RKS Tea Meister: Genuine Tea’s Organic Sakura Rose

I was recently in St. Davids Ontario in Niagara wine country. I was there to review the Woodbourne Inn. They feature the “double breakfast” which starts with organic juice, tea or coffee and a fresh baked pastry. Out of my usual routine I decided to try an Organic Sakura Rose tea from Genuine Tea in Toronto. I order most teas from Tea Squared or David’s Teas so Genuine Tea was a new player on the block for me.

So for my first breakfast a pot of Sakura Rose tea it was. It is organic green tea (steamed Sencha) with organic rose petals and jasmine petals. I love my jasmine tea so why not see what rose petals do to the tea. So with my organic pear juice and pastry for the Woodbourne first breakfast I savoured Sakura Rose. The blend here was perfect as no element overpowered the other. It was a lightly flavoured tea. On the nose apricot and applesauce dominated with lesser notes of baked apple, orange marmalade and a hint of cinnamon. The apple sauce and marmalade notes carried onto the palate with a twist of rose petal Turkish delight. The finish was medium length and tannins were barely noticeable.

Sakura Rose was perfectly blended and suited the Cinnamon French Toast topped with tangerine infused with lavender, maple syrup and pa pa cream.

Should you be headed to the Niagara region and are intrigued about the multiple breakfasts prepared by a top-notch chef take a look at my review of The Woodbourne Inn  at https://a-little-birdie-told-me.ca/2022/11/07/rks-hotels-the-woodbourne-inn-at-st-davids-niagara-on-the-lake-just-like-home/

You can order at https://www.genuinetea.ca/ at $9.95 for 50 grams.

RKS Tea Meister Rating of Genuine Tea’s Sakura Rose Tea 91/100.

RKS Wine: Perez Cruz Grenache 2020: This Will Be Chile’s Year: Scotty Beam Me Down to Chile!

There has been an astounding jump in the price of most wines of late here in Ontario. It could be due to the LCBO thinking it is the holiday season so people are willing to spend more being in the “festive spirit”. Are you feeling festive enough to spend $383.95 on a Dom Pérignon Brut Rosé Vintage Champagne 2008? I do make it a point to chat with LCBO customers and eavesdrop on a conversation or two. The bleachers are in a state of shock. Entry level California Cabernet Sauvignon that was $20 has now jumped to $26. What has held firm are Chilean wines and in the upcoming release there are 11 of them all under the $26 range. The quality is high and the price compelling. My prediction is that here in Ontario it will be Chile’s year if pricing remains firm. Not to be crude but Chile move in for the kill!

Now to the Grenache there is 10% Syrah and 5% Mourvèdre.

Perez Cruz is a winery to keep an eye on. Its wines are sold at a reasonable price and so far the quality is impressive. Just to be sure we try a 2020 Grenache from Perez Cruz. That tell tale very Grenache well ripened strawberry rules the aroma sphere. It is also brimming with bright high toned red cherry and some chocolate covered red cherry. On the palate beautiful hyper cherries somewhat hammered down and tempered by cactus pear and a tad of beets. 

Really gripping traction on the palate with a very long finish. Easily mistaken for a flippant lightweight but take the burka off and this is a very serious and compelling wine. So far Perez Cruz has amazed this palate. Scotty please beam me down to Perez Cruz in Chile! These guys need a Dr. Bones probe!

While Grenache wines usually have a more serious and ponderous composition this Perez Cruz wants to dance all night at a fiesta with its cousins from Valpolicella and Cabernet Franc.

(Perez Cruz 2020 Grenache, D.O. Valle Maipo, $17.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 25645, 750 mL, 14.5%, RKS Wine Rating 91/100).

RKS Film: “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”: Art and Politics

The American documentary “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” is an interconnected story about the life of American Nan Goldin as an artist and Nan Goldin as an advocate to eliminate the imprint and legacy of the Sackler family in the art world.

The Sackler’s company is Purdue Pharma the makers and distributors of Valium and the opiate Oxy Contin which to date has killed over 500,000 Americans.

