RKS Wines: A Greek Alternative to Ice Wine

In Ontario Riesling and Vidal icewines, particularly Riesling icewine, can cost a pretty penny but given the conditions harvested in and the very concentrated juice extracted from frozen grapes it is understandable that icewine is a luxury product.

A cost effective and delicious alternative to icewine is Vin Doux from the Greek island of Samos in the Eastern Aegean. It is made from Muscat grapes and has been famous since antiquity but its allure has faded but not its charm or excellence. Having been to the Samos Wine Festival and conducted an extensive tasting at the United Wine Co-Operative of Samos where most of the Vin Doux is made a glass of Vin Doux evokes many memories of Samos. Unfortunately on my September visit to Samos there was no time to visit UWC Samos.

However as the festive season is amongst us you may wish to consider buying a bottle of Samos Vin Doux. It is quite good as an after-dinner drink and matches cakes and pastries with honey such as a baklava or an orange spice cake. Not that you are into trickery but many a drinker will ask you if you are serving an icewine!

The Vin Doux has aromas of apricot, peach, honey and marmalade. On the palate it is silky smooth bursting with exactly what is on the nose! Acidity is way back there. A long finish and at 15% alcohol there is no burn.

If you are starting a meal with some “nibbles” like nuts, dried figs or apricots and soft cheeses with apricot or peach jam to coat the cheese it might work well.

It should be served slightly chilled.

(Samos Vin Doux $13.25, LCBO # 38931, 750 mL, 15%)

RKS Wine: Two Sisters’ 2017 Riesling: A King’s Ransom!

No need to beat around the bush here. Almost all Ontario Riesling gives me a puckered up mouth and is akin to sucking on a grapefruit. Being schooled on German Rieslings years ago Ontario Rieslings were a shock and still are a shock. I will venture out on my thin ice and try one now and then. If I had a go to Ontario Riesling I could rely on it would be “Elevation St Urban” from Vineland Estates at $19.95.

When staying in Niagara-on-the-Lake this summer I decided to purchase a Two Sister’s 2017 Riesling for a Christmas roast turkey dinner. It might be the best Ontario Riesling but at $47.80 it certainly isn’t the cheapest.

There is an aura of a lot of money at Two Sisters both in its facilities and its rather expensive Kitchen 76 Restaurant where very well-heeled boomers appeared to be spreading around the cash like money was no object! More than a few Mercedes and Audi’s in the parking lot. I get the sense there is much Toronto money resident in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Yes the $36 truffle pizza was excellent but the rest of the fare was average considering the steep prices. And was it $26 for a glass of Merlot?

I suppose $47.80 for the 2017 Riesling can be considered a treat that is worth it. On the nose apple, pear, musk melon and marzipan. On the palate there is a degree of tartness I have come to expect from an Ontario Riesling but it is gentle as well as its acidity which is not in your face but lurking discretely in the background. More apple, pear and some guava. Moderate finish. And it suits turkey to a tee. I must say for this price Germany offers much better value.

You’ll have to order from the winery.

(Two Sisters 2017 Riesling, VQA Niagara Escarpment, Two Sisters Vineyards, Niagara-on-the-Lake, $47.80, 750 mL, 10.2%, RKS Wine Rating 89/100).

RKS Film: The Best Documentaries of 2022

The Best Documentaries of 2022

President (96)

Perfecting the Art of Longing (96)

American Reckoning (95)

Who Killed Vincent Chin(94)

Lodo (93)

Yanis Varoufakis: Eye of The Storm (93)

Anonymous Club (93)

Young Plato (93)

Jon Bénet’s Tricycle (93)

The Last Tourist (93)

The Killing of a Journalist (92)

The Quiet Epidemic (92)

Silent Beauty (92)

Images of a Nordic Drama (92)

Tigre Gente (92)

Delikado (92)

Million Dollar Pigeons (92)

RKS Spirits: J&B Rare Blended Scotch Whisky

I discovered that J&B Blended Scotch Whisky is a perfect match for shortbread cookies, pastries or cakes with a noticeable honey component such as baklava. It also is the perfect scotch to use in my Scotch Lentils recipe that called for a single malt scotch to be used however unlike J&B scotch whisky the single malt scotch imparted too strong a flavour to the dish.

J&B is a blend of 42 malt and grain whiskies and contains more single malt than any other blended scotch whisky.

