Niagara Merlot appears to be making great strides for itself whether it be Peninsula Ridge or Peller Estates. Could it be a judicious use of oak that is the key? This Southbrook Organic Merlot was wild fermented in new and used French oak barrels aged for 18 months. Aroma: Raspberry, black cherry and cassis withContinue reading “RKS 2025 Canadian Wine: Southbrook Triomphe Merlot From Niagara”
Author Archives: Robert K Stephen (CSW)
RKS Literature: Imagination (Yukio Mishima)
“Those who lack imagination have no choice but to base their conclusions on the reality they see around them. But on the other hand, those who are imaginative have a tendency to build fortified castles they have designed themselves, and to seal off every window in them.” Yukio Mishima, “Spring Snow”, 1968.
RKS 2025 Documentary: “Divia”: All Manner of Destruction: All Manner of Resilience
The Euro documentary “Divia” has no dialogue simply music. Its astonishing cinematography is a work of art. It is a panorama of destruction of flora and fauna, man, his environment and his machines of death and destruction. Nature has been wounded but is far from defeat. If you have watched the documentaries “Russia at War”Continue reading “RKS 2025 Documentary: “Divia”: All Manner of Destruction: All Manner of Resilience”
RKS 2025 CANADIAN Film:“Seeds”: Something More Political is Germinating Under the Horror
“Seeds” is most often categorized in reviews as a horror movie with comedic elements. I agree but there is an angrier political layer germinating under the horror moniker namely an Indigenous strike back against colonization both past and present. We are introduced to Ziggy (Kaniehtiio Horn) as a struggling urban Indian “influencer” surviving on bicycleContinue reading “RKS 2025 CANADIAN Film:“Seeds”: Something More Political is Germinating Under the Horror”
RKS 2025 CANADIAN Film: “Sweet Angel Baby”: Newfoundland Explosion!
“Down east”, as they say in Canada, on 6December1917 two ships, one loaded with high explosives, collided in Halifax, Nova Scotia with the resulting explosion killing 1,782 people and injuring an estimated 9,000. In the film “Sweet Angel Baby” filmed down east in Newfoundland and Labrador a massive explosion occurs but a moral one, notContinue reading “RKS 2025 CANADIAN Film: “Sweet Angel Baby”: Newfoundland Explosion!”
RKS 2025 Wine: DAC/Dão
On my last trip to Portugal’s Dão region I did not have the opportunity to visit Quinta Pellada where this wine was produced. The Dão is not so far from the Douro region but its topography is far different. Forested in places, green and almost verdant. Gigantic glacial boulders may appear in fields and exoticContinue reading “RKS 2025 Wine: DAC/Dão”
RKS 2025 Documentary: “A New Kind of Wilderness”: A Metaphorical Yet Entirely Real Wilderness
Nik the Brit married Maria the Norwegian and with Maria’s daughter Ronja move to a small, dilapidated farm deep in the Norwegian countryside. They subsequently have three children Ulv, Falk and Freja. Self admitted tree huggers, quite evident in the opening frames of the documentary, the children are home schooled without screens, learn how toContinue reading “RKS 2025 Documentary: “A New Kind of Wilderness”: A Metaphorical Yet Entirely Real Wilderness”
RKS 2025 Canadian Film: “Skeet”: Newfie Neo Noir?
“Skeet” a 2024 Canadian film shot in the Chalker Place east end neighborhood of St. John’s, Newfoundland indicates there is more to Canadian film than Ontario and British Columbia productions! Immediately prior to watching “Skeet”, “Sweet Angel Baby” another Newfoundlander film was on my screen and will soon be available in theatrical release in Canada.Continue reading “RKS 2025 Canadian Film: “Skeet”: Newfie Neo Noir?”
RKS Literature: “The Decline of the Japanese Man” (Yukio Mishima)
“In the present day-when places called cafés are springing up everywhere, drawing thousands of idle people with money to spare, when male and female students behave so shockingly in streetcars that it has become necessary to segregate them-men have lost all trace of that fervor that drove their ancestors to accept the most frightening challenges.Continue reading “RKS Literature: “The Decline of the Japanese Man” (Yukio Mishima)”
RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Norman Hardie’s County Unfiltered Cabernet Franc from Ontario’s Prince Edward County
Aroma: Heavy duty and intense black cherry and raspberry jam. Blackberry and cocoa. Palate: High toned almost disinterested above it all raspberry, strawberry and Catania cactus pear. Personality: Admire my bouquet worthy of a standing ovation expecting something stellar. Taste me and you might ask what just happened with the fruit? Food Match: Pizza orContinue reading “RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Norman Hardie’s County Unfiltered Cabernet Franc from Ontario’s Prince Edward County”
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