Robert K Stephen (CSW)

RKS 2024 Wine: Plenty of Red Bordeaux at Affordable Prices

One example of the plenty of moderately priced red Bordeaux’s is a $16.00 2020 Chateau Hyot. 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. No oak ageing or fermentation. Aroma: One senses a young and fresh wine attempting to decide how it will mature. Lazy black cherry with no attitude. Blackberry, blueberry and someContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Plenty of Red Bordeaux at Affordable Prices”

RKS 2024 Wine: A Yalumba GSM

Can I go so far as to say I have never met a Yalumba I didn’t enjoy? We try a Yalumba 2019 Barossa Grenache Shiraz Mataro blend. Aroma: Big fat almost overripe local strawberries, black cherry, blueberry and plum. Palate: Creeping tannins with very fine acids. Cactus pear, pomegranate with some preserved sour cherry. ShortContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: A Yalumba GSM”

RKS 2024 Film: “Fireworks”: Hunting Rabbits and Homosexuals

“Fireworks” is set in a small Sicilian town in 1982. The film has a rabbit hunting scene at its beginning and near its end and at its end the last hunt is left to your imagination. Teenager Gianni (Samuele Segreto) is a shy fellow working as a mechanic for his stepfather. Gianni has had someContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: “Fireworks”: Hunting Rabbits and Homosexuals”

RKS 2024 Wine: The Great Lambrusco Fright: The Bad Boy of Italian Wine?

I can’t see any customer lining up to purchase the latest release of Lambrusco. I suppose there is a very high percentage of wine drinkers who might think Lambrusco is the current Prime Minister of Italy. At times the stark purpleness of Lambrusco could send a wine drinker into the horror zone. On the otherContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: The Great Lambrusco Fright: The Bad Boy of Italian Wine?”

RKS Literature: The Three Stages of Intoxication (Dickens)

“Most public characters have their failing; and the truth is that Mr. Snevellicci was a little bit addicted to drinking; or, if the whole truth must be told, that he was scarcely ever sober. He knew in his cups three distinct stages of intoxication-the dignified-the quarrelsome-the amorous. When professionally engaged he never got beyond theContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Three Stages of Intoxication (Dickens)”

RKS 2024 Red Wine: A Bordeaux from a Co-Op: “Bois Royal”

Looks like there are co-operatives in Bordeaux and a “Bois Royal” emanates from one of them. At $15 it is not going to break the bank. Aroma: Lots of cherry. Some blackberry, black cherry and chocolate wafer cookies. Hints at immediate approachability. Palate: On the light side not necessarily a strike against it. Should allContinue reading “RKS 2024 Red Wine: A Bordeaux from a Co-Op: “Bois Royal””

RKS 2024 Documentary Film: Palestinian Voices: “From Under the Rubble” (2017)

The Gaza Strip is 28 miles long, and 3-7 miles wide with a population of 1.7 million. In January 2009 Israel’s army and air force invaded Gaza in an incursion called “Operation Cast Lead” which is also known as “The Gaza Massacre” where three weeks of shelling and experiments with flesh melting white phosphorus resultedContinue reading “RKS 2024 Documentary Film: Palestinian Voices: “From Under the Rubble” (2017)”

RKS 2023 Wine: 3 Red Wine Clunkers of 2023

Nor’Wester by Greystone Pinot Noir 2020 (New Zealand) 55 Vina del Pedregal 2018 Kidia Reserve Carmènére (Chile) 56 Meia Serra Jaen 2018 Casa Santos (Portugal) 59

RKS 2024 Film: Palestinian Voices: Larissa Sansour’s Sci-Fi Trilogy

The anger and hate in the War on Palestine is noisy and grating. Whomever can shoot and kill becomes the winner. Of course, cultural eradication is the biggest victory and one senses in Sansour’s Sci-Fi Trilogy (of shorts) Palestinian culture survives and quietly and effectively makes its point without resorting to RPGs. Can you imagineContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: Palestinian Voices: Larissa Sansour’s Sci-Fi Trilogy”

RKS 2024 Film: “Between Two Crossings”: Caught in the Israeli-Egyptian Vice

My late Portuguese friend was a diplomat based in Toronto when I met him. He taught me many things and helped instill my love of Portugal. I last enjoyed his company in Estoril a decade ago and he had retired and we enjoyed a wonderful lunch on the boardwalk. He loved to say, “It’s complicated”Continue reading “RKS 2024 Film: “Between Two Crossings”: Caught in the Israeli-Egyptian Vice”