Reggie The Egyptian Rescue Dog: The Final Cut

The Beginning or the End? Under the Rubble

My name is Reggie. I was originally from Egypt. My complete story will unfold as you read further and it is quite a story of a small cast off “mutt” that had a pivotal role in the course of changing world history. From a loving owner in Cairo to a ripped-up bleeding mess lying dying on the street. To Toronto then on to exciting and dangerous world adventures. I do not brag but I am the world’s most famous dog but be patient as more is to be told which has already been transcribed so whether I live or die the story will be told.

I was invited by United Nations Secretary General António Guterres to visit a place called Gaza to encourage the many children of Gaza terrified and bedraggled by a terrible battle that has left many of them bleeding and mangled on the streets like I was in Cairo years ago. António and I go back a few years ago in Portugal where he served as Prime Minster from 1995-2002. I met him in Porto when my Master Bob was knighted. Again that is another story that will be told.

I was transported in a humanitarian aid truck from Rafah in Egypt into Northern Gaza where wearing a blue United Nations bullet proof vest with a protective guard of Canadian soldiers started visiting kindergartens and primary schools where the animated movie about my life “Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog” was shown to the children we visited and food and basic pediatric medicine was delivered. Such fear in these children’s eyes. It was replaced with a joyous twinkle as they crowded around to pet me.

Every afternoon we returned to Egypt through the Rafah border crossing and every morning we returned to Gaza. Each time we entered a kindergarten or primary school, or what was left of them, the terror on these children’s faces worsened. I had to be deliced every night as the children that I met were covered with them.

On day 4 just after we entered a primary school the deafening and blood curdling roar of fighter jets was heard overhead and all I remember was bright lights, fire and piles of rubble crashing and flying all over. A 7-year-old girl called Nour had been petting me and as she heard the jets approaching, she grabbed me and held me close to her chest. I opened my eyes and it was night and the cold hands of Nour were wrapped tightly around me. Men were frantically shouting and some parents crying. Whether I was to live or go to The Land Beyond was out of my control.

Please read on a regular serialized basis to hear my life story or about my death.

RKS 2024 Wine: Meyer Family Vineyard’s Spelling Mistake or My Wishful Thinking? A Tomboy Chardonnay From British Columbia

As 2023 terminates it may be time to reflect on the year. From a wine perspective it certainly has been interesting. The highlight was my media trip to Porto, Säo Miguel and Pico Island with massive wine exposure in a short time. It looks as if I will be repeating that trip in February. More details to come. And the MFV corporate DC 6 has been repaired so I will be whisked to Okanagan Falls in the very near future where I will be reading tea leaves (for a substantial charge) and meeting esteemed members of  the Okanagan Falls community.

And 2023 saw 2022 Meyer Family Vineyards wines coming my way. MFV is most well known for its Chardonnay and Pinot Noir so why did I fall head over heels for their 2022 Gewurztraminer which is not only the best in Canada but the best I have had anywhere.

However, these people at MFV aren’t perfect. I think they have made a mistake on their label for the 2022 Stevens Block Chardonnay. My surname is Stephen not Stevens. You see my family of Scottish ancestry purchased land in 1899 Okanagan that included this erroneously named block. You see my great grand pappy Rufus McGonigle lost the land in a rigged card game, or so he said, and the Stephen name disappeared. No use to cry over spilt milk. But when the British Columbia Gaming Commission releases their findings on this swindle which will be no time soon as they have been ruminating on the case since 1921 the Stephen name will be restored! God willing!

Harbouring no ill will whatsoever and not even contemplating familial revenge nor tempted to rate this Chard at 49.9/100 let us try the wine.

The Stevens Block is a block in MFV’s Old Main Road Vineyard which is located on the esteemed Naramata Bench. It was whole cluster pressed which presumably would increase its tannins and grippiness which may have been reduced by the fact the first juices were used for the wine.

Aroma: Matsu apple, clementine, mango and a bit of banana.

Palate: Unlike the other MFV Chards this one has a long finish that rolls and crashes like Tofino waves. It is also grippier than the other MFV Chards reminding me somewhat of an Encruzado from the Däo in Portugal. Peach and apricot dominate.