J&B neat

On the nose apricot, mango, pear, quince, tangerine and persimmon. Almost tropical. On the palate the heat is pleasant and not quite firewaterish. There is also honey, butterscotch, spice and orange.

J&B over the rocks

On the nose notes of apricot, peach and ginger. On the palate the ice smooths out the scotch on the palate eliminating any burn but not the grip. Smokey warmness with some pepper, apricot and butterscotch. A long warm finish. Not a complex scotch whisky over the rocks but a great cold weather drink. Always used filtered or spring water for your cubes to avoid the unwanted influences of chemicalized municipal water.

J&B with a few drops of spring or filtered water

Water and ice really smooth out J&B but with a few drops of filtered or spring water the heat on the palate is somewhat greater and the finish a tad longer than J&B over the rocks. The aromatic profile is identical to J&B over the rocks with a more pronounced apricot on the nose.

Ice and water for J&B tone down the burn and make for a smoother drink but reduce the complexity and length of finish over J&B neat. A classic trade-off with scotch whisky neat compared with scotch whisky over the rocks or with water.

Coming soon matching three blended scotch whiskies and shortbread cookies.

All said and done a good value scotch whisky.

J&B Rare Blended Scotch Whisky $29.45, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 2360

“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous” : Chapter 19: Escaping Quebec Nationalist Fervor in Montreal to Hogtown!

I graduated with two law degrees from the University of Cote St. Luc Law School in Montreal. Despite the fact I spoke very good French having learnt this noble language at the King’s School for Young Men in Bombay my French was tres Parisian and nowhere near the joual of the Montreal working class. I was a “L’etranger” and a “Tete Carré” to the locals. Quebec at this time was going beyond its “Quiet Revolution” and trying to neuter the English or anyone not born in La Belle Province. The nationalistic Quebec Government’s Bill 101 criminalized all languages but French. In any city in Canada you could advertise in any language you wanted without any restrictions but oh no in Quebec you could only advertise in French with any other language secondarily measured in centimetres below the French text. This is how bureaucratic bean counters save a culture. Anyone perceived as English was penalized for the defeat of Quebec on the Plains of Abraham by the English in 1759.Oddly penalized for not completely wiping out the French population and giving them certain fundamental and cultural rights. No need to further discuss lest the FLQ terrorists who graduated into respectability with the Parti Quebecois firebomb a mailbox outside my home!

So I headed down the 401 highway with 425,000 “anglophones” to the safety of Toronto. What a horrific wasteland Toronto was! Everything closed on Sunday leaving only the smell of Yorkshire pudding and roast beef wafting in the air. Locals dressed in sweatpants and running shoes. Frightening but at least you could advertise in Punjabi without any restrictions. And the subway creaked and squealed like a pig in a slaughterhouse unlike the beautiful Montreal subway running on rubber tires! And bagels were Kaiser rolls. I recall heading out to a pizzeria after arriving in Toronto and asking for a mushroom pizza if the mushrooms were fresh. Well after sitting down I heard the stoned out server ask his pizza maker to open a can of mushrooms to ensure they were fresh. Yes high gastronomic culture in Toronto! Torontonians were well deserving of their nickname of Hogtowners due to their love of peameal bacon. Toronto was almost as intolerant as Montreal but they spoke English and they tolerated you if your English was impeccable. But if your skin was not completely white expect problems. I had problems. Details to follow.

My publisher Wuhan Wet Market Publishing demanded I replace my view of the Quebec government’s attitude with a kinder word “nationalistic”. I had another word in mind. Unlike Rosa Parks I decided to disembark from the political bus and flee.

“Travels to a Different Time” : 12September2022: Knee Fine but Ankle No! 9,000 German Deaths: Thessaloniki Greece

The pain in the knee has disappeared but overnight a pain in the ankle. What a pain in the ass! I am a Hop Along Cassidy and in excruciating pain. Nothing works not even the Dicoflex cream from the compounding pharmacy which I had to cease taking due to an adverse reaction being a rash and the chills. Stuck in the room and in no mood for breakfast. Sat around like a turnip and read the never-ending Anna Karenin full of thoughts at this point in the book of agrarian reform and the stupidity and decadence of the Russian aristocracy. At least Fotini saw her cousin and her husband in the bar downstairs while I watched an airplane disaster documentary then a documentary on propaganda in the Third Reich. The Nazis ran the largest travel agency in Germany. A cruise ship, the Wilhelm Gustlaff carrying some 10,000 escaping soldiers and civilians fleeing the Russian onslaught in Poland was sunk with an estimated 9,000 fatalities. The largest maritime disaster ever. Tomorrow off to Athens by airplane and not on a ship thank goodness.

