Tired of Argentinian Malbec in your red wine glass. Is there hope for Argentinian Criolla?
The wine we are trying is Criolla Grande and it has a bad rep. In Karen MacNeil’s “Wine Bible” (second edition) the grape is described as follows: “A widely planted if undistinguished, pinkish-skinned grape related to other criollas, but its parents are unknown. It is used to make coarse, bland white and rosé wines sold on the Argentine domestic market in jugs or cardboard cartons, or in bulk.”
This was fermented and aged in concrete. I do not think it can withstand oak.
Aroma: Lots of red cherry with lesser intensity strawberry, raspberry and milk chocolate. I might refer to this as a timid wine if polite or if less diplomatic weak-kneed.
Palate: Easy drinking with minimal tannins and acidity. A good grip and a long lingering spicy finish. And it is in the finish that fruit starts a gentle swell with notes of stewed rhubarb and diluted raspberry and red cherry.
Personality: Whomever dared called me a jug wine! I am easy drinking. Not fancy but certainly not supermarket plonk. Consider me a castrated Gamay Noir or Pinot Noir.
Food Match: Sautee garlic and a handful of shallots then a glug of this wine not forgetting a good sprinkling of oregano. Add enough tomatoes that you feel comfortable with then cooked and chopped rapini. Simmer for 15 minutes. Serve over linguine with grated aged cheddar cheese. Might do well as an outdoor wine (served chilled) at a summer barbeque.
The sequel to “Reggie The Egyptian Rescue Dog” has been released by Disney and it’s breaking all records yet again. Hard to guess the title? “Reggie The Egyptian Rescue Dog 2”. Enough is enough for the time being. We are tiring of these incessant and repetitive promotional tours. I heard Bob saying to Fay Dylan the Westie is getting older and is having difficulty keeping up with our schedule and that this time he should stay with Fay at home in Toronto. I hear Bob saying that he is also having difficulty as these tours are far from glamorous and rather grueling and he is not doing this for the money as he has already made millions and donated millions to rescue dog societies through Reggie’s Dog Foundation. He is doing it for the children that adore me Reggie The Egyptian Rescue Dog.
Disney has requested Bob write the next sequel to the film but he replied he will wait until the conclusion of the promotional tour to decide. Bob is running out of creative ideas. Huge flows of money may be threatened by creativity and that is more of a Disney than a Bob matter.
So off we go and thank goodness we will be flying again in the Disney corporate jet. I am not going to tell you all the 17 cities we visited but thank goodness we are going to Paris and Bob has insisted upon a three-day break there. I saw Versailles last visit and we are seeing Fontainebleau and eating in a couple of Bob’s favourite restaurants. I love L’Ami Jean with its nouvelle bistro cuisine and I’ll get a few pieces of beautifully cooked meat. The whole restaurant smells of deliciously cooked meat! As I said previously, “WE DOGS LOVE MEAT!” We are staying in the Penthouse of The Hot Pillow Joint near the Eiffel Tower on Rue George Litton. Bob takes me his quiet sanctuary in Paris, The Museum of Modern Art. Bob refuses to set foot in the Louvre and Musee D’Orsay as they are “rife with tourists”.
We have been invited to dinner with the big guy Ayatollah in Tehran. Iranian children adore me as I am a Muslim. A dog to look up to. A dog with accomplishments. In fact before that important dinner the Ayatollah and I are cutting (me biting) a red ribbon on a soon to be built “Reggie’s Tehran Dog Rescue Centre”. Bob has told me he is upset with Tehran’s human rights violations and is going to tell this to the big guy Ayatollah. And he did and the Ayatollah unexpectedly smiled and said as the country had settled a nuclear deal with the United States political tensions should be relaxed and the government was in the process of planning to release hundreds of political dissidents including Nasrim a famous human rights lawyer/activist. The Ayatollah invited me to pray with him before dinner which was an honour as I have never prayed with a cleric at my side. In Haifa, Bob told the Israeli Prime Minister Israel he should really work on solving the Palestinian problem as its unacceptable actions against these people would forever seal a streak of desperation and hatred amongst the Palestinian people. In the politest terms he was told to mind his own business!