Personality: I am a bit different than the other 2022 MFV Chards who we might call delicate ladies. Think of me as a bit of a tomboy. Just a bit rough on the edges like that talk show host Pat Burns in was on CKGL radio in Vancouver. If I called in he would say, “Hello Doll.”

Food Match: Roast Pork slow cooked in a swimming pool of sherry, honey, soy sauce, garlic and ginger over jasmine rice. Oh yeah!

Cellarbility: 542 cases of this elixir produced and drink by end of 2029.

Price: $27.04. CDN. Outside of Canada then you still may be able to fill your glass with this great Chardonnay but contact winery for shipping details.

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 94/100.Beam me up a case of this Scotty!

(Meyer Family Vineyards 2022 Okanagan Valley Chardonnay, Naramata Bench, Stevens Block, Old Main Road Vineyard, Meyer Family Vineyards, Okanagan Falls, 750 mL, 13.5%).          

P.S. All references to “Stevens Block” are not based on real events or people living or long gone. The block has been named in homage to Janice Stevens-Meyer that lady behind Mayhem Wines. The author apologizes for any confusion, sorrow or outrage caused by his overactive imagination!

RKS 2024 Wine: Meyer Family Vineyards: Politics and Madonna and Their Private Jet at Kelowna COSTCO Tells it All!

Meyer Family Vineyards tries to get political by filling bottles with grape juice from Anarchist Mountain. I wonder if they have thought this out. An anarchist thrives in anarchy. Wineries require order and method in making their wine. How is it then MFV can support disorder. I mean if they produced Baby Duck which by today’s standard might be considered anarchy but no their wines are well ordered and so good they are in the upper class of wine and anarchists are no friends of the upper class.

To augment this confusion wasn’t it Madonna that crooned “Let’s get physical”? But MFV wants to get political. They are probably Swifties as well.

Best to avoid any debate on this. Let the hot air and politics be restricted to The House of Commons in Ottawa.

Before we all lose the point we try a MFV  2022 Anarchist Mountain Dekleva Chardonnay. And who is Dekleva anyway? I think in Penticton he was once a Trotskyist?  Anarchist Mountain Vineyard is the highest elevation vineyard in Osoyoos British Columbia at 518m. The vineyard was once home to Terry Meyer Stone and her partner Andrew Stone and yes we see the insidious connection to anarchy here as isn’t Terry Meyer Stone running Mayhem wines. Mayhem and anarchy what bed fellows!

Aroma: Apple, pear, butterscotch, cinnamon, and guava.  

Palate: Quite mellow with some mighty fierce apricot and mango demonstrating at the edge of the wine. A longer finish than previously reviewed 2022 MFV Chardonnays.

Personality: Really folks there is no anarchy in me. I am ordered as a British Columbia Social Credit card carrier.

Food Match: Grilled free range chicken breast with mango salsa.

Reading Match: The Rebel (Albert Camus).

Jazz Match: Miles Davis.

Cellarbility: Needs a bit of time to flesh out in a cool cellar as opposed to in a Hamas tunnel. Oops more politics.

Price: $32.36 CDN. Euros and Yanks contact the winery to see if they can ship to you. MFV has promised me there will not be any explosives hidden in your shipment!

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 91/100.

(Meyer Family Vineyards 2022 Anarchist Mountain Dekleva Chardonnay, Okanagan Valley, Anarchist Mountain Vineyard, Meyer Family Vineyards, Okanagan Valley, 750 mL, 13.5%).

P.S. It is a slow night here in Toronto with a mere 6 shootings, 12 sexual assaults and 2 hit and runs so this embellished review has appeared. MFV are far from anarchists. Guess who owns that private Lear jet at the COSTCO parking lot in Kelowna…..Meyer Family Vineyards.

RKS Literature: Dreadful Engines That Make the Children Old (Dickens)

“Even the sunburnt faces of gipsy children, half naked though they be, suggest a drop of comfort. It is a pleasant thing to see that the sun has been there; to know that the air and light are on them every day; to feel that they are children, and lead children’s lives; that if their pillows be damp, it is with the dews of Heaven not with their tears: that the limbs of their girls are free, and they are not crippled by distortions; imposing an unnatural and horrible penance upon their sex; that their lives are spent, from day to day, at least amongst the waving trees, and not in the midst of dreadful engines, which make children old before they know what childhood is, and give them the exhaustion and infirmity of age, the privilege of dying.”