RKS Poetry: Ex President Trump and Dementia

It is Rude to Mock Those with Dementia

We must not mock those suffering from dementia
I caught a clip of some comedian hawking virtual cards about the orange toad
Had a great laugh about the mocking of a twit specializing in bankruptcy and failed coups
like a kamikaze pilot taking out the enemy
then
someone told me this was not a joke
Not a Saturday Night Live skit
but a real live twit
Isn’t it time to realize
perhaps
that this man
needs some help
but suggest that and millions of followers
will begin to yelp
man it is obvious this international embarrassment is in dire need of help!
A performer in “Nightmare Alley” ?

Robert K. Stephen (a matter of opinion)

RKS Health: Emerging Role of Cannabis for the Seriously Ill: A United States Perspective

As I have certifications in mindfulness and COVID management from Canadian, American and European universities and have written on certain medical topics I receive regular webinar invitations from the MJHS Institute for Innovation in Palliative Care based in New York. MJHS conducts research and offers education and training for health professionals in palliative care. On December 14, 2022 I attended an MJHS webinar “Emerging Role of Medical Cannabis for the Seriously Ill” given by Bernard Lee, MD Director of Palliative Care Provider Practice/Hospice Access Physician MJHS Hospice and Palliative Care.

My late mother worked in palliative care in Montreal in the 1970’s and I remember her telling me of the many cancer patients smoking marijuana outside the hospital to relieve their pain and nausea from the chemo drugs they were taking. You may have surmised this was a “new use” for an illegal drug. But up to 1937 when cannabis was criminalized in the United States there were some 280 manufacturers with 2,000 different cannabis medical preparations for asthma, cough, insomnia, labour pains, migraines, throat infection, withdrawal from opium etc. in 1851 it was listed in U.S. Pharmacopeia. And for some trivia…in 1890 Queen Victoria’s personal physician prescribed cannabis for menstrual cramps.

Dr. Lee explained the first recorded medical use of cannabis was in China in 2727 B.C. In 1840 it was introduced in Europe by Dr. William O’Shaughnessy who served for the East India Trading Company. In the United States from 1937 to 1969 The Marijuana Tax Act made the possession and transfer of cannabis throughout the United States illegal excluding medical and industrial uses. In 1970 the United States Controlled Substance Act classified cannabis as having high abuse potential, no medical use and not safe to use under medical supervision. By December of 2022, 39 states and Washington D.C. have legal medical cannabis programmes and 21 states permit recreational use.

In states with medical cannabis laws there is a 24.8% lower annual mean opioid overdose mortality rate compared with states without medical cannabis laws. Cannabis remains illegal federally so even in states where cannabis is legal for medical purposes physicians can advise but prescribe.

Cannabis contains 400 chemical components and there are 120 identified phytocannabinoids (unique to cannabis) with THC and CBD the most prevalent and well studied.

THC has psychoactive effects. It can be used as analgesic (pain reducer), antispasmodic, antitremor, anti-inflammatory, and appetite stimulant. CBD is not psychoactive and can reduce the effects of THC, to control pain and inflammation and as an antioxidant.

Cannabis can be inhaled by smoking or vaping with onset anywhere from seconds to minutes with a duration of 1-3 hours while oral edibles onset is 30-90 minutes with a duration of 4 to 12 hours.

The side effects of THC are transient and nonlethal and may cause increased appetite, red eyes, dry mouth dilated pupils, dizziness, distorted perception, increased heart rate and anxiety. It may lead to “Green Outs” i.e. panic attacks, severe paranoia and fear, hallucinations and severe dizziness. Side effects can be managed by reassurance, hydration, CBD, hot baths and benzodiazepine.

Dr. Lee reviewed 7 of his clinical cases most of which showed the beneficial effects of cannabis unless his dosage recommendations were not adhered to. A common thread amongst the elderly was the potential for green outs due to the fear of cannabis. One case involved a retired Drug Enforcement Agency agent who spent his career hunting down cannabis dealers and smugglers. His wife “snuck in” cannabis for his ailment and eventually told him she was giving him cannabis. It started to cause him to question his years spent as a DEA agent as being useless! One patient was near death with cancer. After a year of taking THC and CBD he was in complete remission. In two years this patient was completely robust. One patient badly afflicted by arthritis and taking medications including opioids with cannabis managed to cold turkey off opioids.

