RKS 2023 Wine: Will Red Tractor 2021 Chardonnay Stall in the Mud?

Red Tractor is a “Creekside Brand” and I reviewed their 2017 Cabernet Franc and it made my best wine list of 2022. Their Cabernet Merlot I tried this year was absolutely dreadful. What will happen with the Red Tractor 2021 Chardonnay from St. David’s Bench in Niagara. Will its wheels get stuck in the mud?

It was fermented in French oak for nine months. Hard to pick out discernable oak here other than a titch of vanilla on the palate. Must be neutral oak.

Aroma: Peach, pineapple, butterscotch pudding and pear Galette.

Palate:  Croatian wafer cookies, tartine de poire and some guava. A long pear infused finish.

Personality: At a “measly” 11.5% alcohol I am not a knobbly kneed arthritic wine. I am not the best Ontario Chardonnay on the block but I am decent and won’t embarrass you if you decide to pour me.

Food Match: White pizza with gorgonzola, pear and walnuts.

Cellarbility: Drink by end of 2024.

Price: $17.95 CDN.

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 89/100.

(Red Tractor 2017 Chardonnay, VQA St. David’s Bench, Creekside Estate Winery, Jordan, Ontario, 11.5%, 750 mL).

RKS 2023 Retro Films: “The Marines That Never Returned” (KOREA)

KOREAN CINEMA’S GOLDEN DECADE: THE 1960s Series

Korean Cinema’s Golden Decade The 1960 Series was featured at the Lincoln Center from 1-17 September. The series ran from September 1–17 and is one of the largest retrospectives ever of 1960s Korean Cinema outside of Korea, including many rarely screened films, several presented on 35mm archival prints. Long before Bong Joon Ho, Hong Sangsoo, and Park Chan-wook catapulted South Korean cinema onto the world stage, the foundation of their country’s film industry formed in the aftermath of the Korean War. The period kickstarted a wealth of eclectic and innovative filmmaking that culminated in the 1960s.

As a Korean war baby I was drawn to “The Marines Who Never Returned” a 1963 film directed by Lee-Man-hee which has its international 4K restoration premiere. Lee Man-hee’s breakthrough feature, The Marines Who Never Returned, is simultaneously among his most acclaimed films and one of the greatest Korean War films ever made. Produced within 10 years of the armistice, the film centers on a squad of marines who happen across a newly orphaned girl in the battlefield, Young-hui. Taking her under their wings, the marines form a heartwarming bond with Young-hui that lifts their spirits as they take on increasingly dangerous odds. The Marines Who Never Returned was a gargantuan production with the full support of the Korean military and the use of live ammunition and explosives that lend the combat sequences a rarely achieved level of authenticity. But what elevates the film as a classic is its warmth and humor, brought to life by the heartfelt camaraderie amongst the soldiers and their newly adopted daughter. The first Korean film to achieve a nationwide commercial release in the United States, the film is presented here in a beautiful 4K restoration version for the first time outside of Korea. Restored in 2022 by the Korean Film Archive.

You might say a typical Korean war movie but you are wrong. This is a Korean perspective and in many respects this is a traditional war movie but think again as here in North America we are deers in the headlights for American interpretations of the Korean war. This is a Korean (SOUTH) interpretation and yes for that reason deserves a watch. It has a1960’s “Rat Patrol” feeling and it fits that groove with a quick soldier’s death…a groan and a clean bullet hole so terribly fictional but in the 1960’s groove.

Do not judge with post 1960 war films “Apocalypse Now”, “The Thin Red Line”, All Quiet on the Western Front”, “Platoon” or the Yankee centric television series “MASH”.

RKS 2023 Retro Film Review Rating 93/100.

RKS 2023 Wine: An Argentinian in the Shadow of Côte Rôtie: Escaping Mendozian Malbecian Tyranny

In the Northern Rhône in France there is a tiny appellation Côte Rôtie where a small amount of Viognier white is added to Syrah to create some magic. In this El Enemigo Syrah-Viognier from Mendoza in Argentina do we have an imitator? Is imitation the best form of flattery?

10% Viognier has been added to 90% Syrah and aged in 16 months in aged oak foudres.

Aroma: That nice Rhône warmness a la full body. Heady notes of blueberry, black cherry in a toasty comforting light scent of vanilla. Absolutely nothing off putting here. Bit of high-test alcohol lingers.

