RKS Film: A Very Cheesy Christmas: “Baking All the Way”

Is there an unwritten rule that Christmas movies of late must suffer from cheesy plots and rather obnoxious music? Let’s face it “It’s a Wonderful Life” is one of the biggest cheese Christmas films ever made yet once every two years it still is worth a view. “Baking All the Way” is stuffed with cheese to the extent it is a Kraft Dinner Genre film. Now that is not to say the cheese has gone moldy in “Baking All the Way”.

Here is the plot. Julia (Corey Lee) is a restaurant owner and a pastry chef who is finishing her cookbook but as her mommy and her used to make gingerbread cookies at Christmas time she is searching for the perfect recipe as mommy’s recipe has been smudged with too much lard and is unreadable. Julia has a contest and asks readers to send gingerbread cookies they have baked so she can duplicate her mommy’s gingerbread cookies. Well Julia is sent a dandy gingerbread cookie from a small-town bakery in Wisconsin called Homestead Baked Goods. Off she drives from Chicago to a cheesy small town in Wisconsin and strides into the bakery announcing to the owner, Chris Thompson (Yannick Bisson) a rather beef cakey guy, he is the winner but such a powerful author, with perhaps an excessive amount of makeup, seems surprised when Chris expresses no interest in handing over the recipe. Oh this love interest is going to cuddles and kisses soon! Chris has no idea who sent the cookies to Julia but we know don’t we!

The cheese is melting and oozing all over the place! I should probably stop here as one knows 5 minutes into the film where the plot ends.

I would not go so far as to say this is a stinking Limburger cheese film. While the music is overly sweet and annoying the acting is definitely as smooth as Cambazola. I like the huge political statement made about this sweet little bakery being threatened by the evil corporate franchise bakery across the street. OMG a progressive anti-monopolistic Christmas film! Sort of like the seamy underside of “It’s a Wonderful Life”.

The movie does have a bit of personal impact. Don’t we all have some recipe from our youth our mommy made for us or perhaps a family friend that we can’t reproduce. In my case years ago it was Mrs. Tasman’s legendary apple crisp after 50 years I can’t match. A Christmas movie that touches my heartstrings.

Two last comments. With global inclusion and diversity becoming mandatory concerns in society why are these small-town people almost all white. As a Canadian I note the outdoor winter scenes have no frosty breaths about. We all know the shoot location in Hamilton, Ontario gets mighty cold at Christmas and its inhabitants have frosty outdoor breath.

“Baking All the Way” starts with a limited Canadian theatrical release on December 5th and as of December 5th will be available on Super Channel.

How do you like your Kraft Dinner cheesy or milky? You’ll get both here. Suitable for the Harlequin Romance set and young children.

No doubt your family physician has warned you about cheese and cholesterol but a bit of cheese makes life more pleasant.

By the way gingerbread cookies give me indigestion.

RKS Film Rating 63/100.

RKS Literature: Passage of the Day: Thoughts of an 1856 Druggist in Toronto

“As my father has often said, the sick are never in short supply, but then there is only so much physick they can take before their health is recovered, and the privations and the growth of the city were both grossly overestimated. It does ill to have hopes for others’ misfortunes, but druggists must stand by in solemn citizenhood and hope for the public to be struck low as often as possible. One hopes without lasting damage (for we need them to get sick again!), and with a recovery that makes them happy we exist.”  

Michael Redhill “Consolation”: Doubleday Canada 2006.

RKS Wine: Ravine Vineyard Estate Winery’s “House of Nations”

Located in St Davids Ontario just a wee bit up from the corner of Four Mile Creek Road and York Road lies Ravine Vineyard Estate Winery. The tasting room is located in an historic building known locally as the House of Nations and officially as Woodruff House. It was originally built by David Secord in 1802. It was burned by the Americans as they fled St. Davids after the War of 1812. The Woodruff family rebuilt it in 1817 adding an addition to the front of the house. It became known as the House of Nations as immigrants to the area lived in apartments in it.

In rather a sorry state it was sold in 1969 to a man that dissembled it and shipped to Caledon, Ontario where he had plans to reassemble it but died before he could start the project. The Harber family, the current owners of Ravine eventually tracked it down in Port Hope Ontario and purchased it so it could be returned to where it “belonged”. It is now home to the tasting room and retail sales.

After this historical exercise we should close with a tasting of their unoaked Chardonnay I tasted on the outdoor patio of the restaurant with a spectacular fall view of some of its vineyards all aglow in a vibrant autumn gold in record heat rather amazing (or disconcerting) for early November.