Charles Dickens, “Nicholas Nickleby”, 1837.

RKS Literature: The Savage Intoxication of the Moment (Dickens)

“The excitement of play, hot rooms, and glaring lights, was not calculated to allay the fever of the time. In that giddy whirl of noise and confusion, the men were delirious. Who thought of money, ruin, or the morrow, in the savage intoxication of the moment? More wine was called for, glass after glass was drained, their parched and scalding mouths were cracked with thirst. Down poured the wine like oil on blazing fire. And still the riot went on. The debauchery gained in its height; glasses were dashed upon the floor by hands that could not carry them to lips; oaths were shouted out by lips which could scarcely  form the words to vent them in; drunken losers cursed and roared, some mounted on the tables, waving bottles above their heads, and bidding defiance to the rest; some danced, some sang, some tore the cards and raved. Tumult and frenzy reigned supreme; when a noise arose that drowned all others, and two men, seizing each other by the throat, struggled into the middle of the room.”

Charles Dickens, “Nicholas Nickleby”, 1837

RKS 2024 Wine: Meyer Family Vineyards Has Benched Me!

In most sports being “benched” is indicative of poor performance or naughty manners. So when I received from Meyer Family Vineyards in British Columbia a Chardonnay from their Old Main Road Vineyard located on the Naramata Bench I raised no objection. I deserve no penalty for misconduct in reviewing MFV wines or at least they have not told me so.

The Naramata Bench is well known throughout Canada for producing high quality grapes which in the right winemaker’s hands just like Chris Carson’s at MFV can produce top quality wine. The Naramata Bench was designated in 2019 as a sub geographical indication recognized as being geographically unique in the production of wine grapes. The Old Main Road Vineyard was originally planted in 1996 with 100% Chardonnay and has a gentle northerly aspect with the soil composed of alluvial deposits making up a silt loam overlaying a clay loam.

Only the finest, purest juice from the early stages of pressing was used for the wine. Fermentation commenced in stainless steel and the must was transferred to 100% French oak (25% new) to complete fermentation. The wine was left “sur lie” for 11 months without battonage. The wine is unfined and coarsely filtered. 766 cases were made.

Aroma: Perky and bright apple and pear greet the nose accompanied by vibrant peach, apricot and pineapple with some butterscotch.

Palate: Pineapple, pear, mango with a bizarre tiny nip of bean sprouts. Moderately long finish. Discrete acidity. LEAN AND PRECISE.

Personality: Solid and steady. Could I be Miss Naramata 2024? Pardon me but I have great legs! I sprout a marvellous story if you stop and listen.

Food Match: Chop Suey assuming of course I still go by that Bonanza name? Wanting more sophistication, then scallop curry.

Cellarbility: Consume by 2028-year end.

Price: $32.36 CDN. Europeans and Yanks contact the winery for shipments to you.

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 92/100.

(Meyer Family Vineyards Chardonnay Okanagan Valley 2022, Naramata Bench, Old Main Road Vineyard, Meyer Family Vineyards, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, 750 mL, 13.5%).

Man With “Men in Tights Syndrome” Receives The Nutcracker Protocol Therapy

I recently spoke with renowned psychiatrist Dr. Kainik Zlatco of Zagreb University currently heading an international consortium of behavioural psychiatrists preparing a major study of men suffering from “men in tights syndrome”.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illness “men in tights syndrome” (MITS) is defined as follows:

“An irrational fear of men ballet dancers (ballerinos) wearing skintight “dancing pants” accentuating male body parts. Secondary mental infections may be triggered by ballerinos constantly tiptoeing across the stage. “

Dr. Zlatco emphasized MITs should always be distinguished from tight pants syndrome meralgia paresthetica.

