RKS Literature: The Waging of the Russian Holy War: The Russian Jihad (Nikolai Gogol)

“It is common knowledge how a war for the faith is waged on Russian soil-no earthly power is stronger than the power of faith. It is insurmountable and ferocious, like a rock rising from the depths of a stormy ocean, fashioned from a single unshatterable mass of stone, towering into the skies, seen from vast distances and glaring into the waves that roll past. And woe unto the ship that is hurled onto this rock. Its rigging will be torn to shreds, the battered wind resounding with the piteous cries of the drowning men.”

Nikolai Gogol, “Tarus Bulba”, 1835.

RKS Literature: A New Russian Czar Will Spring Forth! (Nikolai Gogol)

“So you thought you caught us, you damn Poles. Do you think there is a single thing in this world that will frighten a Cossack? Just wait, the time will come when you will understand the meaning of the Russian Orthodox faith. Word has already spread through every nation. A Russian Czar will spring forth from the Russian earth, and there will be no power in this world that shall not yield to him!”

Nikolai Gogol, “Tarus Bulba”, 1835.

RKS Literature: Execution by the Poles of Cossacks: Entertainment (Nikolai Gogol)

“The square on which the execution was to take place was not hard to find: the whole town was streaming there from all directions. In that grim bygone era an execution was considered one of the most engaging spectacles, not only for the masses but also for the aristocracy. Devout old women, matrons and timid young girls refused to pass up the opportunity to satisfy their curiosity, though they would afterword dream all night of blood drenched corpses and shout in their sleep as only drunken Hussars can. On the square, many were to call out in feverish hysteria, “Oh how they torture them!” covering their eyes and turning away, yet none were prepared to forgo the gruesome spectacle.”

Nikolai Gogol, “Tarus Bulba”, 1835

RKS 2024 Travel: Beware of Deer Signage on the Roads: No Joke: Bambi Slaughter!

If you are in Eastern Canada or United States driving on the roadways you see those beware of deer roadside signs but shuffle their significance to the far reaches of the brain.

I have never seen a deer on the road in my Canadian travels.

In fact the first time I saw any deer near or on the road was many years ago just outside of Buffalo, New York at dusk heading back to Toronto from Washington. There were many deer at fields near the road but none ventured to the road to meet their maker.

Again a couple of weeks ago seeing the deer warning signs in New Jersey initially I paid no attention until I saw deer carcasses littering the road and had to stop several times as the does and Bambi suddenly appeared on the road. Like a pilot in the Battle of Britain I was looking for Messerschmitt’s aka deer!

A road warning sign to be taken seriously…..in New Jersey……???? Indeed yes.

RKS 2024 Wine: Blackboard Merlot from Washington State: A Berlin Wall Merlot?

Many Washington State Merlots are not afraid to have a little bath in oak. It gives Merlot a pleasing to everyone aura. I had a Konstantin Frank Merlot in the Finger Lakes recently and it had a good dose of oak in it. My dining companion, no lover of red wine, enthused about how “approachable” it was.

This Merlot was from the Conner Lee Vineyard and farmed using sustainable practices. Hand harvested and sorted. It was fermented in stainless steel and aged 3 months in new French oak. 1,253 cases were produced.

Is this Blackboard Merlot everyone’s friend or will it evoke a nails scratching over the blackboard response?

Aroma: Black cherry, cherry liqueur, purple plum and a wisp of black licorice. The close to 14% alcohol is noticeable.

Palate: Black fruit with moderate tannins and some alcohol induced heat on the short finish.

Personality: I will admit to oak influences but you’ll see they are not overwhelming but not enough to completely dumb me down nor make me entirely charming to Gramps, Pops and the rest of the family. I am a Merlot making my own way. I feel a bit like the Berlin Wall caught between two countries.

Food Match: Grilled lamb (rare). The wine is built for food.

Book Match: Nikolai Gogol “Tarus Bulba”.

Music Match: “Hey Hey Woman of Mine” Led Zepplin.

Price: $24 CDN (Ontario).

Cellarbility: Drink now or hold no later than 2026-year end.

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 90/100.jamessuckling.com 90.