I miss Fay and Dylan the Westie but I have his blanket with me in my Winnipeg Blue Bombers bed I received from the mayor of Winnipeg at the most recent Grey Cup game so I don’t feel homesick! Yes we dogs can become homesick. I miss Fay and Dylan the Westie so very much. And Ollie and The Mookster too!
Bob and I return home to Toronto to a welcoming Fay and Dylan the Westie who was so excited he accidentally peed on the floor. I heard Bob and Fay talking over a bottle of wine from Galil Mountain Winery in the Golan Heights that Bob and I had visited. They winery has created a Reggie brand for their export market. My picture will be on the label. Bob tells Fay he is, pardon the expression, “dog tired” and that he has accepted Nicole Kidman’s offer (subject to a screen test) for me to co-star in her upcoming movie “How a Dog Saved My Life”. While on our promotional tour in Sydney, Australia for Disney we had dinner with Nicole who asked me if I wanted to do a screen test for the movie the next day which I did “bloody brilliantly” according to the director of the film and Bob was given the contract to review.
Nicole had found a beautiful house in Darwin in the Northern Territories which all of us could live in for 4 months while they were shooting the movie there. Dylan has a cameo appearance where the fierce Scottish Westie defends Nicole’s character from a poisonous snake attack! Bob and Fay also have a cameo appearance as an arguing Canadian couple in a restaurant Nicole is eating at. A family project and we will all be movie stars. Mr. Gordon Lightfoot is involved in the film as he is writing the opening track for the film. Russel Crowe will be doing my voice in the film. Penny’s friend from Beamsville, Ontario Mr. Martin Malivoire will be doing the special effects. We Canadians will be red hot in Australia.
After details of the movie are made public as we leave our Bridle Path home for our walk reporters are there asking all sorts of questions. We are in the spotlight again!
Up for breakfast including that delicious yogurt in a glass topped with local honey. Delicious. A very quick pack up and off we roared in our Renault Megane getting lost on the way in Liera. Densely populated Portugal is for sure with village after village. Clay quarries with many trucks on the road. It was no quaint little fishing village when we arrived. Small town but packed with tourists. We have a large room with a commanding view of the ocean below. Alex and I headed out after check in to buy some water, fruit juice and wine right across the hotel at a minimart. Tried some red wine from the Däo which I found fruitier and lighter than wines from the Douro. After a glass of wine headed down the steep slope to the village below. Very picturesque whitewashed homes and narrow streets. Andrew and I checked out the beach while Fotini and Alex walked along the main street. The beach is large and well populated! The sand on the beach is coarse and the water clear but cold.
We ate dinner at the hotel restaurant with a marvellous view of the town and beach below. Fotini had a battle with her crab. Tasty but a job extracting the meat. Andrew complained about the guts in the grilled sardines while Alex ate her sardines and me my an Robalo without complaint. So far the best food has been in homey local restaurants. While the pousadas have the charm their meals, apart from breakfast, just can’t compete with the smaller local restaurants.
Ted Evans (Adam Beach) is a remorseful man consumed by guilt but then again he may be suffering from post traumatic stress disorder veering into a serious delusional. Too much vodka one night behind the wheel he crashes into the car driven by Mrs. McGrath killing her and her two children. Ted is convinced in serving his 5-year prison sentence for vehicular manslaughter Mr. McGrath warns him in a prison lineup that since you have deprived me of my life I will deprive you of your life and if you have relationship with any one I will kill them.
Enter Sarah (Camille Sullivan), Ted’s wife, who tracks down Ted missing since his release from prison after serving his 5-year sentence. Ted is hiding out in a remote cabin outside of Powell River, British Columbia convinced a hermit life is safest for his family.
Sarah can’t believe his “bizarre” story about McGrath on a watchful hunt. We veer into Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest” where no one believed Cary Grant’s story or “Rear Window” where no one believed Jimmy Stewart’s story. But what about that man in a sailboat with binoculars? Red herring? A Hitchcockian cameo appearance?
