RKS Literature: The World Through the Eyes of a Child

“For it is good to have seen something of the world with childish eyes, disinterestedly and uncritically, observing not what is useful or beautiful and interesting, but only such things as, to a being less than four feet high and having no knowledge of life or art, seem immediately significant. It is the beggars, it is the green umbrellas under which the cabmen sit when it rains, not Brunelleschi’s dome, not the extortions of the hotel-keeper, not the tombs of the Medici, that impress the childish traveler. Such impressions it is true, are of no particular value to us when we are grown up.”

Aldous Huxley, “Uncle Spencer”, 1924.

RKS Literature: Affection and Humour

“Affections are not impaired by being tempered with a touch of benevolent laughter. Indeed, I would almost be prepared to risk a generalization and say that all true affections are tempered with laughter. For affection implies intimacy: and one cannot be intimate with another human being without discovering something to laugh at in his or her character. Almost all the virtuous characters in fiction are also slightly ridiculous; perhaps that is because their creators were so fond of them.”

Aldous Huxley, “Two or Three Graces”, 1930.

RKS 2023 Wine: Mayhem 2022 Pinot Gris to the Rescue?

There is an abundance of very sad Pinot Grigio out in wine world. One big seller that has me puzzled is Santa Margherita from Italy. I find it made from overcropped grapes imparting a diffuse and insipid character. It flies off the shelf in Canada. It has frightened me “off” Pinot Grigio. Will the Mayhem 2022 Pinot Gris rescue me from my tarnished Pinot Grigio trauma?

Made from grapes grown on the Ryegrass Road Vineyard in Oliver British Columbia. Whole bunch pressed and aged in 84% stainless steel and 16% neutral oak.

350 cases were made.

Aroma: Very clean notes of apple, pear, guava, marzipan and some cinnamon.

Palate: Far from the watery Italian Pinot Grigio that haunts me in the middle of the night. There is character and substance in this Pinot Gris. Lots of pear, sweet Jaffa white grapefruit and guava layered with some fine and unobtrusive acidity.

Personality: Consider me a breath of fresh air in a sea of mediocre Pinot Grigio.

Cellarbility: Drink now.

Food Match: Fillet of Sole Florentine or a Scandinavian haddock pudding. The wine can handle creaminess well!

Price: $18.36 (British Columbia).

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 90/100. Treve Ring 88.

Mayhem rescue successful. Over and out.

(Mayhem 2022 Okanagan Valley Pinot Gris, Produced and bottled under license #302084, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, 750 ml, 13.10%).

RKS 2023 Wine: Happily Riding the Great Compromise and Beyond: Meyer Family Vineyards Okanagan Valley 2022 Pinot Noir Rosé

Isn’t rosé the great compromise? It should make both white and red wine aficionados raise a pink truce flag. But it goes beyond compromise as it may be a bit of both worlds but stands on its own suitable to many moods and many dishes that white and red do and do not not suit. For example roast ham suits rosé to a tee! Also on a vicious hot and humid day does a red wine drinker want a glass of red wine in a non airconditioned environment! Global warming and the growth of popularity of rosé.

I am glad to think a compromise is possible between the red and white camps unlike in politics if you were not a Bolshevik or Menshevik and somewhere in the middle both sides would be equally “justified” in killing you! Such barbarity does not exist in the wine world…….right?

British Columbia’s Meyer Family Vineyards 2022 Okanagan Valley Rosé is on the dark side of rosé which means it’s a bit more in the red than the white camp.

300 cases were made. 50 neutral French oak and 50% stainless steel.

Aroma: Equally influenced by strawberry, raspberry and watermelon with a hint of cranberry.

Palate: It has a good grip that you might find in both a white and a red wine. Quite like the MFV 2022 Okanagan Valley Pinot Noir in that it refuses to blurt out its identity instead giving off a sophisticated allure of elegance and superb diplomacy. Strangely it calls out for you to establish its identity with food. Pair it with the right food and it will be a delightful “Towering Inferno”.

Food Match: Roast ham with scalloped potatoes. BLT sandwich. Warm Greek tomato and potato salad (field tomatoes, chives, boiled new potatoes, basil, salt and pepper with anchovies).

Personality: Don’t call me shiftless as I refuse to be either a white or red wine. I have my own personality thanking the powers above I am not in 1917 Russia or 2023 Russia for that matter.

Cellarbility: Drink by the end of 2024.

Price: $20.96 British Columbia.

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 89/100. Bcwinetrends.com 90.

(Meyer Family Vineyards, 2022 Okanagan Valley Rosé, Meyer Family Vineyards, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, 750 mL, 13%).

Contact the winery for retail/shipping information.

