“Indeed, the doctor’s calling is not different from any other: its practitioners are for the most part ordinary empty-headed folk, ready to see what is not there and to deny the obvious. Any untrained person, if he loves and has knowledge of the flesh, is their superior and in the mysteries of art can lead them by the nose.”
Thomas Mann, “Felix Krull”, 1911
“I am only able to live when my mind and my fancy are completely free; and this it is that memory of my years in prison actually less hateful to me than those of the ostensibly more honourable bond of slavery and fear which chafed my sensitive boyish soul when I was forced to attend at the ugly little white box of a school building down in the town. Add to these feelings of isolation from which I suffered, the grounds which I have set forth above, and it will surprise nobody that I early had the idea of taking more holidays than the law allowed.”
Thomas Mann, “Felix Krull”, 1911
It is not frequently we encounter Italian Merlot as a single varietal in Canada. So we have a chance now with a somewhat unique Terre Magre Merlot from Friuli.
Aroma: Black cherry, blackberry and cola with some intensity.
Palate: A robust aroma for a wine does not always equate with a robust wine! Not much in the way of tannins at first but they do move up a notch once the wine has aerated a bit. Rather light. The fruit is light with some notes of blueberry, cherry and mocha. A bit of sweetness on the short finish which is attributable to a small portion of the grapes being dried and crushed 60 days later. The lack of oak gives the wine a lighter and cleaner profile than an oaked Merlot.
Personality: Perhaps you love full bodied wines like Cabernet Sauvignon or a Carmenére and good on you but it is a welcome change to lighten up your glass with a Merlot like me. I am easy going and rather light bodied and don’t they say that a change is as good as a rest?
Food match: Spanish octopus for sure https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/259483/spanish-octopus/?utm_source=emailshare&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mobilesharebutton2
Cellarbility: You could happily rest this for a couple of years but there is certainly no harm in consuming now. I do not believe ageing will improve the wine.
Price: $22.95 (Ontario).
RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 91/100. Jamessuckling.com 90.
(Terre Magre 2021 D.O.C. Friuli, Piera Martellozzo San Quirino, Italy, 750 mL, 14%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 29821).
I have no problems with Chicago and who cares if it is the Murder Capital of the United States! City of Vultures some say! A properly developed waterfront unlike my butchered Toronto. Great food. Skyscrapers. All assuming you aren’t in the wrong neighbourhood at the wrong time and end up with a bullet in your noggin!
“Out of the Loop” is a view of the Chicago comedy scene from its inception sometime in the late 1960’s to present times. Like Garth and Wayne in “Wayne’s World” what do I know about urban comedy. I am simply “not worthy”. Jonathan Winters, Bob Newhart, Rodney Dangerfield, Jacky Gleason, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and brutally assaulted Chris Rock I know but all these comedians in this documentary all I recognize and love is Jeff Garlin from “Curb Your Enthusiasm”.
However, as a film critic I accept my limitations and give a stab at reviewing this American documentary. Although it purports to be a documentary of comedy performers in Chicago it could be a documentary on how to be a successful comedian and the rocky road that takes in any country! It is a focus on the rocky road to success of American comedians; the poverty, the trials and tribulations, the sexism, the racism, the feeling of success and failure, the divide between white and black comedy rooms and what it takes to bridge white and black “comedy rooms” and become a successful national comedian in the United States.
A whole host of comedians recount their Chicago experiences some with humour and some deadpan it. Although the focus is on comedic performance it is also a lesson on societal success transcending race. You will have a chuckle guaranteed but you will be granted an insight into success in any genre in any country and have a good chortle while so doing.
The “Loop” in Chicago is the established commercial centre of Chicago which does not include white North Chicago or black South Chicago so both are out of the loop.
Sadly I only recognize comedian Jeff Garlin from “Curb your Enthusiasm”.
“Out of the Loop” was edited and produced by Scott Perlman. This 98-minute American documentary will release on digital platforms on 11April2023.