Logic dictates here we can’t believe Ted and his behaviour and actions bolster our view of his delusions. The Hitchcockian tradition compels us to support Ted but there is sufficient character deviance where one swings to a conclusion he is a psychotic pervert. Should Ted Evans be Tud Bundy? But then he might be the true Hitchcock protagonist although his liberation from his “apparition” is based on a lie!
Interested? You should be. Suspenseful and replete with mind games yet truly Canadian with grit. Sullivan is forceful. Beach is convincing as the imperfect one.
Directed by Jason James. Written by Michael Beaton.
After another long sleep jet lag has been defeated. I was up at 08:00 working on this diary and the rest of the gang up at 09:30. I read a description about the history of Quinta Lagrima where we are staying including the grisly murder of Innes de Castro and the revenge of her lover who tore out the hearts of her two murderers. An excellent breakfast yet again but with white asparagus. Excellent yogurt topped with honey. After breakfast headed to the old convent Convento de Santa Clara-a-Nova. A bit of a narrow if not treacherous road. The convent is somewhat barren and austere in some parts yet lush and luxurious in others. Unfortunately the batteries in our camera needed some recharging so we had to return to the hotel to recharge then back to the convent. There is some very detailed metal and woodwork. We skipped the military museum next store as it was closing.
We then drove to the University of Coimbra. We parked down below the hill where the university is located and walked up to the university. The path is of inlaid stone. The original university building sits in a beautiful courtyard with a tremendous view of Coimbra below. The chapel has walls of inlaid bluish tiles. Rushed back to car to avoid the meter expiring. We inserted more money and walked to the municipal market which was impressive but almost deserted. Then took a break at a local café where two lattes, two Sumols, two bottles of water and ice cream for about $9. Beverages at outdoor cafes are inexpensive in Portugal.
Next to the old town parking the car in an underground garage. Traffic in Coimbra is a killer with omnipresent traffic jams and difficult to navigate traffic roundabouts. Back to the Donald Duck restaurant we ate at last night “Restaurant Casino”. Mom and Pop were delighted to have us back. There was one couple finishing off their dinner when we arrived. Fotini had grilled chicken with outstanding fries. I had the octopus, Alex the arroz marisco and Andrew the swordfish steak. We stopped at the café in the art gallery for desert and returned to Quinta Lagrima.
We headed to Hamilton, Ontario on Saturday night checking in at the Imperial Hotel the night prior to the big Grey Cup game on Sunday at Tim Horton’s Field. After being in so many European cities on promotional tours for the Disney film “Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog” I would say Hamilton is a bleak city. It has a smog and less than wholesome stink to it. I suppose that must be in part to the untreated raw sewage spilling into Hamilton Harbour. But the citizens are amazing. Warm. Affectionate and joyful Hamiltonians greet me like one of their own. And to be fair arriving in the twilight on a gloomy and cold night tells me Hamilton deserves a closer look. Perhaps if we visit Niagara-on-the Lake we can stop in there or even make a weekend of it in the summer and watch a Hamilton Tiger Cats match. I bet you they want another shot at the Grey Cup next year!
We arrive at the Imperial Hotel and there are cameras popping flash bulbs. I hear murmurs of “Nicole Kidman” and some movie “How a Dog Saved My Life”.
There is a huge assortment of gifts and fruit baskets in our suite. The mayor of Hamilton has sent a case of Gamay wines from Malivoire Winery in Beamsville which is where Penny lives. The mayor of Winnipeg has sent us some perogies and two beds with a big Winnipeg “W” on them! Dylan the Westie jokes and says W is for Westie. We settle in and chow down. Dylan the Westie and I have our chicken kibble and two perogies each. Bob and Fay watch a movie while we dogs snooze. At 11 p.m. Bob takes us out for a walk. While we are ready to sleep the city of Hamilton is on fire! Groups of fans from all over Canada are crowding the bars and streets and the air is chock full of beer fumes and happy vibes.
While Bob walks us he tells us Canadian football is one of the few facts that separates us from our American neighbours. As I know really nothing about football I can’t understand what he is talking about. Bob says Canadian football is more fast paced as there are only 3 downs? As I have not watched a BBC documentary on Canadian football I am ignorant about this! We go for our pee and poop and head up to our room for a sleep.
