  The (non-strange) vector and axial-vector spectral functions extracted from
$\tau $-decay by the ALEPH collaboration are confronted with QCD in the
framework of a Finite Energy QCD sum rule (FESR) involving a polynomial kernel
tuned to suppress the region beyond the kinematical end point where there is no
longer data. This effectively allows for a QCD FESR analysis to be performed
beyond the region of the existing data. Results show excellent agreement
between data and perturbative QCD in the remarkably wide energy range $s = 3 -
10 {GeV}^2$, leaving room for a dimension $d$ =4 vacuum condensate consistent
with values in the literature. A hypothetical dimension $d$=2 term in the
Operator Product Expansion is found to be extremely small, consistent with
zero. Fixed Order and Contour Improved perturbation theory are used, with both
leading to similar results within errors. Full consistency is found between
vector and axial-vector channel results.
