Robert K Stephen (CSW)

RKS 2023 Wine: Undurraga T.H. 2019 Pinot Noir from Chile

Undurraga made a stellar T.H 2019 Carignan from the Maule Valley which I rated a 93 so with anticipation we try their T.H. 2019 Pinot Noir from the Malleco Valley. It was aged 10 months in concrete eggs and neutral French oak barrels. Having tasted too few Chilean Pinot Noirs they tend to have veryContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Undurraga T.H. 2019 Pinot Noir from Chile”

RKS 2023 Wine: Why the Grape Mystery? Burnt Ship Bay 2019 Reserve Red

Hopefully wine consumers are not horses in Central Park that need blinders on! Are not wine consumers entitled to know what grapes are being used in their wine particularly in a blend? With Burnt Ship Bay 2019 Reserve Red there is grape mystery. The label, the winery website and the Liquor Control Board of OntarioContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Why the Grape Mystery? Burnt Ship Bay 2019 Reserve Red”

“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous:” Chapter 42: How do you Kill Another Man? The Romanian Revenge Plan

Don Lupara’s men dropped me off at the fully renovated seaside home on the Bay of Naples a wedding gift for a wedding that never took place due to Ginevra’s murder. I had to think through if I could terminate with prejudice the Cyclops who had planted a roadside explosive device that killed my sweetContinue reading ““The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous:” Chapter 42: How do you Kill Another Man? The Romanian Revenge Plan”

RKS 2023 Wine: An Interesting Scoring System for Wine!

“The impish editor of Merum, a serious Swiss Magazine, has another way of expressing his judgement of what is good to drink. He regularly invites eight colleagues for lunch and puts a dozen wines of similar provenance in front of them. The score is measured in centimetres of wine left in each bottle. The emptyContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: An Interesting Scoring System for Wine!”

RKS 2023 Wines: Special Memories of the Dão: Boas Quintas

I had the pleasure of visiting the Dão in 2018 with some members of the international wine media. The wines, the vineyards, the topography the people and the food were memorable although the schedule was rough. Fly into Porto overnight from Toronto. Meet at the Porto Sheraton and relax with a tea which I neverContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wines: Special Memories of the Dão: Boas Quintas”

“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous” : Chapter 41: Leaving my Positano Asylum and Should I Become a Narcotics Kingpin?

Don Lupara came to pick me up in his Russian Zil from my Positano asylum and take me “home” to Naples. If only Ginevra had been travelling in Lupara’s Russian Zil amour plated and all. But being of Russian manufacture it was “in the shop” the day of the murderous blast. It was all pleasantContinue reading ““The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous” : Chapter 41: Leaving my Positano Asylum and Should I Become a Narcotics Kingpin?”

RKS Literature: Passage of the Day: A Reluctant Cretan Bride to Be! (Nikos Kazantzakis)

“A piece of bread-damn it, that seems to you a trifle, does it, my princess? Very clever it sounds! And what, by God, should a bridegroom find to desire in you? Youth? Beauty? Riches? You’re thirty-five, and shrunk to a dried currant, to an old maid with a moustache! And that greyhound brother of yoursContinue reading “RKS Literature: Passage of the Day: A Reluctant Cretan Bride to Be! (Nikos Kazantzakis)”

Misadventures in Wine Chapter 8: Wine Drinker Profiles: “The Know it All”

At times there can be a thin line separating The Know It All from the knowledgeable. The Know it All thinks they know all about wine. Although the adage “The more you know the less you know” is never entirely correct there can be a grain of truth in it as applicable to wine. NewContinue reading “Misadventures in Wine Chapter 8: Wine Drinker Profiles: “The Know it All””

“The Penniless Pensioner : Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous”: Chapter 40: Thank God for LSD and Pasta alla Nerano!

After my Ritz-Carlton meltdown in Manhattan for months I had no idea where I was nor did I really care. Was it post traumatic stress disorder or depression? I was told that I had been taken on a chartered jet courtesy of Don Lupara to Naples where I was transported along the coast to aContinue reading ““The Penniless Pensioner : Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous”: Chapter 40: Thank God for LSD and Pasta alla Nerano!”

RKS Film 2023: Slamdance Presents “The Underbug”

Your first question may be what is “Slamdance”. It sounds like a play on “Sundance” doesn’t it? Slamdance is a community, a year-round experience, and a statement in which everyone is invited to take part. The first Slamdance Film Festival was held in 1995 by a wild bunch of filmmakers who were tired of relyingContinue reading “RKS Film 2023: Slamdance Presents “The Underbug””