We are up at 9 a.m. and the mayor of Hamilton has sent us a special breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, blueberry waffles and a keg of local Hamiltonian brew! And all of us get a Hamilton Tiger Cats jersey even Dylan the Westie and me!
Dylan the Westie and I go out for a long walk after breakfast and many Hamiltonians stop us and say how much they love Reggie and his best friend Dylan the Westie!
There is a little stink from the steel mills in Hamilton but then again dogs have a sensitive nose!
At 2 p.m. we join the Trudeau’s for High Tea. This Prime Minister is as smooth as silk, like an actor. We have some great jasmine tea and cucumber sandwiches with lots of little cakes. We dogs get a bite or two of these English sandwiches. I feel like I am back in London! And Dylan the Westie and I get a half a cup of jasmine tea.
At 4 p.m. we are picked up by a Royal Canadian Mounted Police escort to go to the game. The Trudeau motorcade is ahead.
We are taken to our seats by the Trudeau’s and their children. The crowd is wild and the smell of beer envelopes us. The fans are crazy with bizarre outfits. Quite frankly I have never seen such a good-hearted frenzy! Many Iranians in Tehran chant in a wild frenzy “Death to America” but in Hamilton it is,” Go Cats. Go Cats”. Not to be catty but who would name a team after cats?
As I told you after the national anthem Dylan the Westie and I do a round across the field with team flags in our mouth then Penny’s Oodlecopter does a fly over.
The crowd chants “REGGGGGEEEEE” and then “DYLAN”. Almost a billion people have watched the Disney film “Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog” but the chanting chills my bones and makes me shiver. Canadians have their problems and issues particularly with those nasty residential schools for its aboriginal children but tonight many Canadians are ready just to have some simple fun.
What is real is that after gobbling chunks of burgers, fries, perogies and pizza with all the excitement from the field I am becoming a bit dizzy and my stomach wants to expel the human food I have ingested. I gotta puke and the limo driver pulls aside as I empty my stomach on the streets. Dylan the Westie comforts me and says “You pups can be so silly sometimes. You shouldn’t have eaten a whole piece of pizza one of the Trudeau children fed you when no one was looking”.
Back in our suite Dylan is soon in his fancy Winnipeg Blue Bomber bed and happily snoring as 13-year-old dogs do. Bob pours some ginger ale in my water bowl and asks me to drink some. It is sweet and tickles my throat and excuse me I let out a thunderous belch but my stomach feels much better. I hit the sack and fall asleep in a flash. I remember Bob giving my jowls a rub and he says,” We are so proud of you Reggie. You have come a long way!” By the way the Hamilton Tiger Cats won the match in overtime.
“There were many women at the time, upon whom the time laid a dreadfully disfiguring hand; but there was not one among them more to be dreaded than this ruthless woman, now taking her way along the streets. Of a strong and fearless character, of shrewd sense and readiness, of great determination, of that kind of beauty which not only seems to impart to its possessor firmness and animosity, but to strike into others an instinctive recognition of those qualities; the troubled times would have heaved her up, under any circumstances. But imbued from her childhood with a brooding sense of wrong, and an inveterate hatred of a class, opportunity had developed her into a tigress. She was absolutely without pity. If she had ever had the virtue in her, it had quite gone out of her.”
Dylan the Westie and I have been invited to the 108th Grey Cup in Hamilton, Ontario on November 12. Prime Minister Justin “Black Face” Trudeau has invited me as his guest along with Dylan the Westie, Bob and Fay to watch the championship Canadian Football League game. We start off with high tea at the regal Imperial Hotel in Hamilton with Justin and Sophie Trudeau and their children. Sophie is distant and unhappy looking. I know I can smell unhappiness. We will visit the dressing room of the Hamilton Tiger Cats and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers who are competing for the Grey Cup. At the beginning of the game Bob and Fay will walk out to centre field and Dylan the Westie and I will sit by Lola Larue as she sings the national anthem of Canada. Then Dylan the Westie and I will take small flags and run around the field. Dylan the Westie will carry the Hamilton Tiger Cats flag and me the Winnipeg Blue Bombers flag. Dylan the Westie carried the gay pride flag once at the Gay Pride Day parade in Toronto years ago and says it will be easy. We will be practicing on Saturday afternoon.
