Hide and Secret Treasure of the Ages

Description

Bourg-en-Bresse to Champagnole

Stage 19 - Friday, 18 September - 160 km (99 mi)

The Stage

Time for the favorites to rest up for tomorrow. Will the other teams be strong enough to control the peleton for a bunch sprint? It seems unlikely. Who will walk away with the treasure?

Winner: TBD

Tour Touristique

Bresse Chicken
The history of the poultry of Bresse started in the Roman era, 400 years BC. The invaders brought their own chickens and the local varieties such as Noire de Louhans, Grise de Bourg-en-Bresse or Blanche de Bény perfectly mixed with the newcomers. But the first mention of poultry in the region dates back to 1591 when the town’s inhabitants offered two dozens of fat poultries to the marquis of Treffort, who had defeated and expelled the troops of Savoy. Bresse poultry was already seen as an offering and a fine gift. In 1825, illustrious chef Brillat-Savarin listed the poultry of Bresse as the best in the kingdom and called it “the queen of poultry and the poultry of kings”. In 1957, the National Assembly voted to make the poultry of Bresse a protected appellation (AOC).

Approximately 1.2 million poulet de Bresse birds are produced each year, about 0.1% of the total annual production of chickens in France; about 10% are exported. The chickens are raised under strict controls. Each bird must pass inspection by the Centre de Sélection de la Volaille de Bresse, the only breeding centre for the Bresse chicken. The birds are kept free range for at least four months. From about 35 days they are fed cereals and dairy products; the diet is intentionally kept low in protein so that the birds will forage for insects. They are then "finished" in an épinette, a cage in a darkened fattening shed, where they are intensively fed on maize and milk.

Poulet de Bresse commands premium prices. In 2002 producers of poulet de Bresse received an average of €4.00 per kg (whole chicken, ready to cook); comparable prices received by producers of organic and standard chickens were €2.70 and €1.60 respectively. Retail prices are much higher; a price of £19.50 per kg was reported from London in 2011.

Château-Chalon
A sentinel on the banks of the Revermont, Château-Chalon is the “beacon” of the Jura vineyards. In the cradle of the famous Vin Jaune, legends and history intertwine to give all its fame to one of the "Most Beautiful Villages of France".

Yellow Wine (Vin Jaune)
If the canons of Baume-les-Messieurs are at the origin of the most famous of the Cistercian abbeys in the region, the Benedictines of Château-Chalon unwittingly gave birth to the "King of Wines and Wine of Kings": yellow wine from Jura. They are the ones who planted in the Middle Ages the first vines of Savagnin on the slopes of the medieval city. Made from this single grape variety, Vin jaune is produced in the appellations Arbois, Etoile, côtes du Jura, but mainly in the Château-Chalon AOC. Today it represents around 50 hectares cultivated in the municipalities of Château-Chalon, Menetru-le-Vignoble, Domblans and Nevy-sur-Seille.

The character of Yellow wine is linked on the one hand to the terroir and the grape variety, on the other hand to its special aging. During aging, carried out in oak barrels for a minimum of 6 years and 3 months, part of the wine evaporates (the "angel's share"). A veil of yeast forms on the surface, preserving the wine from oxidation and giving it that famous "yellow taste". This precious and mysterious wine is then packaged in a very specific bottle called “clavelin”, with a capacity of 62 cl.

View attached image.