Summer Training

Its been nice to be back home for a summer of training. Ive spent the last 3 years living in california during the summer months and that experience has heightened my Adirondack experience this spring. My eyes were constantly drawn to the light green vivid colors that took over the barren landscape this spring..every flower, every color grabbed my attention...The beauty and full blown emergence of life in the Adirondack spring stands in stark contrast the desert like conditions in San Diego.

So far training is going very well. I feel a bit more mature this year in terms of my training management. In years past I followed a cookie cutter approach that wasnt personalized enough for me, mostly my fault. Now I am taking the time to train to my weaknesses rather than my strengths and I am already seeing results.

I wanted to shoot off into some quick thoughts about wine. I currently have a bottle of wine called Clos Du Cardinale from Comte Peraldi open. This bottle was hand delivered to me in Lake Placid by my good friend Gregory St Genies, a French skeleton slider. Gregory and I share in vinous activity throughout the season. It is a nice break from our often one dimensional sport dominated lives. This wine comes from Corsica where his father currently lives. It is something that is close to Greg, a wine that he regaled me with tales of. Greg and I have a trip to France planned next year after the season, but it amazes me that I can experience something so local and revealing about where he is from in a bottle thousands of miles away. Wine that has been made with respect has this way of telling you "its" story, also the story of its people. During our season greg was toting around corsican charcuterie that we would enjoy during the evenings..it was intense, burnt in flavor, funky, wrapped in intestine and with very little work one can imagine the corsican landscape with one taste of these charcuteries. This wine is exactly that, a unique niche wine that reflects its sense of place so clearly that when one drinks it they know that it is one of a kind. As I drink it I can see the lifestyle of living in the burnt corsican landscape under the intense mediterranean sun. I can see gregs father Merry enjoying a sunset while sipping comte peraldi and enjoying corsican charcuterie alongside fresh seafood from the mediterranean. This bottle was just opened and it is slowly revealing itself...perhaps I opened it too young..im not sure as I dont know much about the sciacharello grape or this wine, but this bottle isnt about that, its about enjoying it in the moment and toasting to a good friend and his father who remind me that life is more than sport. The people who can be our fiercest competitors on the track, can be some of our best friends in life.

Tasting Note- 2006 Comte Peraldi Clos Du Cardinale

Light ruby color.
Unqiue aromatics of charcuterie, tar, orange, garrigue, roasted nuts, faint vanilla, pepper, red fruits, like no other wine I have smelled. In the mouth this is very silky and surprisingly intense with a very pure core of cherry fruit, dried orange, cinnamon, and minerality. Tangy acidity, but full throttle alcohol that is barely contained...seemingly remniscent of corsican culture. Extremely long finish...we are talking one minute plus here.
93pts CS