The case studies show each condition and patient may need different and ongoing cannabis strategies. 

Dr. Lee expressed concern about having elderly patients increasing the risk of falls if too much THC is taken. Cannabis has worked well for his patients suffering from insomnia but a slower and longer acting oral route is advised so the effects last throughout the night. The best benefits of cannabis seem to be with an equal ratio of THC to CBD. Over the counter CBD ranges from cheap to very expensive. Extracting CBD from cannabis plants is very expensive in order to remove contaminants so cheap CBD should be viewed with suspicion yet high priced CBD is no guarantee of purity. Higher quality controls exist for medical cannabis.

Note that medical and recreational cannabis is legal in Canada but access to it requires a medical evaluation and a prescription from a physician.

In the webinars I have attended there is a desperation element that drives the use of medical cannabis. Frequently it is a situation where no other drug is effective.

This article is not medical advice. Should you wish to become a medical cannabis user in Canada you will have to go through an evaluation by a physician. Self medication through use of recreational cannabis without medical supervision may not be effective. An experienced cannabis physician is your best bet to get the dosage of THC and CBD component that is effective. Tax credits are available to Canadian taxpayers for medical cannabis purchases in Canada

In closing Dr. Lee provided the following quote, “Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care….It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for the DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record.” DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young, Ruling in the Matter of Marijuana Rescheduling Petition September 6, 1988.

RKS Wines: What Wine to Bring for that Holiday Dinner You Have Been Invited to?

Assume you have been invited out for a holiday dinner to a family member or friend’s house. It is customary to bring some libations unless you are an ill-mannered lout.

Remember that your host has gone to a great deal of expense and effort in preparing the dinner.

So what do you bring?

  • Don’t just grab a bottle you see on the shelf at your retailer
  • You might want to ask your host about what wine would suit the dishes assuming of course your host knows appropriate food and wine pairings
  • You may want to ask your host what the menu is so you can march into your retailer and ask them what they recommend
  • It is not about what wine your host likes but rather what food is being served and what wine suits that food. Your host loves Cabernet Sauvignon but if you are having turkey Cabernet Sauvignon should remain at home!
  • You can’t go wrong with a bottle of champagne or crémant
  • Don’t forget dessert and wine! Perhaps a bottle of Tawny Port or Late Bottle Vintage Port if there is chocolate involved
  • If you bring a bottle of wine that does not suit any of the dishes served don’t expect that it will be served unless of course your host is not wine savvy and would serve anything! As one of my wine educators said years ago at Christmas any wine works as guests will be pickled by the time food is served. Amusing but a gross inaccuracy but in certain situations it might be true unless you are going to a Proud Boys buffet dinner.

The holiday season can be stressful so perhaps this article has stressed you out even more. It was intended to reduce your stress but think about the stress your hosts are under! Surely this stress is better than staying at home and eating Chinese food and watching the Fireplace Channel!

RKS Wine: Some CAVA Please to Start Your Feast This Christmas or New Year’s Eve

If you have a multi course dinner awaiting you this upcoming holiday season there is an adage that your palate should be cleaned up and fresh so you can appreciate your festive dinner. This is where a Brut or Extra Brut sparkling wine can be of use as its acidic composition scours the palate of detritus. And if you like your bubbly there is no reason it can’t be continued throughout your meal.

A CAVA from Spain fits the bill in terms of purpose and its reasonable cost and since CAVAs are made in the traditional method as Champagnes are you are drinking “quasi-Champagne” at budget prices.

Why not a Campo Viejo Cava Brut Reserva? On the nose a very CAVAish blast of lime and lemon with a gentle wafting of freshly baked bread and baked pears. On the palate that acidity scours out what ever snacks you have been nibbling on particularly any cheeses which can distort the taste of the wine served with your meal. Again an old adage states buy wine on bread and sell on cheese.

The Campo Viejo CAVA does its job and you are ready to go. Yes wine can have a utilitarian function!

(Campo Viejo Cava Brut Reserva, (bottled for) Pernod Ricard Winemakers, San Sebastian, Spain, $17.95, 750 mL, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 25911, 11.5%)