Dr. Zlatco remarked that the fear has prevented many men from attending ballet performances depriving them of an art form ultimately reducing cortisol levels and addressing the “flee or flight” at the heart of MITs. Dr. Zlatco stated,” We have tried many types of psychiatric medicines but without measurable success. Anti-depressants have had some limited successes but on the most part have caused severe digestive issues on patients in test settings”.

Dr. Zlatco explained the causes of MITs are not fully understood but at the root of many cases of MIT is an irrational fear of “emasculation”. For some reason many men are threatened by audience adulation of ballerinos who represent less than perceived manliness. “As usual” the ego of sufferers is “strangled” by mothers.

Dr. Zlatco took a MITS sufferer to the performance of “The Nutcracker” at Meridian Hall in Toronto last night presented by The Toronto International Ballet Theatre (TIBT) . The attendance of the MITs patient was preceded by many taped sessions of ballet performances accompanied by medicinal mushrooms not the kind you make omelets with said Dr. Zlatco.

Dr. Zlatco opined that the medical team had to persuade the MITs sufferer that he was in good hands as Artistic Director Tatiana Stepanova of TIBT trained at the Bolshoi and with the Odessa State Ballet Company as Prima Ballerina. Stepanova was honoured with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Award in 2012. Stepanova a remarkable choreographer in her own right crafts performances that are a visual spectacle.

Dr. Zlatco mused that at the core of MITs is the pure trauma of confronting men in tights so the strategy has been “diversionary” as the more you focus on the spectacle, namely the music and the sets, the more you divert the trauma. Once the brain has been so diverted the next step is have the MITs sufferer focus on the athleticism of the dancers. As a coup de grace we conquer the fear of men in tights by emphasizing those big, rough and hulking brutes playing professional football wear tights!

As a reporter I attended The Nutcracker performance mounted by TIBT and I saw by the time Act II was presented the Arabian Dance danced by ballerina Teagan Hadcock the MITS sufferer had his restraints removed and had a smile on his face. I heard him remark these performances are spectacular! They are so lavish and well danced and combined with the remarkable sets it just lifted him out of his MITs into a world of bliss.

Dr. Zlatco turned to me after the crowd’s massive round of applause with a rather large smile on his face saying, “A remarkable performance by TIBT. Fluid and artistically beautiful costumes and choreography. The sets were outstanding. Now can our MITs sufferer be considered cured? This would be a premature conclusion. The real test may be further attendance at TIBT ballet performances where lavish costuming and sets may not be the norm. I may name this “cure” The Nutcracker Protocol.”

The MITs sufferer was last seen leaving Meridian Hall clutching a Nutcracker and heading to the Toronto Transit Commission subway stop on King Street with a very contented smile on his face.

Should you or anyone you know is suffering from MITs further TIBT performances may be required. Check them out at TORONTOBALLET.ca

Dr. Zlatco is looking for volunteers to participate is his study of “baritone blues” affecting certain audience members at operatic performances.

Photo courtesy of TIBT.

RKS Literature: Crafty Scoundrels and Heaven (Dickens)

“Some of the craftiest scoundrels that ever walked this earth, or rather – for walking implies, at least, an erect position and the bearing of a man – that ever crawled and crept through life by its dirtiest and narrow ways, will gravely jot down in diaries the events of the day, and keep a regular debtor and creditor account with Heaven, which shall always show a floating balance in their own favour. Whether this is gratuitous (the only gratuitous) part of the falsehood and trickery of such men’s lives, or whether they really hope to cheat Heaven itself, and lay up treasure in the next world by the same process which as enabled them to lay up treasure in this world – not to question how it is, so it is.”

Charles Dickens, “Nicholas Nickleby”, 1837

RKS 2024 Wine: The Great McLean Creek Road Vineyard Challenge at Meyer Family Vineyards

The 2022 Meyer Family Vineyards’ Pinot Noir from the McLean Creek Road Vineyard was exceptional, at least in my humble opinion, with a score of 94. So how does its Chardonnay counterpart fare. Do grapes challenge each other or are they simply unfeeling grape juice?

Only the finest, purest juice from the early stages of pressing was used for this wine. After the pressing the must was transferred to 100% French oak (22% new). The wine was left “sur lie” for 11 months without battonage.

