RKS 2023 Wine: Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon Doing 50/50 So Far

Late in 2022 and early into 2023 Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon is 50/50. The Maipo leads in the top 50% and the Cachapoal is in the bottom 50…the real bottom.

The 2019 Primus Cabernet Sauvignon is from the Maipo yet the 2020 vintage will be from Colchagua being released in Ontario on 21January2023. In Ontario there remains high inventory of the 2019 vintage. It may very well be subject to a mark down.

So how fares the 2019 Primus Cabernet Sauvignon?

Aromatics: Big time hedonistic black fruit with a healthy dose of blueberry.

Palate: The tannins are moderate in this full-bodied wine. Blueberry, black cherry and blackberry vie for attention. The rich flavours border on that of a Late Bottled Vintage Port. A smooth finish with moderate length.

Personality: I am a stout well fed squire happy to sit on the hearth and pat my hunting dogs after the fox run. Confident, successful and well endowed with gold coins I need not have to impress anyone…my modesty of course requires no praise.

Food Match: A mild blue cheese such as Cambazola with a chunk of dark chocolate.

Cellarbility: Drinking well now. Will improve in bottle peaking in 2026.

Price: $22.95 (Ontario).

In a nutshell: Solid Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon far outclassing Californian brothers in the $25-30 price range.

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 92/100. Jamessuckling.com 91.

(Primus 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipo Valley, Viñedos Veramonte, Casablanca, Chile, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 486043, 750 mL, 13.5%)

Misadventures in Wine Chapter 6: Wine Drinker Profiles: “The Intimidated”

Do you ever see someone in the aisles looking overwhelmed? What wine to purchase! So many countries! So many regions! So many appellations! Different price ranges! This may the driving reason for the “I don’t care” crowd or the “stuck in the rut” folks. Stick to a limited choice range and preserve your mental health. Why suffer panic attacks over wine selection! The intimidated reminds me of a story of Americans in Paris (not the movie) where a couple were so intimidated about not speaking French they ate at McDonald’s every night. Zut Alors!

RKS 2023 Film: “Pro Pool” (Piscine Pro): Revenge on an Unpleasant Reality

Charles-Olivier is a newly minted graduated with a most relevant Bachelor of Arts in Civilization and Viking History. In his first post graduate job he finds a job as a salesclerk at a suburban pool shop. Be prepared to watch reality meeting miseducation in this short film from Quebec which made the selection for the Sundance Film Festival (Short Film Section) and will be playing January 21,23,24 and 28th.

If you have been in the workforce whether in an office tower or in a warehouse you can identify with the loafer, all over your ass boss, demanding customers and the multitude of petty rules.

Charles-Olivier can’t fit in socially or with any proper competence. Is he a loser or underqualified/overqualified?

You might cheer at the revenge or you might feel disgusted at its immaturity or feel a bit of both. It was unexpected and made me jump up in my chair in shock.

An anti capitalist or anti-Millennial film? Or toss all political interpretation and enjoy or suffer through the film. Take either side and you’ll walk away satisfied. You can’t say that about many films.

Alec Pronovost was a former Club Piscine employee and is the writer and director for the film. 8 minutes of sheer fun.

In French with English subtitles.

You can see the trailer here https://vimeo.com/780780194

RKS 2023 Film Rating 90/100.

Misadventures in Wine Chapter 5: Wine Drinker Profiles: “The Explorer”

An Explorer dislikes being stuck in a rut or comfort zone. The Explorer may have favourite wines but refuses to be imprisoned by them and constantly looks for new wines, new wine regions and new producers. There is the Random Explorer who has no agenda in wine selection but buys on newness. There is also the Strategic Explorer that has an agenda in wine selection and that could be specific producers, specific geographic regions or countries. The Strategic Explorer might decide to explore Chilean wines, Chilean reds, Chilean whites or specific producers or grapes. The Explorers might add to their favourite lists but never rest their palate to discover the next great wine.

“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous” : Chapter 38: Good-Bye John Lennon

I spent three days in a New York hospital. The bullet had gone clean through my shoulder except for nipping a bit of bone which X rays revealed came to rest a few centimetres from my heart. Those hollow point bullets are nasty things.

In considerable pain I headed back to my room at the Ritz Carlton Central Park South thanking the effects of morphine on the pain. I thought about The Rolling Stones song “Sister Morphine”. It made me gloomy and lethargic. The press circled the entrance to the Ritz-Carlton wanting to speak to the man that was holding John Lennon’s hand and was comforting him as he lay bleeding on the pavement. I took a big swing with my good arm and knocked a camera to the ground. Out of control I screamed obscenities at these newshounds. Thank God hotel security darted out and dragged me into the lobby.

Yoko decided there would be no funeral for John but rather a cremation service. Ringo was the only Beatle that appeared in New York and at the request of Yoko both Ringo and I minded Sean while the cremation service occurred. Ringo told me he simply could not attend the service due to the violent death of his former bandmate. It would shatter him to pieces. If he had only died a natural death Ringo lamented.

Yoko returned looking haggard and dreadful. I was asked to attend a small reception in the unit but declined. I had a long conversation with Ringo about John and while he was no saint he was a decent man. The stories Ringo told me were said in confidence so I can’t repeat them here. Ringo said we should keep in touch.

So how did I feel about the death of John Lennon. I was crushed with the tragedy and furious with “America” for its history of violence and its gun obsession. How could a little fucked up fucker like Chapman possess a 38 special? Chapman was so fucked up he was reading “Catcher in the Rye” calmly across the street from the murder scene when he was apprehended. I had to leave this country.

Yes I recall reading John’s tea leaves and seeing a menacing figure and what looked like an ambulance and having a sinister shiver eating some ice cream that day, Chapman’s…John’s favourite.