You can watch the trailer here https://drive.google.com/file/d/19cVmMgrTq2vLQhinGhWhurOnTaB3pBaC/view
RKS 2023 Film Rating 86/100.
Here we have an organic red blend from the Maipo Valley in Chile consisting of 58% Carmenère, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. It has aged a year in French oak barrels.
Aroma: Raspberry, blueberry, blackberries and root beer. I can detect some acidity on the nose hoping it will be restrained on the palate. Root beer can be an early warning sign of acidity.
Palate: Tannins are moderate. The acidity is present but how to describe it? Bright? Threatening? Putting this sensitive issue aside there is some black cherry, blackberry, cactus pear, blueberry and cranberry. The finish to the wine is short and a bit spicy. Not to flog a dead donkey but the acidity obfuscates the fruit.
Personality: While the aroma I have suggests a full bodied and accessible wine my palate tells another story. I am taut with an almost prickly personality. I should not be consumed without food as my acidity might distract many that is if they have the skills to detect it. One tip is to detect a bit of spritz on the tongue. This reviewer obviously feels it but how many of you will notice it. The reviewer obviously has some sort of acidity fetish.
Food match: I would suggest a pasta sauce that has been prepared with fresh local field tomatoes and lightly cooked with some fresh herbs such as oregano, sage and basil doing the trick. Or perhaps a fresh tomato salad with beets and walnuts. The acidity in the wine might match the acidity of the tomatoes.
Price: $22.95 (Ontario).
Cellarbility: Noticeable acidity in a red wine sends me scurrying like a rat. Age a wine with noticeable acidity is a gamble. It usually worsens.
RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 85/100. Jamessuckling.com 93.
(Viña Tarapacá Gran Reserva 2020 Biodiversity Organic Wine, D.O. Vallé De Maipo, Viña San Pedro Tarapacá, Santiago, Chile, 750 mL, 13.5%).
“If today I were to choose a spiritual guide from the whole wide world- a “guru” as they say in India, a venerable father as the monks say in Mount Athos-the one that I would choose without fail would be Zorba. He possessed precisely what a pen pusher needs for deliverance: the primitive glance that snatches nourishment lovingly from on high; the creative artlessness, renewed at each daybreak, that views everything unceasingly as though for the first time, bequeathing virginity to the everlasting quotidian elements of wind, sea, fire, woman and bread: the sureness of hand, the freshness of heart, the gallant steward’s ability to poke fun at his own soul for seeming to harbor a power higher than the soul; finally that wild, throaty laugh welling up from a source deeper than a man’s inner depths, a laugh that erupted redemptively at crucial moments from Zorba’s elderly chest, expanding with sufficient power to demolish (and did demolish) all the barricades-morality, religion, nationalism-erected around themselves by wretched, lily-livered humans to let them hobble securely through their diminished mini-lives. “
Nikos Kazantzakis “Zorba the Greek”, 1952
“The preparation, the lavish equipment for what should have been the serious business of life used up all his energy. How much mental effort had been expended simply in making the proper toilette. How much time and attention went to his supplies of cigarettes, soaps, and perfumes; how much occasion for making up his mind lay in that moment, recurring two or three times daily, when he had to select his cravat! And it was worth the effort. It was important. The blond-haired citizenry of the land might go about in elastic-sided boots and turn-over collars, heedless of the effect. But he- and most explicitly he-must be unassailable and blameless of exterior from head to foot.”
Thomas Mann, “The Blood of the Walsungs”, 1905
So little Greek wine flows into Canada and that in itself is a tragedy. The choice is almost no choice and if you are a fan of red wine we seem to have wholesale buyers enamoured with Xinomavro which if well made needs age to be enjoyable somewhat like Italian Barolo. Young Xinomavro is highly tannic. Best to age at least 5 years when it will be capable of showing its stuff.