Aroma: This light golden coloured wine has a very rich core of apple, pear, mango, honey and lemon meringue pie. Reading above you noted oak was “involved” with this wine but like the 2022 McLean Creek Road Vineyard Pinot Noir you’ll be hard pressed (no pun) to pick up oak. It has been so well integrated into the wine it has became part of the wine instead of standing “on the other side”. If you are an oaky from Panoche and like discernable oak serve cool as opposed to cold. As this Chardonnay warms the oak heats up a bit.

Palate: The 2022 Pinot Noir certainly was not a raging bull Pinot Noir nor is this a raging Chardonnay or a Travis Bickel if you prefer. Both the 22 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are in their youth and initially the fruit in both seems shyly quivering off stage. You can just taste the fruits in the aromatic component described above but knowing what I know about the McLean Creek Road Vineyard the fruit does not swagger but lies in wait for you in year three.

Personality: I am a very deceptive wine as you may possibly think I am weak kneed and wobbly but do a Dr. Bones deep scan the fruit is there. Just be a bit patient please!

Food Match: Pan fried monkfish in butter, garlic, salt and pepper with wild rice or smashed potatoes.

Cellarbility: Best to wait until 2025 to start drinking and then challenge a snooty Burgundian Chardonnay and see it lose. I say this wine will evolve over the next few years peaking at 2028.

Price: $32.36 CDN. For shipping/availability in the EU and U.S.A. contact the winery.

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 92/100. Therefore the 22 McLean Creek Road Vineyard Pinot Noir wins the challenge with its 94.

(Meyer Family Vineyards 2022 McLean Creek Road Vineyard Chardonnay Okanagan Valley, Okanagan Falls. BC VQA, Meyer Family Vineyards, Okanagan Falls, 750 mL, 13.5%).

RKS 2024 Wine: Riding the Meyer Family Vineyards Pinot Noir Merry Go Round: No Follies in its Youth!

For a few years I have been riding the Meyer Family Vineyards Pinot Noir merry go round. Like a child I don’t want to hop off because I am having so much fun. Quality consistency even in the face of challenging growing seasons.

The winery says, “The 2022 vintage was a classic Okanagan growing season….” That is promising news particularly as we are trying an MFV 2022 Okanagan Valley McLean Creek Road Vineyard Pinot Noir. The McLean Creek Road Vineyard was planted in 1994 and is within the Okanagan Falls sub-geographical indication. It has a predominately steep southerly aspect with the soil comprised of alluvial and glacial deposits making up a mix of gravel and sandy loams. The Pinot Noir blocks are planted with a 91 Pommard clone and 4 Dijon clones (114/115/667/777). The grapes were hand harvested from 14October-27October. The juice was transferred to 100% French oak barrels 25% of which was new and it rested for 11 months. 795 cases made. The winery says it has a cellaring potential for 10 plus years.

Aroma: Raspberry, strawberry and some milk chocolate. The oak is so well integrated into the wine it is hardly discernable as a separate component of the wine. Interesting that despite the 25% new oak there is more discernable oak on the 2022 “B’ Field Blend Pinot Noir where the oak was 100% neutral French oak.

Palate: Smooth with minimal tannins. The finish seems to have no end! The fruit and the potentiality for its brilliance is so well tucked into the wine it leads one to conclude this wine is in its infancy. There is blackberry, cherry and cranberry.

Personality: I may be a toddler but those with toddler experience can participate in the joy of toddlerdom right now if they wish.

Food Match: Smoked salmon pasta in a tomato cream sauce.

Cellarbility: The winery says 10 plus years cellaring potential. That may be pushing it just a bit but I remain silent on that. I would say wait 3 years (if you can) before opening it. Curiosity may have killed the cat but I never heard it killed a Pinot Noir drinker.

Price: $37.48 CDN. For possible delivery to Europe and the United States contact the winery for shipping information.

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 94/100.

(Meyer Family Vineyards 2022 Pinot Noir Okanagan Valley, Okanagan Falls, McLean Creek Road Vineyard, Meyer Family Vineyards, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, 750 ml, 13.5%)