Nan Goldin is a renowned photographer with a storied life. Profoundly affected by the suicide of her sister Barbara as an adolescent she sought solace behind a camera and developed a keen eye for the “subculture” world of New York City and Providence Rhode Island. At times a lesbian, drug addict and a prostitute she was a part of the subculture of 1970’s and 1980’s hanging out with artists, actors and writers of the fringe. Why not say you’ll follow a life of an artist in the world of hard knocks. You can just about smell the rot of The Bowery in New York!

Goldin struggles for acceptance and respect in a sexist world and her success was hard earned. It would appear her struggle for personal and artistic success gave her the skills to fight a political battle against the Sackler family. The Sacklers were huge patrons of the arts with their names on many galleries in prominent museums through the United States and Europe. These philanthropic darlings were great providers of grants to these museums but in Goldin’s eyes they are nothing but murderers. Goldin was hooked on a variety of drugs including Oxy.

Can the actions of the organization she founded P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) exert enough pressure in the perpetually cash starved museum world to have them stop accepting grant money from the Sacklers and remove the Sackler name from the names of galleries in Museums? Can criminal actions be brought against the Sacklers?

The documentary brings a very personal touch to the ravages of Oxy. Just listen to the taped 911 call near the conclusion of the documentary and feel the pain and make that connection to rage against the Sacklers and Purdue.

Why the title of “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”. That phrase is a comment of her deceased sister in reaction to a card shown to her by a psychiatrist. There is also a comment made by an artist in the film that there is a thin line between blood and action.

The documentary is directed by Laura Poitras. The film plays at Hot Docs in Toronto on December 2/3/5.

Winner of the Golden Lion Award at the 2022 Venice Film Festival.

You can see the trailer here https://cinemaduparc.com/en/film/all-the-beauty-and-the-bloodshed_fr

RKS Film Rating 91/100.

“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous” : Chapter 11: My Routine at McGill University

Being accustomed to a certain standard of living I chose lodgings equivalent to my standing in life. Being humble I rented the Presidential Suite at the Four Seasons in Montreal on Sherbrooke Street 8 minutes from the majority of my classes in the Leacock Building.

I have a spectacular view from my window of Mont Royal and when the fall colours hit it is a wonder to behold. I’ll take it over the Taj Mahal any day.

I have all the amenities I need. Swimming pool, steam room and a gym. I am up for breakfast which I prepare myself as I have a kitchen in my suite. A cup of organic green tea, fruit in season and two slices of whole wheat toast. On Saturday and Sunday morning I have a big breakfast delivered to my room and read the New York Times and Montreal Gazette savouring a big pot of tea.

Saturday after working until 15:00 hours or so it is culture time so I may go to the McCord Museum or Musee des Beaux Arts or wherever there is a worthy exhibit. Saturday night it may be an obscure artsy film showing at the McGill Film Society or the Greene Cinema. Occasionally I will go out with fellow students to Thompson House for some beer and peanuts. If there is a good jazz show at Didi Boucel’s Club in Vieux Montreal I might go there. I have seen Stan Getz, Gato Barbieri, Sony Rollins, John Mayall and many others.

Sundays is my mandatory walk up to Beaver Lake on Mont Royal and a stroll clear across to Park Avenue where I usually stop for a late lunch of souvlaki at Arahova Restaurant. If I have any energy left I may walk up and get some bagels at Fairmont Bagel Bakery. Just baked they are one of the 7 wonders of the world.

During the week it is class to class and lots of assignments and papers to work on. I have managed to stack all my classes so Fridays are free. I use this time to volunteer at the United Mutations Office researching specific issues as requested by Willie Montenez a big executive at United Mutations.

I play intramural hockey at McGill. A group of Indian students have created a team the Punjabi Pundits and quite frankly we stink. I am fast as hell and score a lot of goals but I am hell on wheels to watch. I mean in months I learnt how to skate. The United Mutations have a box at the Montreal Forum and occasionally I get to see Nos Glorieux play hockey in the shrine of all shrines for professional hockey.