Bob and Dylan the Westie have watched almost every Grey Cup since Dylan the Westie was born 13 years ago. There was always a small family party with potato chips, Cheesies, BBQ wings, fajitas and corn chips and salsa and of course beer.
Bob loves the Hamilton Tiger Cats and is excited but he has struck a deal that the 50/50 draw charitable cut will go to Reggie’s Dogs Foundation.
I will be watched on national television by millions and 25,000 noisy and excited fans most likely in winter conditions. Canada as been suffering with COVID for too long and although I am very nervous it is time for Canada to party like its 1967! Bob has promised that Dylan the Westie and I can split a cheeseburger and a few French Fries. WE DOGS LOVE MEAT! And yes, GO BOMBERS GO!
And it will be Penny in her Oodlecopter flying the pass over instead of the Canadian Snowbirds. GO PENNY GO!
Bob also says to us dogs he has a big secret. It is a BIG SECRET and it involves Joe and Jill Biden! What could it be?
I have travelled the world promoting the Disney film and Bob’s novel “Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog”, receiving a Nobel Peace Prize and meeting the Pope and all sorts of politicos. I think Dylan the Westie and I have peed and pooped all over the world. But at times it is a blur and it is very tiring and sometimes stressful. Time for a vacation! Bob and Fay decided during this silly COVID mess to take Dylan the Westie and I on a real vacation. No paparazzi, no television shows or hours long photo shoots. And we are going to Niagara-on-the-Lake to a fancy inn called the Oban Inn and Spa.
It is about 90 minutes away from Toronto on some busy highways but I love a good car ride especially when I have something to look forward to! Off the highway on country roads we had to stop at a drawbridge and watch a huge ship pass through the Welland Canal. A massive ship! Then the bridge lowers and we cross it. I am not at Niagara-on-the-Lake but am so excited already to see that ship! As we pass through some town called St Catherine’s I think it is called, the scenery gets very nice and I feel like I am in the country. Dylan the Westie and I remark how clean smelling the air is even in the winter.
I hear Bob reciting the name of the wineries we pass. Humans like to drink wine and Bob writes about wine as a hobby and he says this and that winery make good or mediocre wine. There are so many wineries here!
We arrive at the Oban Inn and Spa which is a small but really comfy and they have a couple of dog friendly rooms which have a nice backyard and Dylan the Westie and I go for a badly needed pee there when we arrive. It is so peaceful and quiet here and after checking in we go for a walk along the waterfront and meet a Westie called Tucker. It is December and it is cold but Dylan the Westie and I have coats and Fay has given us fancy collars and leashes so we are prancing and bobbing around like kings oblivious to the cold.
We are tired from the trip and our waterfront walk so Bob and Fay decide they will eat in our room and Bob goes to pick up the pizza at some bistro called Bistro Six One and some wine as after all we are in wine country. Bob is tired from the stressful drive so he sits outside and has a cold local beer from Oast called “Farmbrew”. We go outside and sniff and run about. The pizza smells so good! And after our kibble Dylan the Westie and I have a small piece of pizza and is it ever grand!!!! Bob has a glass of Malivoire Farmstead Gamay and Fay a glass of Malivoire Lady Bug Rosé. They really like it and say we are having a special dinner tomorrow night with the master and mistress of PENNY!!!!!
We have a very good sleep but Dylan the Westie barked to go pee at 4 in the morning. He had taken his monthly anti-parasitical medication before we left which makes him tired and very thirsty and what water comes in must go out. I am sleepy but go out with Dylan the Westie to keep him company and since I am out in the backyard have a pee myself! Bonus time as we jump into bed with Fay and Bob and drift off in a happy and warm sleep.
