Squid whisked me away from Dorval International Airport in Montreal to downtown Montreal in his silver Studebaker. I took my usual suite at the Ritz-Carlton on Sherbrooke Street. After unpacking we went to Thursdays on Crescent Street for a quick Martini and then to an old favourite Greek restaurant of mine on Park Avenue calledContinue reading ““The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous” : Chapter 51: Revolt at the Mugless Mental Hospital in Montreal”
Author Archives: Robert K Stephen (CSW)
RKS 2023 Wine: Terras de Lava from Pico Island in the Portuguese Azores
Less than two weeks ago I was sitting in the tasting room of the Cooperativa Vitivinicola da Ilha do Pico in Madalena on Pico Island in the Portuguese Azores. There were 10 of us in the group all participating in Wine and Travel Week based in Porto. 8 were tour operators and two of usContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Terras de Lava from Pico Island in the Portuguese Azores”
RKS 2023 Film: “All the World is Sleeping”
Haven’t we all watched the plot before? Drug addiction and the destruction it causes whether it be on film, countless documentaries or even television series was it called “Intervention”. Like the DEA in the United States the genre is somewhat over exposed if not tiresome. Perhaps faced with massive drug addiction problems in North AmericaContinue reading “RKS 2023 Film: “All the World is Sleeping””
RKS 2023 Film: “Kubrick by Kubrick”: Kubrick Speaks
The documentary “Kubrick by Kubrick” through interview narrative lets American director Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) discuss his films and reflect on life. Perhaps the most important observation made by Kubrick is that if you present life other than what you make of it then that is entertainment and that sums up many of the 13 filmsContinue reading “RKS 2023 Film: “Kubrick by Kubrick”: Kubrick Speaks”
RKS 2023 Wine: Porto Memories: Sagrado Reserva
I have a boatload of Porto memories all good and many lighthearted. I have been somewhat of a regular visitor there since 2014. One very pleasant memory is attending Port Wine Day in Porto pre COVID and having a memorable lunch with José Maria Cálem proprietor of Quinta Sagrado in the Douro region of Portugal.Continue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Porto Memories: Sagrado Reserva”
RKS 2023 Wine: Are You Hunkering for a Hungarian?
Are we beggars here in Ontario at the mercy of state monopoly Liquor Control Board of Ontario? A dearth of Eastern European wines. I suppose the money trail leads to California, Italy and France. Eastern Europe is too risky. God help us if Polish Pinot Noir floods the market! The LCBO gods throw us, theContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Are You Hunkering for a Hungarian?”
RKS 2023 Wine: Tourism and Algarve Wines
Tourism in Portugal’s Algarve has had both a negative and positive effect on Algarve wineries. Being initially a “sun and beach” destination ramping up in the 1970s the rush for profits and the development of the Algarvian economy focused on sun and beach! Build, build and build more and who cared if vineyard land wasContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Tourism and Algarve Wines”
RKS 2023 Wine: Drinking Prohibited Wine in The Azores: Apologies and Gifts from the Portuguese Government
It was another windy and overcast day on Pico Island. I see why the vines are protected by those carrais i.e. lava rock enclosures. So I am savouring my toasted cornbread with a conger eel omelette for breakfast. My friend Fortunato Garcia knows my passion for conger eel so he had brought over some niceContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Drinking Prohibited Wine in The Azores: Apologies and Gifts from the Portuguese Government”
RKS 2023Wine: Drinking Prohibited Wine in the Azores: Minimum Security Accommodations at Adega a Go Go!
My last report had me imprisoned in Pico Island in the Portuguese Azores for drinking a wine “Proibida”. I mean it was a free pour and I am not even sure I saw the label yet hours later the Pico police force, all 8 of them, sweep in on me speaking in Portuguese so IContinue reading “RKS 2023Wine: Drinking Prohibited Wine in the Azores: Minimum Security Accommodations at Adega a Go Go!”
RKS 2023 Wines: Dichosa Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 from Valle del Maule in Chile
The vines for this wine are whippersnappers at 15 years of age and in addition to oak barrels the wine was aged in concrete giving it a leaner texture than oak only ageing. Aroma: Full of both black and red fruits all very harmonious and indicative of a smooth and ready to drink Cabernet Sauvignon.Continue reading “RKS 2023 Wines: Dichosa Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 from Valle del Maule in Chile”
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