On the nose concentrated Honey Crisp apple and Flemish pear, guava and Croatian vanilla wafer cookies. On the palate the wine takes more of a tropical twist with notes of mango, pineapple, tangerine and a hint of custard. The acids are restrained. For an unoaked Chardonnay this is a rich and well-formed wine with a long finish. It virtually shouts for a chicken dish with cream sauce.

You can pick up at the winery or order online.

(Ravine Vineyard 2021 Unoaked Chardonnay, VQA St. Davids Bench, Ravine Vineyard Estate Winery, St. Davids, Ontario, $30.80, RKS Wine Rating 92/100).

“Travels to a Different Time” : 3September2022: Vravrona, Greece

After 10 awful hours on an Air Canada flying basement Athens was a chance to break out of our little prison but seems COVID has played around with Greece as there were no gates available so stuck on the airplane for 30 minutes. Ordinarily we would have made a connecting flight to Samos but with two of our internal flights in Greece already rescheduled we thought it safer to stay the night at Dolce Wyndham Attica some 17 kilometres from the Athens airport right on the beach but I was simply too beat to have a swim. And we must leave the hotel by 08:00 for our flight to Samos. Just prior to leaving Toronto we learnt there had been an earthquake and two aftershocks in Samos 17 kilometres off the coast from the town we were staying in Pythagoras. No casualties or significant property damage. We were picked up by our prearranged car for the trip to the hotel in Vravrona. It is a massive complex more American than Greek. I mean there was even an Australian medical conference being held there! Pools, tennis courts, volleyball courts and a basketball court. Bars and restaurants all over. Had a twenty-minute walk after a brief nap to Koralli Psarotaverna where a delicious meal consisting of a half litre of house white, Greek Salad, octopus, eggplant dip, zucchini fritters and a complimentary dessert (traditional Greek custom) for 41 Euros. Upon arriving back at the hotel listened to some Moroccan hip hop at the pool. Crashed out exhausted at 22:00.

RKS Wine: Is Gamay on the Comeback Trail in Ontario?

Gamay was hot a decade ago in Ontario full of promise and hope but as “fads” go they can fade. Gamay seemed to fade but in the past few years it would appear to be gaining steam.

Cave Spring Vineyards is well known internationally for its Rieslings that receive generous ratings in the Wine Spectator seemingly ensconcing itself as an Ontario winery “worthy” of Wine Spectator recognition. Good step in the Wayne’s World, “We Are Not Worthy” chant!

Cave Spring has a well appointed and “wine tourist” tasting room in Jordan Village. Legions of pourers, lush décor and lots of subsidiary wine merchandise. But their new tasting room in Beamsville is spartan and glass enclosed with spectacular views of vineyards. It has an attraction to more serious wine drinkers interested in evaluating and tasting the wine instead of a living a touristic experience. After having visited so many tasting rooms in Europe and North America touristic experiences become somewhat mundane so the new Beamsville tasting room is more my speed. A recent visit to Napa rather soured me on the overdone and lush tasting room. Was it J Winery at Russian River Valley that was so over the top that it was theatrical? I have so much money I can babble away and all should listen to my pontification!

I had really wanted simply to drop in and say hello but as the manager seemed somewhat taken aback I would not do a tasting as driving and tasting do not mix I was persuaded to taste a couple of higher end wines that really towered above what I can say that were more “generally affordable” wines.

One of these wines was a 2020 Gamay Estate VQA Beamsville Bench. This was a Gamay with depth and many steps above a fruity and friendly moderately priced Gamay. On the nose raspberry coulis, Washington black cherry and milk chocolate predominate with a miniscule dusting of clove and allspice. It is rich! On the palate a piercing and penetrating laser beam of raspberry, black cherry cola and a long lingering finish. There is enough acidity to be a great match for rich tomato-based pasta such as Tuscan wild boar pasta or a mushroom ragout over polenta and yes enough power and heft to match a beef bourguignon. Although a possible sipper I would vote for this being a foodie wine unlike so many fruity and immediately accessible Gamays.

This is a young wine still trying to identify itself. It will continue to mature into wine puberty and be in its prime from 2025-2028. Many Ontario Gamays are in the $20-25 range. This one is a bit pricey and worth the increased expenditure.

(Cave Spring 2020 Gamay Estate VQA Beamsville Bench, Cave Spring Vineyard, Jordan, Ontario, $34.95, 750 mL, 13.5%, RKS Wine Rating 93/100).

RKS Wine: Urban Blight Hits Niagara!

You drive around the Niagara region enjoying the sights and perhaps the wineries. In early November gold blazes creating quite a spectacular sight. What is not so spectacular are the housing developments popping up in the last few years like out-of-control Baco Noir grapes.