How about wines made from the Agiorgitiko grape?
Nemea in the Greek Peloponnese is the source of much Agiorgitiko which means the grape of St. George (Agios Georgios) and originates from the city of Nemea, formerly called Agios Georgios-St George. There is an ancient legend that the rich, dark, soft and mysterious taste of some Agiorgitiko made wines are that way because the very vines on which the Agiorgitiko grow were stained by the lion that Hercules killed in the area. It is the only grape allowed to use the Nemea Appellation (PDO Nemea).
We now try a Cavino 2018 Nemea Reserva made with the Agiorgitiko grape. It has been aged 14 months in French oak barrels.
Aroma: Loads of black cherry with some beet, vanilla and milk chocolate. Not intense but rather easygoing.
Palate: A bit of a tannic kick but far less than a comparatively aged Xinomavro. Tight fisted with the fruit so this definitely requires decanting.
Personality: There are many styles of Agiorgitiko and I am not a light one but I am really meant, as many of my Greek red wine friends, to be consumed with hearty fare. You would be wasting your palate and perhaps even demeaning my label by not consuming me with food. I warned you!
Cellarbility: The tannins perhaps are indicative of the need to age but the fruit is so tight fisted I do not think there is much room for evolution.
Food match: Hellenic pot roast without a doubt (kapama Elleniko giouvetsi).
Price: $18.95 (Ontario).
In a nutshell: Mundane and disappointing. Get me to Greece and show me the good stuff!
(Cavino Nemea Reserva 2018 PDO Nemea, 750 mL, 13%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 245787).
“The racking out, the driving up, the chasing-these are ends in themselves to the sporting spirit, and are plainly so to him, as anybody would see who watched him at his brilliant performance. How beautiful he becomes, how consummate, how ideal. Like a clumsy peasant lad, who would look perfect and statuesque as a huntsman among his native rocks. All that is best in Bashan, all that is genuine and fine comes out and reaches its flower at these times. Hence his yearning for them, his repining when they fruitlessly slip away. He is no terrier, he is a true hunter and pointer, and joy in himself as such speaks in every valiant, native pose he assumes. Not many other things rejoice my eye as does the sight of him going through the bush at a swinging trot, then standing rock-still, with one paw daintily raised and turned in, sagacious, alert with all his faculties beautifully concentrated.”
Thomas Mann, “A Man and His Dog”, 1918
Most Argentinian Malbecs are infused with good Karma. Is it because of some higher power in the wine cosmos or a matter of terroir meeting the right grape and winemaker? I think it best not to disrupt any mysticism. So I will not answer the question.
From Finca Sophenia we have a 2020 Malbec from Argentina’s Uco Valley.
Aroma: I had my homemade blueberry jam on my homemade bread this morning and the first component of the aroma here is big time blueberry jam. Not the raw fruit but the jam. Yes the wine must be homemade! There is also quite a rich streak of blackberry and yes I make blackberry jam too! There is some sweetness to the aroma but it may just be my blueberry jam memories?
Palate: Moderate tannins. The lavish blueberry of the aroma has yielded to a firm if not youngish wine swamped with that blueberry jam with blackberry trailing behind. Give the wine two more years in the bottle and the fruit will emerge and soften the wine. The acidity is well measured and prevents the wine from being jammy!
Personality: You might initially conclude I am fast and easy if you put your nose to work but calm down people my palate shows I am no Chippendale dancer. Give me until 2026 and I’ll be doing the Watutsi!
Cellarbility: A perfect candidate for ageing. Hold until 2029 and this wine will flesh out.
Food match: https://www.driscolls.com/recipes/blueberry-balsamic-glazed-rosemary-chicken
Price: $21.95 (Ontario).
RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 94/100. Jamessuckling.com 94.
(Sophenia Karma Malbec 2020, Uco Valley, Finca Sophenia, Mendoza, Argentina, 750 mL, 14%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 28085).
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