So I had witnessed a tragedy as a spectator and around the corner was a deep tragedy that would take my mind and body where it had never been before. Was it the morphine talking?

RKS The Tea Meister: Tea Squared’s Cranberry Purifier

For many years I have been steadfastly avoiding “kiddie teas”. Kiddie teas often have no tea at all as an ingredient but nonetheless they list “tea” as one. They have a melange of flavours primarily all types of fruit.

I have backed off from avoiding kiddie teas as a result of a recent experience I had while reviewing the Woodbourne Inn in St. Davids Ontario home of the famous double breakfast. I made a bold decision to try a Sakura Rose tea (from Toronto’s Genuine Tea) with both my breakfasts. Yes rose petals! Well it suited both the first and second breakfasts the latter being a gourmet French toast with pa pa cream. The rose petals matched the French Toast to a tea! Sakura Rose is now an occasional inclusion to my breakfast routine.

The Cranberry Purifier from Toronto based Tea Squared has no actual tea in it and rather reminds me of a breakfast cereal with apple chunks, hibiscus blossoms, cranberries and natural flavours. It is a zero caffeine “beverage”.

Aroma: Rose, peach, cranberry dried cherries, watermelon and a bit of strawberry jam.

Palate: Floral and fruity without excessive sweetness. There has been no sugar added. No tannins to speak of. A warm inviting beverage. Cranberry, mango, peach, McIntosh apples with a moderate finish.

Food match: French toast made with Challah bread topped with preserved peaches.

Price: $8.99 for 100 grams. Free shipping on Canadian orders over $50 and on US orders over $75.

RKS 2023 Tea Meister Rating 88/100

Misadventures in Wine Chapter 4: Wine Drinker Profiles: “The Higher the Price the Better the Wine”

This could be known as The Filthy Rich Club where money is no object other than a means to glorify “good taste”. A Chilean Carménère at $18.95 could be rated a 93/100 but isn’t that a marker of rotgut…..cheap wines. In no way fitting for a mighty industrialist, tech baron, cardiologist, big time corporate lawyer or a neurosurgeon. Mere dentists excluded please. Château Snob only even if pharmaceutical barons in China mix it with Mao cola. Wine, the car you drive, defines your power, privilege and good taste! A Randy Kurniawan heaven!

RKS Literature: Passage of the Day: Eternal Youth? (Nikos Kazantzakis)

“He murmured to himself, ‘It’s really a shame, that youth in human beings doesn’t last a thousand years! Is God perhaps afraid that we’ll take His throne away from Him? Is that why he craftily dismantles us, piece by piece? He pulls out our teeth, screws our knees up stiff, wears out our kidneys, dims our eyes and dribbles slime and spittle out of our noses and mouths…Death doesn’t worry me: by my soul it doesn’t worry me. There’s something to be said for getting over it once and for all. But I can’t do with this business of turning gradually into a caricature.’ “

Nikos Kazantzakis “Freedom and Death”, 1956

RKS 2023 Wine: Chilean Carménère: Siegel Gran Reserva Carménère

Aromatics:  Heavy raspberry markers with black cherry and strawberry in tow.

Palate: The tannins are not quite reaching the moderate level. Plenty of stuffing in this wine. Virtually bursting with black cherry but held in a straight jacket for the moment, Put another way the wine may just be on a holding pattern before landing on a runway of greatness in 2024 when the wine opens up mid 2024 to reveal its fruit in all its glory.

Personality: When the clock strikes midnight on December 31, 2024 I am not turning into a pumpkin but a stellar wine. I do request you respect my present firmness until at least 2023-year end when I begin to show what a great Chilean Carménère I am.

Cellarability: Will be in its prime from 2024-2026 but still enjoyable now if you like a firm but not austere wine.

Price: $18.95 (Ontario).

In a nutshell: A debutante ready to bust out at the ball.

Food match: The wine now is food centric  Roasted duck breast and shredded duck confit. Italian farro maitake mushrooms, kale, salisfy, Jerusalem artichokes and pearl onions with foie gras jus.

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 92/100. Timatkin.com 91/100. 

(Siegel Gran Reserva 2019 Carménère, Valle de Colchagua, Vińa Siegel, Pamila, Chile, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 25639, 750 mL, 14%).

Misadventures in Wine Chapter 3: Wine Drinker Profiles: “The Point Slaves”

Today don’t we have so many people and institutions thinking for us? The Point Slaves rely on the wine writer in their purchase decisions. Just walk the aisles of your liquor retailer and see how many 90 plus signs and stickers you see. I wonder how much the winery is charged for appending a 92 on their bottle. If there is no 90 plus mark on the merchandise can the whole point craze be denigrated as if no 90 plus rating then why not simply ignore those lesser wines. And when you see the wine is a medal winner how much was the entry fee for the competition and how many wines did the judges have to slog through shredding their palate along the way? How much is charged for buying gold medal stickers? Is every entry guaranteed a medal of some sort?

In a busy society where there seems little time for so many things, including thinking, it is easy to cruise the aisles and pick up any wine with a 90 plus rating. Someone has done the thinking for you. And you may be surprised about wine writers throwing around wine scores in the mid to high nineties. How many of these writers or their organizations they work for charge to review a wine (to cover administrative costs it may be said)? Can these writers be impartial? Are they whisked on media junkets to wineries? Do they pay for the wines they are reviewing or is a winery or third party sending “samples”? Is a wine writer a “citizen above suspicion”. Have you heard the expression “pay to play”?

One must mention those wine drinkers that use wine writer comments and scores as a helpful guide now and then to assist in their selection which is far different than blind adherence.