone. I welcome feedback, suggestions, and ideas for future columns. To contact me, please send E-mail to wine@wineloverspage.com All the wine-tasting reports posted here are consumer-oriented. In order to maintain objectivity and avoid conflicts of interest, I purchase all the wines I rate at my own expense in retail stores and accept no samples, gifts or other gratuities from the wine industry.
Monday, June 21, 2004 |
What's the connection between wine and bicycle racing? It's simply a matter of terroir ... the French land, that is, a fertile soil that gives rise to some of the world's best wines and, coincidentally, to Tour de France, the annual bicycle races that BBC Sport calls "... the world's biggest annual sporting event ... the greatest bike race on earth," a 3,395-kilometer cycling challenge that virtually brings France to a standstill for most of July.