Yes there is lots of open air with orchards, vineyards and farms but in certain spots you are in a subdivision frenzy. I was driving south on Four Mile Creek Road in St. Davids enjoying the sunshine and beautiful foliage when I caught out of the corner of my eye an enormous subdivision. Here and there you will see them clashing with quaint Georgian architecture. The modern is crowding out the traditional and historic. Niagara-on-the Lake (NOTL) can be a nice little enclave for the wealthy or those from large urban centres seeking to downsize. You’ll see Mercedes, Audi’s and BMW’s and a senior set looking like they are not suffering financially happily consuming $36 Truffle Pizza’s at Kitchen 76.

For the time being wineries are not directly threatened but one day who knows. As urban development sprawls land prices increase tempting some wineries to sell out. But it also threatens tourism. While in St Davids there is a huge suburban development as you head west on York Road. At the corner of York Road and Four Mile Creek Road a new condominium development Vineyard Square clashes with small town architecture.

NOTL municipal council had enacted an interim control by-law in an attempt to control development of the old town but Hummel Property had that quashed in an Ontario Court of Appeal decision in 2022. A voter in the recent NOTL municipal election was quoted in The Lake Report newspaper saying , “It’s always the Old Town or the tourism, nothing about the agriculture.”

As a lesson that might await Niagara wine country look at the tiny Condrieu wine appellation in the Northern Rhône in France. At one point recently a condominium development threated to destroy the vineyards. Public outrage quashed that development. Is this what is in store for NOTL? One also must open their eyes to burgeoning housing developments in Prince Edward County also a wine producing area east of Toronto.

People must live somewhere but to control unfettered expansion is a must to ensure the uniqueness of NOTL. The failure to do so may threaten not only agriculture and wineries but the lifeblood of tourism. When you visit NOTL would you still come if it started looking like Richmond Hill a suburb of Toronto?

RKS Film: “The Human Trial”: Should Private Enterprise Have the Power to Control Pain, Suffering and Life Itself?

The documentary “The Human Trial” is a five-year journey exploring the development of stem cell laden implants into human subjects suffering from Type 1 Diabetes in the anticipation they will produce insulin. Five million people a year die from complications attributable to diabetes. If it doesn’t kill you it may very well blind you or cause amputations of limbs, heart attacks or strokes. It will always make everyday life challenging.

As with many diseases in addition to the physiological changes living with diabetes can cause fear, apprehension and depression which the documentary gives the viewer a very good idea of.

Some of the film may lose you with technicalities more germane to those suffering from diabetes. But it is not the technicalities that make the film riveting. It is the human element. What toll is diabetes taking on its victims and how do two humans participating in the initial study in the United States react to this participation. It is a roller coaster of emotions that the viewer can’t escape riding on. Optimism and hope and crushing defeat and everything in between. The documentary may be diabetic centric but living with diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and Lyme disease have been on the documentary film circuit of late and share the theme of suffering, despair and lack of hope.

The film does touch upon the economics of disease and the role of biotech companies and there is the smell of big money. Big Pharma makes enormous profits from insulin so it does not have an interest in wiping out those profits with a cure unless the cure is a new pharmaceutical product they can distribute in their network so they take a wait and see attitude investing when a product seems to have more benefits than risks. In the case of this new technology it is San Diego developer Viacyte that must continually search for funds from venture capitalists and pharmaceutical companies to further its research and trials. The documentary skirts substantial criticism of private interests controlling life and death of millions and fails to suggest government funding might be called for but for a healthcare system that is run by private insurance interests and has an abhorrence of socialized medicine governmental intervention seems positively anti-American. Although the documentary captures the emotional trauma of diabetics and of the two participants in the trial it fails to make concrete suggestions how the present American system can be overhauled but give it credit for hinting medical technology follows a money trial.

You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30146N9nY7U

Directed by Lisa Hepner (a sufferer of Type 1 Diabetes) and Guy Mossman.

“The Human Trial” will be available on November 11th on VOD including Apple, Amazon, Google Play.

RKS Film Rating 68/100.

RKS Wine: Niagara Red Blends: Nyarai Cellars Soars Above the Mundane

In Niagara to review an inn and some restaurants this month I managed to speak with a few people in the wine trade and it was empowering to hear they agreed with a fundamental point I have with Niagara red blends. In Niagara Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are almost best retired as incapable of making a good single varietal wine and even in a blend there are few worthy Niagara red blend wines with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in them. In good long warm summers Cabernet Sauvignon can shine. And 2019 saw Cabernet Sauvignon being harvested in November!

Nyarai Cellars then made an excellent decision to produce its 2019 Cadence with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and that spicy hyper Petit Verdot. Does the blend work?