Palate: Full bodied initially with fine tannins but on the back palate it lightens up with a long finish. Black cherry, blackberry and licorice. A bit hot. I have a 2005 Côte Rôtie in the cellar and it is at 12.5%…old style French. This Argentinian is 13.5% and just a bit hot to make it a brilliant wine.

Personality: I am a brilliant wine and have escaped from Malbecian tyranny of Mendoza. But quite frankly I admit I may be too young. My fruit has not settled and when it does I say it will assert itself and dumb down the alcohol vibes. I am at least one third of a price of a Côte Rôtie.

Food Match: Spanish octopus with saffron.

Cellarbility: Batten down the hatches as this baby needs until 2026 to strut its excellence and will coast into 2033.

Price: $28.95 CDN.

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 94/100. Joaquin Hidalgo 95.

(El Enemigo Syrah Viognier 2019, Mendoza, Argentina, Piedemonte Al Sur, Mendoza, Argentina, 13.5%, 750 mL).

RKS Poetry: “Scraping the Bottom of the Ajvar Jar”

Scraping the Bottom of the Ajvar Jar

The beady eyed one
like LBJ can’t end it with a victory
in a last ditched effort turns to the Supreme Leader for arms
to further the “sacred war”
after the Grand Leader supplies drones
and the world moans
Will nobody learn from the Ho Chi Minh Trail
and the Wailing Wall
humanity in the big stall
All Quiet in the Western Front
for many a brain-dead politician runt!

Robert K. Stephen

RKS 2023 Wine: A CS from SA: Eminent Quality at a Reasonable Price!

Some 15 years ago I attended the New York Wine Expo at a bunker called the Jacob Javitz Convention Centre in Manhattan. After a long afternoon in my exit I made a last valiant effort to try a few South African red wines. The majority of them had an earthy-gamey streak to them. South African reds appear to have escaped that trait but I retain that memory and test it now and again as we will do with a Glen Carlou 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon.

The wine was aged 16 months in second fill French oak. The grapes were harvested from 10 different but proximate vineyards on the slopes of Simonsberg Mountain.

Aroma: Chockful of ripe dark fruit with a rich vein of blueberry and some dark chocolate. A wine that is evolving nicely with some good legs left.

Palate: Recovering from a Clarence Dillon 2016 Clarendelle Bordeaux last time around it was refreshing that this wine was not suffering from a rapid decline! Not a spring chicken but a young adult. Full bodied with some discernible mint on its long finish. Some noticeable acidity but within respectable boundaries. The blueberry and blackberries mushroom on the back palate.

Food match: South African Bobotie.

Personality: My Cabernet Sauvignon cousins in the Wine World have different characteristics but one common element in many of them would be blueberry which I have in my aromatic and palate attributes. Did I just hear RKS Wine say “Well done Glen Carlou as you have delivered a quality wine at an eminently reasonable price.”  Also I thought I heard them saying no earthy and gamey streak in me. Bravo RKS Wine!

Price: $18.95 CDN.

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 90/100.

(Glen Carlou 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, WO Paarl, Glen Carlou Vineyards, Klapmuts, South Africa, 750 mL, 14.5%).

RKS 2023 Film: “Shadow Island”: A Mixture of Mystery, Horror and Swedish Traitors

The Swedish film “Shadow Island” is a tantalizing combination of mystery and horror tinged with a Swedish traitor or two. Let the NATO jets roaring overhead in the beginning of the movie and radio stories about Sweden joining NATO whet your whistle on the espionage front. At the film’s conclusion you may conclude it is a Russiaphobia movie. You will also conclude the characters are not who they initially appear to be.

David Tapper (Johan Heinstedt) leaves home for Shadow Island, a remote and seemingly deserted Swedish island, after finding a box of his late father’s work that pointed to some serious work he was doing in Shadow Island and the mystery intensifies upon David’s arrival on Shadow Island. And the romance with Sara (Hanne Mathisen Haga) blossoms. Sara is inhabiting an abandoned lighthouse off Shadow Island working on her bachelor’s psychology thesis.