(Blackboard 2019 Merlot, Matthews Estate, Benton City, Washington, Columbia Valley AVA, 750 mL, 13.9%).

RKS Travel: That Unplanned Moment May Be the Best: A Glass of Hosmer Riesling on the Shores of Lake Cayuga, Finger Lakes New York

There are certain travellers that plan each moment of a trip. Itineraries are created and checked off like a shopping list. Good planning? Mechanical and unthinking? Perhaps a bit of both.

You might say I recently had one very special unplanned moment on Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes District of New York.

Some context. I had a certain mission to accomplish in New York City and in Flemington New Jersey. New Jersey was enjoyable and for the most part beautiful. But then that mission to New York City involved getting in and out of it on The Jersey Turnpike enough to age a quiet Canadian several years. One wrong move and you could be on the Pulaski Skyway! And escaping Manhattan at rush hour via the Holland Tunnel an exercise in massive frustration.

So after all this driving from Toronto heading back to Toronto from Stockton, New Jersey there was a two day stopover in tiny Aurora, New York. Not being a planner of any expertise, my wife made the reservations at Inns of Aurora. We were in the E.B. Morgan House and calling it a house is wholly understated and far too modest but more about that in another article.

Aurora is conducive to relaxation. A small main street with a tiny convenience store, two restaurants, a library and an “opera house” and the impressive collection of inns. The stress ramps down to zero and driver’s leg and neck miraculously disappears. After a few walks on the main street I knew some of the dogs by name and stopped to chat with the locals.

Taughannock Falls: Photo Robert K. Stephen

The next day my planned mission was visiting Hosmer Winery on the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail where I said my hellos as a rare Canadian wine and travel writer. A scenic drive on the shores of Cayuga Lake watching wineries passing by and unfortunately not stopping. Brooke at Hosmer suggested I visit Taughannock Falls” just down the road a bit”. So unplanned and knowing nothing about the Falls off we went and were very glad we did. Spectacular, rugged and unplanned. And then back at E.B. Morgan House on the patio enjoying a glass of Hosmer Riesling with a view of the lake and a beautiful summer afternoon. A exceptionally well crafted Riesling and a calm and serene view of Cayuga Lake. It was one of those unplanned moments and basking in serenity the best moment of the trip

RKS 2024 Film: “Devil Put the Coal in the Ground”: West Virginian Tragedy a la Master and Margarita

If you have watched the seminal 1973 American documentary “Harlan County” about a coal miner’s strike in Harlan County, Kentucky you know coal miners are a tough and proud lot and mine owners are ruthlessly if not murderously driven by profits. In “Devil Put the Coal in the Ground” about coal mining in West Virgina you witness the toughness of coal miners of yesterday but today they are a dying breed as coal is a dirty word and mountain blasting has eclipsed the need for coal mines and of coal miners.

The documentary commences with a clip of a 1987 movie “Matewan” where a coal miner says there are two people: those with jobs and those without. Fast forward to the present day where an interviewee says you are either a coal miner or a drug addict. West Virginia has the greatest number of opiate addicts, opiate deaths and opiate overdoses of any state in the United States. A local judge notes that in a day with 40 cases before him 35 will deal with drug offences and the others are related to the downturn of the coal industry. Opiate use can start at 11 or 12 years of age and hook mothers and fathers and even grandparents.

In the documentary lawyers, coal miners, an opiate addict, a nurse, a doctor, an activist, a pawn shop owner, a politician, a Vietnam war veteran and a mother who is an activist and has an opiate addicted son she can’t trust for a moment all talk about coal, its fall from grace and the destruction it has caused. Most of them are shattered by opiate related deaths and coal related diseases in their families.

All of the commentators, while mindful of the rough life of coal miners, proudly recount their wonderful childhoods and strong sense of community that began to fall apart in the 1970’s with the death throes of coal mining. Without a strong social fabric and the loss of hope for a relatively secure life coal mining afforded communities crumbled, families were shattered and opiate use soared often fuelled by company doctors to get injured workers back to the mine to avoid threats of fines for safety violations. The message is that while coal miners endured a tough life coal mining paid relatively well and could support communities.

