“In that moment of our absence, we discovered that our thirteen-pound senior dog was an acrobat. Chelsea was standing on the table devouring our dinner, unabashed. She looked at us proudly with spaghetti on her nose and a loaf of bread in her mouth. I glanced at my mom, who was furious as she stood with widened eyes and clenched fists. I fought hard, biting my lip to hold back laughter-I don’t think I ever heard her yell so loud.
‘Bad Dog!’
Kerk Murray, “Pawprints On Our Hearts”, 2021.
“It only took a few weeks for Chelsea to find her way into my heart- and for me to find my way into hers. With each passing day, she was willing to become more vulnerable as I continued to meet her where she was. Trust was built as I patiently learned about her boundaries and respected them. Although Chelsea needed me that summer I also needed her. Through that little dog, I understood the value of looking beyond the exterior of others- that if you dare explore beneath the surface, we may stumble upon something truly lovely. But more than that, what I’m most proud of is what Chelsea learned; that no matter what her past held, a new chapter of her story was being written-one where she captivated the heart of a young boy who would love her forever.”
Kerk Murray, “Pawprints On Our Hearts”, 2021.
What do we hear about China and its wines? That they know little about wine. That they are obsessed with prestige and mix enormously expensive first growth Bordeaux with Coca-Cola. I suspect this may be hogwash but until in China touring their wineries what do I know? As a lawyer I know hearsay evidence is largely inadmissible.
What I know is given China’s off the grid as a tourist destination, its attractive food reputation and intriguing historical sites and regions it may be an explosive player in wine tourism. But what are we to know unless more Chinese wines hit the Canadian marketplace reviewed and discussed in the wine media?
China’s wines are viewed with arrogance. What do they know about wine? There would seem to be some realities of utilization of “flying winemakers” and consultants that lend creds to the emergence of Chinese wines.
Is there an opportunity for Chinese wines in Canada? Perhaps given Canadian’s suspicions and distrust of many things “American” my Chinese readers may be encouraged by the fact some Canadian provinces have denied access to American wines due to Trumpian crude insults to Canada the land of igloo people and threats of annexation as the 51st state. A massive supplier of fentanyl into the United States…a pie faced lie unsupported by evidence. The Trumpian way well be known by Canadians and Chinese. Aggressive falsehoods.
Put another way……China, now is the time to strike if you wish to promote your wines. Get Canadian wine writers over to China and show them “what ya got”, Fill their glasses, show them your beautiful geography and historical sites and feed them your wonderful food.
Aroma: Lush and plush blueberry with smoothness hinted at. Blackberry and dark chocolate.
Palate: Tannins moderate and beautifully controlled acidity. Smooth and coherent. Masterfully intertwined blackberry, cassis with a small amount of tar. Long finish. Youthful.
Cellarbility: A baby wine needing more time in the bottle. A bit tight and reticent. Would give it until 2029 to strut its stuff.
Food Match: Not having been to Ningxia Helan Mountain Eastern Foothills and sampled their cuisine I will soil myself in embarrassment and suggest Hunan Beef.
Personality: Chinese wines have travelled a long road and I think with this wine we are on the way!
Price: $32. Are you on a suicide mission China? At this price from an untested provenance this price shows arrogance and misunderstanding. Are you paying Mosel as your joint venturer a bit too much???
RKS 2026 PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA WINES Rating: 91/100.
(Longyu Estate Selection 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon, Wines of China, Ningxia, China, 750 mL, 14.5%)
“ I don’t read things in the newspapers unless they’re thrust upon me as that one was-it’s always one’s best friend who does it. But I used to read them sometimes-ten years ago. I dare say they were in general rather stupider then; at any rate it always struck me they missed my little point with a perfection exactly as admirable when they patted me on the back as when they kicked me in the shins.”
Henry James, “The Figure in the Carpet”, 1896.
AM I LIVING NATALIE IMBRUGLIA’S SONG “TORN”?
Some of the lyrics in Natalie Imbruglia’s 1977 hit “Torn” read, “I’m cold, ashamed lying naked on the floor…”.
I endured my first grooming yesterday. Fay was telling me I was going to the doggie spa. Alright I thought, cucumber slices on my eyes, a manicure and some liver treats. That is not what happened!
A bath, which I detest and struggle like a mad hatter. Buzzing machines all over my body. And being placed in a cage after my grooming until Bob and Fay picked me up. Boy was I glad to see them!
What happened is I lost my identity. Shaved down to the skin. Matting. If only I had not given Bob such a hard time when he brushed me the shave down “a la USMC” might never have happened. I am very protective of my head and snout and gave the groomer a very difficult time.
I feel naked. I feel cold. I feel a bit ashamed of giving Bob such a hard time with his grooming attempts.
Gone is the cute looking Westie. I have received some comments saying I look like a Jack Russell Terrier but that reference to looking like a Chihuahua is BEYOND THE PALE! Another comment is that I looked some creature painted on the sarcophagus of an ancient Egyptian king!
I was so stressed out by the “doggie spa” I had three successive accidents in the house last night. I am ashamed of that too.
I need “grooming training” meaning a visit to the groomer every two months for a trim.
And I thought being a puppy was just having fun and getting scolded a few times a day for naughtiness. Think again Rory. Think again.
“There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody’s expense but his own. However, nothing dispirits, nothing seems worth disputing. He bolts down all events, all creeds, and beliefs, and persuasions, all hard things visible and invisible, never mind how knobby; as an ostrich of potent digestion gobbles down bullets and gun flints.”
Herman Melville, “Moby Dick”, 1851.
“Not the raw recruit, marching from the bosom of his wife into the fever heat of his first battle; not the dead man’s ghost encountering the first phantom in the other world;-neither of these can feel stranger and stronger emotions than that man does, who for the first time finds himself pulling into the charmed, churned circle of the hunted sperm whale.”
Herman Melville, “Moby Dick”, 1851.
Aroma: Blackberry, cherry and black currant.
Palate: Cherry nectar, pepper, diffuse blackberry, chalky cherry and limp wristed licorice. Lacklustre finish. Moderate tannins and controlled acidity. Short finish.
Personality: There can be many faces of Cabernet Sauvignon, but this wine does not seem to be one of those faces I recognize but where a wine is excellent who cares about the usual set of faces on the wine critic police line up. This wine is not excellent.
Food Match: A Friday night wine. Rather utilitarian and nondescript.
Cellarbility: Don’t bother cellaring.
Price: $18 CDN.
RKS 2026 Euro Wine Rating: 79/100.
(Bolgrad Select Collection 2024 Cabernet Sauvignon, Bolgrad Winery, Odessa Region, Ukraine, 750 mL, 14%).
“There is dung in every house. The only question is whether one eats it. I don’t like garlic, but I still eat it because you like it. I would never ask you to eat stinking bean curd; but as for pickled cucumber, if you would only hold your nose and eat some you would realize how good it is. It’s like the old stories about the girl named Wu-yen, who was ugly but virtuous.”
Shen Fu, “The Old Man of the Moon”, 1809.
“Every day Yun would mix her rice with tea. She liked to eat a spicy, salty kind of bean curd that Soochow people call “stinking bean curd”. She also liked pickled cucumber. These last two things I hated all my life, so one day I said to her, ‘Dogs have no stomach, and eat dung because they do not realize how bad it smells. A beetle rolls in its dung so it can become a cicada, because it wants to fly as high as it can. Which are you, a dog or a beetle?”
Shen Fu, “The Old Man of the Moon”, 1809.
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