The mysterious 1991 death of the lighthouse keeper and his family on Shadow Island intrigues the viewer and the mystery intensifies with the appearance of a couple of Russians. I’ll write no more other than saying “Shadow Island” like a similar 2021 U.S. Norwegian film “Arctic Void” are stellar examples of what the mystery genre of films can be. Here is my previous review of “Arctic Void” https://a-little-birdie-told-me.ca/2021/12/31/rks-film-arctic-void-devoid-of-a-thrill-but-full-of-questions/

Written and directed by Johan Storm.” Shadow Island” is now available on Digital and VOD.

RKS 2023 Film Rating 86/100.

RKS 2023 Film: The Inevitability of a Return to Mexico From The United States: A Question of Mañana

The Public Broadcasting System (PBS) of the United States celebrates Latino/x Heritage Month with the documentary “Bulls and Saints” which will be broadcast on September 18th at 10 p.m. ET/9 Central and will be available to stream until December 17, 2023 at pbs.org. and PBS App.

Tacho and Cecilia are from a small Mexican village Cheran. They had intended to stay one year in the United States yet after that year and 19 others they remain in rural North Carolina with hundreds of Mexican families. Tacho and Cecilia are undocumented hence illegally in the United States. They haven’t seen their families since arriving in the United States hence there is loneliness and guilt and leaving their parents behind. And they work so hard with differing schedules Tacho misses his own children and wishes he could spend more time with them.

Life is hard but they are handcuffed by the lure of cash to fund their dream of constructing a home in Cheran. Tacho at one point realizes his life is with his family in the United States yet he continually repeats he will be returning with Cecilia to Cheran where he will have a small ranch. It is always tomorrow but will that tomorrow ever come?

Although the story of Tacho and Cecilia is interesting and highly personal their story is a common one amongst many immigrants. We see both Tacho and Cecilia’s mothers who carry on used to their absent children.

Immigration is a tough game and one is left with the impression the day of tomorrow and their return to Mexico is part of the immigration process for Mexicans in the United States.

Tacho quotes a popular expression that it is the bulls that throw you to the ground and the saints lift you to heaven. The pitfalls of illegal immigration may throw you bulls but Tacho and Cecilia have shown they can pick themselves up in the daily grind to survive but is a heavenly return to Mexico is but a dream?

RKS 2023 Film: Toronto International Film Festival: “The Tundra Within Me”

Lena (Risten Anine Gaup) in furtherance of her painting moves from Oslo to her Sámpi birthplace with Jonas her young son. She’s painting female reindeer herders in an abstract and political way. Lena is not exactly given a warm welcome returning to her ancestral home. In her own view as a former reindeer herder who sold her herding license she had been given by her father she has brought shame on her ancestors.

Reindeer are an important part of the Sámi culture. Reindeer herding is a semi-nomadic activity and threatened by economic development including mining and wind farms. Sámi people inhabit Sámpi encompassing large northern parts of Norway, Finland, Sweden and the Kola Peninsula in Russia.

Máhtte (Nils Ailu Kemi) is a reindeer herder working for his mother who holds the reindeer herding license. Well a romance develops between Máhtte and Lena thwarting Máhtte’s mother’s dream of marrying his girlfriend Biret and merging both family’s herds. Lena’s mother is not supportive of Lena’s art calling it crap and Máhtte’s mother laments the loss of a possible marriage and merger. A bit of a rocky romance but the love of reindeer saves all!

While the romance thread of the film lacks much innovation the cinematography of the Sámpian winter landscape is marvelous as well as the traditional Sámpian music throughout. Could I summarize the film by saying you’ll be treated to romance, a woman struggling against sexism and traditional cultural norms. There is no clear victory for Lena but rather a compromise most importantly on her own terms. Modern Norway and traditional Sámi culture can co-exist.

“The Tundra Within Me” shows on September 11/13.

Directed by Sara Margrethe Oskal, a former reindeer herder!

You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNwQGF9Gbnc

RKS 2023 Film Rating: 74/100.

RKS Literature: Dangers Facing the Lonely Intellectual (Balzac)

“His shop is a very good place to go to; you can talk to all great men of the day there. There, my dear fellow, a young man can learn more in an hour than by growing pale over books for 10 years. People discuss articles, and concoct subjects, and get to know famous and influential people who may be useful. To succeed today one must get to know people. It is all a matter of luck, you see. There is nothing more fatal than to be an intellectual all alone in your corner.”

Honoré de Balzac, “Lost Illusions”