My life is a peaceful and scholarly one.

It is difficult to make friends here but my slight British accent (rather Welsh from my late Mom) really attracts the ladies so there is no shortage of chatting and drinking 4th rate coffee from a machine. Occasionally I’ll ask one of these charming young ladies to Pam Pam restaurant on Stanley Street for Hungarian pastries and a café au lait. After my Minah incident though I wonder if these Montreal Girls are poison.

“Travels to a Different Time” : 11September2022: Thessaloniki Greece: Party Time at VIP Club!

After a hearty breakfast at our hotel in Thessaloniki Daios Luxury Living we were picked up by Fotini’s niece for a day at Chaladiki a series of beaches of renown about an hour from the city. We avoided the main highway for a faster and scenic route through rolling countryside mostly farms but with several small towns. The biggest town was ,which is not a big bustling town nor is it a sleepy seaside resort. After following a dirt road for 15 minutes we arrived at Ioli beach where we were seated in the VIP section. Totally Greek here and nary a gringo tourist except for me the famous journalist! A wonderful beach with warm water and clear and sandy! A family beach but with cool music and bottle service if you wanted it so we all had vodka and orange juice and some raspberry cream cake. The snack of souvlaki was a flop with mustard in it instead of tzatziki! Poor Fotini had a spill after leaving the change room. Uneven wooden slat walkway did her in but thankfully not that serious. Played some Frisbee with the younger set but not a Wham o Frisbee so challenging. Back around 18:00 and listened to some bluegrass on Greek radio. Strange.

RKS Wine: Malivoire’s 2020 Old Vines Foch

Once upon a time in Ontario and British Columbia there was a grape called Maréchal Foch a French hybrid grape. It made common wine and, in an era, when Canadians did not appreciate or know Vitis vinifera grapes they drank it. As tastes changed and the Canadian palate became more “sophisticated” Maréchal Foch grapes were pulled a fate suffered by many grapes. So today Maréchal Foch is now a rarity. I encountered it 3 years ago in the Okanagan produced by Oak Bay. It was quite good. So I see it as on “sale” in an e-mail from Malivoire Wine Company Limited in the Niagara wine region. Surely if the Okanagan can do it well Niagara can too? You might find more of it in Nova Scotia and Quebec than you can find in Niagara.

The Malivoire 2020 Old Vines Foch in colour is a bit more purplish than red. Aromas of smoke, blackberry, blueberry, licorice, black cherry, cola and candy cane. On the palate smooth with little tannic influence. There is a Welch’s grape influence as what can I say the wine is grapey but in a pleasing way. But let that grapey wave pass and you’ll notice some good traction to the wine with some peppery overlay on the mid plate with almonds, tobacco, anis, dark chocolate with a long spicy finish. Some might treat this wine as highly dismissible and on the wild side but those with an adventuresome and patient palate might call this wine deviously complicated. It is not what it may it apparently seems to be. Baco Noir can make an awesome wine but not handled with care by the winemaker it can be a disaster. I would think the same might be said for Maréchal Foch. The winemaker here has mastered the beast!

The wine would suit lamb burgers or short ribs. The wine was aged 17 months in American oak 18% of which was new. The vines were planted in 1972. The wine will improve marginally over 2023 and peak in 2024.

You can order this from the winery at Malivoire.com.

(Malivoire Albert’s Honour Old Vines Foch 2020, VQA Ontario, The Malivoire Wine Company Limited, Beamsville, Ontario, $26.95, 12%, 750 mL, RKS Wine Rating 89/100).

“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous” :Chapter 11: What Do I Take at University?

I had mentioned I was awarded the Claire and Warren Quimby Scholarship to McGill University. I was undecided as to what programme and what degree I should enroll in. My teachers at King’s College for Young Men in Bombay strongly recommended I obtain an arts degree to broaden my mind so I would have the analytical skills to easily manoeuvre to a post graduate degree. Their view of a “liberal arts” education was that it was not focused on what money it could eventually lead to but rather on self development and analytical skills that could be applied to so many fields. The students at King’s College for Young Men were wealthy (like me) and white (not like me) so their view on the value of a liberal arts degree I took with a grain of sand.