As coal mining disappears mountain blasting thrives with devastating ecological and health effects. It is an attractive practice for coal mines are no longer required and the state grants permits desperate to compensate for loss of coal mining jobs and possibly turns a lax eye to mountain blasting.

Coal has always been a dirty business but it offered a decent standard of living and fostered a strong community. Coal has now become a dirtier business destroying communities economically and spiritually. The devil’s work a la “Master and Margarita”.

You can watch the trailer here https://vimeo.com/452308181

It is directed by Lucas Sabean and Peter Hutchison and will be on streaming platforms and VOD on 9July2024.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 96/100.

RKS 2024 Wine: Villa Teresa Organic NV Prosecco

Aroma: Lemon, lime, peach, mango and honey.

Palate: A gentle fizz to the point it resembles a semi-sparkler. Some cantaloupe and pineapple but one expects more fruit with a prosecco than this? Its 11% alcohol makes it a refreshing hot summer day quaff.

Personality: I am not assertive evidenced by my scant bubbles and acidity.

Food Match: Cambozola over a baguette.

Price: $16.95 (CDN). Last year it was $17.95.

Cellarbility: Consume no later than after the Christmas (North American) turkey leftovers are gone.  

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 89/100: RKS 2023 Wine Rating 89.

(Villa Teresa Organic Prosecco NV, DOC, Imbottigliato da V.T. srl, Vittorio, Veneto, Italy, 750 mL, 11%).

RKS 2024 Film: “Alice On and Off”: Misery Justified by the Selfishness of “Trauma”: Sympathy For the Devil?

In this Romanian documentary we follow the life of Alice, her husband Dorian and their child Aristo.

Alice married Dorian aged 53 at 18 years of age due to her pregnancy. Alice has had a traumatic and unloved existence abandoned by her parents and raised by a tyrant grandmother blocking all parental access to Alice and beating her at any mention of her parents. The relationship with Dorian did not last long as they fought like cat and dogs. Alice departs to other parts of Europe leaving Aristo behind and supporting Dorian and Aristo by revenue from her “pornification” chat room.  Dorian is a struggling artist relying on Alice’s porno revenue to support himself and Aristo.

Alice has some talent as an artist but due to her support obligations and her drug habit her dream of attending a fine arts university programme is an impossibility. Her frustration augments as does her bizarre appearance with coloured hair, missing teeth and dotted tattoos on her face.

Eventually she goes missing seen later by police buying junk and living in a slovenly Bucharest ghetto and by “slovenly” that may be an understatement.

Director Isabel Tent filmed this documentary over 10 years very successfully showing how traumatized persons deal with a painful past. Should you have sympathy for Alice? Or is her trauma simply an excuse for her dereliction of duty as a mother. She obviously failed to learn from her own past and turned that against her son or is it but an excuse for her decadence.

My sympathy is for her child Aristo. My scorn is for Alice. Compassion only runs so deep for a selfish and destructive personality looking for an excuse to squander her own life and that of her child.

You can see the trailer here https://vimeo.com/939018909/0ca96c6b18?share=copy

Expect to see this doc in documentary festivals.

RKS Film Rating: 82/100.

RKS 2024 Wine:  Ontario’s Bachelder Bator 2021 Gamay Noir: Bachelder’s Gentle Giant

Aroma: All held in a smoky frame. There is blackberry, black cherry and a bit of sandalwood. Rich, evident, pure and lighthearted.

Palate: Gentle and soft but not lacking in taste. Can I say, “Gentle Giant?”.  Replete with raspberry and almost juicy. Broad based tannins. Short finish.

Personality: I think I have a bit of Ontario Pinot Noir character in terms of colour and raspberry on the nose.

Food Match: Roast duck.

Jazz Match: George Benson “Summer Breeze”.

Cellarbility: Drink by 2025-year end.

Price: $30 CDN (Ontario).

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 91/100. Rick VanSickle 92. Wine Align 91.

(Bachelder Niagara Cru: Single Vineyard Bator Gamay 2021, VQA Four Mile Creek, Bachelder, Beamsville, Ontario, 750 mL, 12.5).