While watching Friday’s race, I daydreamed that one of the brilliant white castles dotting the landscape suddenly belonged to me. That a long-lost relative had remembered me in her will, leaving me the property and adjacent vineyards.

A girl can dream, right?

As for the race itself, the scenery was more exciting – until the last climb, that is. Most of the professional commentators expected the finale to be a GC event, deeming the terrain too difficult for the true sprinters. And that’s not at all what happened! (Well, except for the increasingly impressive Isaac Del Toro.) Check out the highlights and see for yourself:

Saturday takes us from Treviso to Gorizia, Slovenia, on a dead-flat course that’s almost 200 kms long. Not so different from today. It will be the last hurrah for the fast men, as Sunday finds us back in the mountains, making our way westward across Italy’s borders with Austria, Switzerland, and France.

Spectator Sip: 2020 Eugenio Collavini Collio Broy ($59.99 retail; 13.5% abv)

I had the opportunity to taste this wine along with several others from the winery, at lunch with Luigi Collavini last month. While each wine was delicious, there was something about the Broy that stuck with me, sending me in search of another bottle. (FYI, if you’re in NYC you can find a few of the Collavini Wines at Yorkville Wines and Spirits.)

A unique wine, one whose aromas captivated me immediately! A blend of Friulano (50%), Chardonnay (30%), and Sauvignon Blanc (20%), in which the Friulano and Chardonnay grapes are partially air-dried to concentrate their flavors. The Sauvignon Blanc is pressed separately after a brief maceration on the skins to preserve freshness and varietal character. All three are then blended and fermented in stainless steel vats, where the wine ages on its fine lees until spring of the second year after harvest.

I had a moment with this wine, okay? The nose was so complex: tropical fruit, a mélange of citrus, blossoms, honey, and a slight herbaceous note (from the Sauvignon, no doubt.) The palate was just as complex, with a rich texture and a rather full body balanced by tangy acidity. There’s even a savory component that danced nicely with the Castelvetrano olives in the dish: fusilli in a homemade sauce of tuna, tomatoes, garlic, and olives. This wine has range!

If you’re planning to watch the race, what better way to immerse yourself in the local scene than with a sip of Collavini Broy? Note to self: you’re gonna need another bottle!

Check back tomorrow for a stage recap and wine recommendations for Stage 15!