On the other hand the Indians were far more materialistic about my education. The relatives I had in India, on my father’s side were not successful as my father Paneer was and they saw education as a sure way to make a lot of money and escape India. They gave me numerous examples of this and that chap who hit “The Golden Temple” of wealth and status by way of MEDICINE, ACCOUNTING, LAW and COMPLIANCE. Liberal arts was but a waste of time. How is an understanding of history going to make you money my relatives cajoled me with.

So it would seem I was caught between grubby materialism and lofty idealism. I already had the money so there was no relentless drive on my part to make it through “the professions”. I chose to obtain a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. My relatives rolled their eyes and moaned. I had seen them sacrifice their lives to relentlessly drive their children into the holy grail of higher education. Tutors and week-end “special preparatory academies” and lack of any social life burnt out many of my young relatives. My thought on that is would you prefer an analytical and compassionate human being for a doctor or one that had programmed with all the right steps to gain admission to medical school! I had several of my relatives volunteer their medical prospect children to build homes in Costa Rica (for an enormous “donation”) for disadvantaged souls so their resume would sparkle in the eyes of a medical school’s admission panel. Money can be a great motivator but it can suck your soul dry. There were a limited number of spaces for foreign medical students at Canadian universities so the competition for spots was ferocious and, in some cases, deadly. The year I gained admission to McGill University 12 young men in Bombay alone committed suicide after being refused admission to medical schools in Canada.

“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous” :Chapter 10: More Editorial Interference from Wuhan Wet Market Publishing: What I Don’t Like About Canadians

I am trying to write my biography here collaborating with the renowned journalist Robert K. Stephen but yet again Wuhan Wet Market Publishing is interfering with my creative process. I received a call from senior editor Natasha Polehead stating I should refrain from comparing Canadians to Indians, Brits and Americans as I will alienate readers and the name of the publishing game is money. You don’t make money by pissing off Brits, Indians and Yanks it seems. I had planned to talk about obesity, politics, culture and a whole lot of comparative points. I signed a rather hasty contract with Wuhan and I have no wiggle room. So what I will do to even up the score is tell you readers what I don’t like about Canadians.

Canadians have many great qualities as well as Brits, Indians and Yanks but of course the all-knowing Wuhan Wet Market Publishing thinks they know better than I do so I can’t praise Indians, Brits and Yanks.

No Canadians don’t fornicate on the beaches of Spain like the Brits, storm capitals and try to hang politicians like Americans they don’t like or cozy up to the Russians like Indians do. They have a quiet superiority complex to the world. The great neutral peacekeepers. The polite and respectful people. They travel in Europe and strut about with their maple leaf flags and think the world will come running to them with open arms. I call it quiet arrogance. And then there are the hidden closets of residential schools, the shameful treatment of early Chinese immigrants and well why go on. Are you happy now Wuhan Wet Market Publishing?

RKS Film: “Tehranto”: Intelligent Romance Film

There is rather large TV market for cornball romantic films and after seeing previews for films churned out by Heart & Home or Harlequin Films could one conclude their films are best suited for the Girl Guides?

With trepidation I watched “Tehranto” expecting a formulistic romance film but was pleasantly surprised with an intelligent and mature romance film. The narration by Navid Negahban was just about the great star of the film the tone and content being sarcastic, witty and astoundingly comforting. And the ending is far from true love conquers all. Viewers may be waiting for that mega embrace and symphonic music but instead there is doubt! Nothing is clear cut!

The two components in “Tehranto” are Tehran and Toronto. Yes the film is set in my home town about Sharon (Mo Zeighami) born of Iranian parents in Toronto who left Iran prior to the “Revolution” that gradually became a theocratic regime crushing any opposition. Sharon’s parents consider themselves more Parisian than Persian. Sharon has little ties with Iran as she feels Iran has turned its back on so many Iranians. Sharon’s mother Tessa (Masha Ghorbankarmi) is a successful real estate agent and her father (Ali Badshah) is an arrogant man and hardly likeable.