In the morning Bob figures out the coffee machine and makes some coffee for Fay and grabs a tea and pastry a few minutes from the Oban and we are off to Niagara Falls! I have seen the Falls on a BBC documentary but seeing them up close is both terrifying and exhilarating! The roar. The mist. The power. I will not forget this wonder ever! Then we go to the Botanical Gardens for short walk and stop at various scenic lookouts and see the power of the river. And that floral clock must be a sight in the summer!
We return to the Oban Bob telling us there is going to be a SHORT RECEPTION at the Oban restaurant with local dignitaries wanting to meet me, Bob, Fay and Dylan the Westie. Bob had insisted all the wines being served are Malivoire wines because as he said, “They make damn good wine!” Fay loves the Moira Chardonnay and Bob says the Analog Gamay is amazing. Thank goodness there are some children there and we get lots of pets. And Bob slips us a bit of delicious crab cakes. Who is the chef at this place? He knows his food for sure.
We have an hour before dinner with the mistress and master of Penny so Bob and Fay catch up with their phones and e-mail. You humans spend too much time looking at your phones! I have seen it all over the world. More than a dozen times I have seen couples at restaurants not talking to each other and instead looking at their phones? Bob and Fay never do that.
The restaurant has been closed to the public just for our special dinner with Penny and her “parents” and they arrive. Dylan the Westie, Penny and I are allowed to stay at the restaurant and it is so exciting to see Penny. We talk all dinner long. Penny is very excited about her new Oodlecopter especially with its missile launcher capable of firing Iranian X 600 mini rockets. She shows us her new headphones she will be wearing in her Oodlecopter.
Penny happily shows us her new Oodlecopter headset!
The food arrives and there are crab cakes, shrimp and scallops, chicken with mushroom and truffle risotto and confit of duck. All three dogs get a small piece of duck. We dogs LOVE MEAT! And boy it is really fantastic!
After dinner Bob and Fay watch the CBC news and incessant stories of more unrelenting COVID crap.
It has been a long day and I feel like I am on my first real vacation! Good food, interesting people and a nice quiet sleep without planes flying overhead. Bob and Fay we should be going to Greece for our next vacation. Bob says it will help with his next book “Mutantism on the March” some of which is set on the Greek island of Samos.
Yet another great sleep waking up at 09:00 and we headed down for a buffet breakfast. Seems in Portugal breakfast is always included in the room rate. We take our breakfast in a side room but unlike the Pousada in Viano do Castelo we don’t eat outside on a terrace. The dining area seems gloomy lacking the light as the Pousada Santa Luzia had. Even the service was better there than here.
Packed up and on the road to Coimbra at 11:30. A mysterious 17 Euro charge for a call to Porto that we never made. After that was cleared up on a small scenic road then onto the A1 towards Lisboa. So many small villages on the way. Portugal is a very densely populated area. Very few wide open sparsely populated areas here in the North. Once you get on the beautiful new toll road there is almost no traffic. Clear sailing with one stop at a rest area for a desperately requested WC break. Not having a map of Coimbra it wasn’t easy to find our Relais & Chateau Quinta Lagrima. A narrow gate with a road lined by oleander trees in purple bloom. An old aristocratic palace with grand steps leading up to the reception area. Old wood throughout with wonderful plaster ceilings.
We have rooms in the new section. What an enchanted place. While Alex and Andrew had a swim in the pool Fotini and I scouted out a place for dinner. Picked up a bottle of wine and two Sumols for the junior crowd.
The restaurant we selected for dinner was a 10-minute walk. We were the only customers until the time we left. The outdoor terrace had a few gas cannisters rather unsightly. A real family run restaurant. There was also a large inflated Donald Duck looking at us. Dinner was excellent. I had the salt cod (Bachalau a la casa). Andrew had the shrimp rice and the girls a mixed grill. Fotini and I had a bottle of Casal Garcia a vinho verde. Dinner for 4 was $60. I think my cod with a tomato green pepper sauce was the best. The mixed grill consisted of pork and various sausages. Stopped at a café on the walk home and I had a cold beer while the girls an excellent coffee. Walked home and down the lane with oleanders and off to bed.
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