On the nose the Cabernet Sauvignon adds a generous element of blueberry and blackberry. Additional notes of black cherry, cactus pear and milk chocolate. The tannins are mild but broad coating the entire mouth. On the palate a thin layer of white pepper, zippy blackberry, choke cherry, red currants and with a hint of root beer. And most uncharacteristic of a red Niagara blend a long-lasting finish. The acidity is well managed!

Steve Byfield proprietor and winemaker at Nyarai Cellars has crafted a Niagara red blend from well sourced grape growers. This 2019 Cadence is delightfully unique and made only in the best years for Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Steve is a virtual winemaker meaning he does not own a winery. He uses the equipment of West Avenue Cider House to make his wine. Steve is also the only black winemaker in North America I have encountered. Nyari has a South African meaning of humility and to be humble. While this describes Steve the wine is something he could be very easily boasting about.

Serve this slightly chilled with fried callaloo, tomatoes, garlic and salt cod and break the rules about red wine with fish. The Portuguese can serve red wine with a national salt cod dish Bachalau so can we with the Jamaican dish I have mentioned the recipe from Chester a Jamaican fellow I met at my Volvo mechanic.

You can enjoy the wine as a sipper too. I would be willing to give this up to the end of 2024 to improve in the bottle. What a pity only 112 cases were produced.

(Nyarai Cellars, 2019 Cadence, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Nyarai Cellars, West Avenue Cider House, Freelton, Ontario, $24.95, Available at nyaraicellars.ca, 750 mL, 13%, RKS Wine Rating 90/100).

“Travels to a Different Time” : 2September2022: Toronto to Athens: Getting There is no Longer Half the Fun!

We booked this trip from Toronto to Athens on points. I wonder if we have been penalized by Air Canada for booking on points as when checking in on-line exactly 24 hours prior to departure as permitted by Air Canada in the entire plane there are three seats available? What’s that old Greek proverb “the fish stinks from the head down”? Love sitting in the last row of the plane by the galley and the continual vacuum flushes of the toilets which by the way are filthy to start and revolting after 10 hours. In all this COVID hysteria dire warnings about getting to the airport 3 to 4 hours prior to departure. Arrived three and a half hours prior to departure and never whizzed through security so fast! With too much time to spare dropped by Premium Plaza Lounge close to our departure gate and a wait of 45 minutes to be admitted and the wait certainly was not warranted. Some type of chicken in a cream sauce and a pathetic looking pasta. The chili wasn’t bad. The Guinness tap is not working and the beer is Molson Canadian (SHUDDER!). The salad is one that after a few mouthfuls you wonder if you made a mistake. Food poisoning not a great way to start a trip. Lowest quality spirits. The Muzak was annoying although the Christmas song in September was “unique”.

All passengers were masked as required by Pearson Airport. Given the multitude of lost checked in baggage in Europe carry on seemed the rule. An Air Canada passenger agent asked for complimentary check in. This was greeted by howls of laughter.

The seating on the plane was sardine in “Economy”. On my last flight on Air Canada in 2019 I had 4 inches of room between my knees and the seat in front yet now knees jammed up against the seat in front and twisted like a pretzel. The cabin is dark and gloomy. Dinner was a rock hard stole white roll, frozen butter, slimy pasta in sauce that might have been canned tomato soup and cheese that had the consistency of melted plastic. Betty Crocker chocolate cake for dessert and the cheapest French plonk as wine. Air Canada can’t have the pride and decency to serve Canadian wine? For breakfast a stale croissant and some yogurt. Arrived at Athens airport having to wait 20 minutes to get a gate. Air Canada Economy is like travelling in a portable dank basement. So glad to escape.

RKS Wine: Pierre Sparr Gewurztraminer 2020 Grand Réserve

Many will say Alsace vints the best Gewurztraminer. A few years ago I may have agreed with that statement until I tried Gewurztraminer from Mayhem Wines and Meyer Family Vineyards in British Columbia’s Okanagan. The trouble is that the British Columbia wines are small batch hence reach a small audience.

Pierre Sparr is a big Gewurtz negociant in Alsace producing some solid examples. We try their 2020 Grand Réserve. A very classic nose of mango, peach, apricot and pineapple upside down cake. Good Gewurtz is perhaps one of the easiest wines to identify. On the palate yet more peach and apricot with caramel and mango. Smooth and creamy with just the right amount of acidity. I think of vegetarian or shrimp curry as a food match.

What more can I say more intellectually than yummy and a white wine with a delightful personality.

(Pierre Sparr Grand Réserve 2020 Gewurztraminer, Maison Pierre Sparr, Blenheim, France, $20.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 747600, 14%, 750 mL, RKS Wine Rating 93/100).