Badi (Sammy Azero) was born in Iran and escaped post “Revolution” to Toronto where he is completing his medical studies. He still obsesses about Iran and events there despite having left for Canada some 13 years ago. While Sharon considers herself Canadian of Iranian descent Badi is ostensibly Iranian but internally conflicted about exactly who he is. Badi’s family is poor his father delivering pizza and his mother unemployed. They are very welcoming of Sharon. But at a painful first family dinner with Badi at Sharon’s Richmond Hill palace her father Fred is a nasty and vindictive monster cornering and insulting Badi who explodes and tells Fred to “go fuck yourself Sir” not a phrase you hurl to a traditional Iranian father let alone any father. Even the narrator tells us he has no wish to stay for dinner after seeing what direction the dinner is heading towards. The dinner scene is as painful as the dinner scene with the parents in “Annie Hall” was ribald.

I should interject here and say the Iranians I have met in Toronto refer to themselves as Persians and not Iranians. It is almost as if they are embarrassed by the direction the theocracy has led the nation towards.

While romance is serious stuff the probing into the immigrant mentality, culture clash, family dynamics and the effects of assimilation are dealt with in the film in an intelligent and sensitive manner. There is a bit of humour to lighten the load through the amusing narration and the antics of Sharon and Badi’s pals although this is at no times a Roonie romp!

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

Directed by Faran Moradi.

RKS Film Rating 81/100.

There will be a Canadian theatrical release on November 25th.

RKS Wine: Cave Spring 2019 Estate Chardonnay

When it comes to readily available white table wine from Niagara, Riesling and Chardonnay rule the roost. I have a challenging time with Ontario Rieslings for a multitude of reasons but not so with Chardonnay. Cave Spring was kind enough to send me a bottle of their 2019 Estate Chardonnay for review just before a wintery blast socked Toronto and Niagara in the face.

The wine is from Beamsville Bench and I was just in their Beamsville tasting room a couple of weeks ago in 25-degree (Celsius) temperature with fall ending blazing gold everywhere. Now that wonderful image and equally wonderful Cave Spring Gamay, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir tried at the tasting room are but a very good memory.

So what about the Cave Spring Estate 2019 Chardonnay that just missed travelling in a nasty snowstorm?

Moderately gold in colour. On the nose pineapple, mango, South African tangerine, marzipan and peach with moderate oak notes. On the palate Greaves apricot jam, Sweet Israeli grapefruit, Niagara pear Galette, butterscotch and guava with a peppery finish. Beautifully integrated acids so important to sippable white wines. The oak influence in the wine is moderately high

Yes I could mention chicken in a tarragon cream sauce or a vongole pasta as a food pairing but you may find this matching well with Oka, Camembert and Canadian aged cheddar. As Christmas is creeping up if you are having turkey (with minimal cranberry sauce) this might be your choice. The winery suggests crispy shrimp, crab stuffed ravioli, grilled tempeh with roasted cauliflower, pan seared halibut and roast capon and I will not debate that.  While the wine is sippable due to the oak influence after a glass it seems to call for food. Isn’t that what wine was invented for?

$19.95 is more than a fair price for the wine. And given the jack up at The LCBO for California wine $19.95 may just be compelling.

Ontario residents or those close to an LCBO in Quebec and Manitoba this Chardonnay is now just available in your Vintages section or you may order directly from the winery. European and American readers there may be a distributor in your country than can make this available to you. Check their website at https://cavespring.ca/

The wine is from the Cave Spring Vineyard on the Niagara Escarpment known as the Beamsville Bench. Limestone and clay soil. Chardonnay does particularly well in limestone soils. The average age of the vines is 31 years. 70% of the juice fermented in French oak and 30% in stainless steel with 10% of the oak new. Drink until 2030.

(Cave Spring Estate Chardonnay, Cave Spring Vineyard, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Escarpment, Cave Spring Vineyard, Jordan, Ontario, $19.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 25652, 13.5%, RKS Wine Rating 92/100).