RKS Literature: A Desperation for Acquaintances

“And then there was his sociability. It was a passion, a vice; he could not live without the company of his fellow beings. It was agony for him to be alone. He hunted company ferociously, as wild beasts pursue their prey. But the odd thing was that he never seemed to crave for friendship or intimacy. So far as I know, he had no friends, in the ordinary accepted sense of the term. He desired only acquaintances and auditors; and acquaintances and auditors were all that he had.”

Aldous Huxley, “Two or Three Graces”

RKS Literature: Once Out of The Womb

“Out of the womb, we’re in an unfriendly world, in which our wishes aren’t anticipated, where we’re no longer magically omnipotent, where we don’t fit, where we’re not snugly at home. What’s to be done in this world? Either face out the reality, fight with it, resignedly or heroically accept to suffer or struggle. Or else flee. In practice even the strongest do a bit of fleeing-away from responsibility into deliberate ignorance, away from the uncomfortable fact into imagination. Even the strongest. And conversely even the weakest can make themselves strong. No, not the weakest: that’s a mistake. The weakest become daydreamers, masturbators, paranoiacs.”

Aldous Huxley, “After the Fireworks”, 1930.

RKS 2023 Wine: Meyer Family Vineyards 2022 Okanagan Valley Pinot Noir

Should we get our hands grubby and talk about the price of a bottle of wine and quality? Why not setting forth the golden rule that the quality of a wine is not always reflected in its price! I am sure many of us have examples to share.

But pardon my grubbiness when I talk about Meyer Family Vineyards in British Columbia’s Okanagan. I have been saying, in a moneygrubbing type of way, given the outrageously reasonable price of MFV Pinot Noirs one might be nutso purchasing Burgundian Pinot Noir. Yep I can hear the neurosurgeons, cardiologists and corporate senior management team members snickering away at some ignoramus having absolutely no respect on the altar of Burgundian Pinot Noir. Let them snicker and snicker loudly as I say Meyer can kick Burgundian Pinot Noir butt. Quel dommage pour France!

Before I am driven out of Wineville I screw open a bottle of Meyer Family Vineyards 2022 Okanagan Valley Pinot Noir. The snickering mounts in intensity as I say it has a Stelvin cap. My God how nouveau riche!!! Who…them or me!

Produced from grapes grown from four distinctive vineyards in the Okanagan including Fat Coyote in Naramata! The wine was destemmed prior to fermentation. It spent 6 months in 100% seasoned French oak.

Aroma: Raspberry, strawberry, ripe red cherry and some milk chocolate intermingled with gentle oak. Inviting and highly agreeable.

2,800 cases produced.

Palate: The wine makes a point of being light on its feet and elegant with soft tannins. One gets the sense of a ferocity waiting to break out managed, if not mastered, by winemaker Chris Carson. At times an “elegant wine” should be excused from all sorts of descriptors on the palate and should be celebrated for its elegance. Celebrate this Pinot Noir.

Personality: This wine reviewer is making me blush. Did he read the Meyer motto, “We hope you enjoy our wines as much as we enjoyed making them.” Enough said.

Cellarbility: Consume by the end of 2025.

Food Match: The wine excels as a sipping wine. Truffle topped pizza beckons. Pushing the envelope a bit perhaps with Chinese BBQ pork?

Price: $24.43 in British Columbia.

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 92/100. Gismondi on Wine 92.

And this is a MFV entry level Pinot Noir. Just wait until you try some other “higher level” gems from these guys.

Best to check with the winery about shipping and retail availability.

RKS 2023 Wine: Meyer Family Vineyards 2022 Chardonnay from British Columbia

Meyer Family Vineyards released a knockout 2022 Gewürztraminer recently. I think most wine drinkers recognize MFV for its Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays so let us try their “entry level” 2022 Okanagan Valley Chardonnay 80% of which was aged in stainless steel and 20% in neutral French oak barrels for 6 months. Due to that high stainless-steel percentage and neutral French oak, one might expect a perky Chardonnay instead of a richer oaked Chardonnay.

It was made from grapes grown at the Old Main Road Vineyard on the Naramata Bench, Anarchist Mountain Vineyard in Osoyoos and the McLean Creek Vineyard in Okanagan Falls.

2,000 cases made.

Aroma: Apple, pear, mango, tangerine and a bit of pineapple.

Palate: Perhaps straightlaced and conservative might be preferred over perky. The acidity is present but in no way out of line. Pear, mango, apricot with a hint of ginger. Short finish. No flies on this Chardonnay. Technically correct.

Personality: Efficient, calm and businesslike. Reliable and trustworthy. I will not be dancing on the table with a lampshade on my head.

Food Match: Grilled porgy, sea bream or sea bass with a sauce of EV Olive Oil, lemon and Greek oregano.

Cellarbility: Drink by the end of 2024.

Price: $20.96 (British Columbia).

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 87/100.

(Meyer Family Vineyards 2022 Okanagan Valley Chardonnay, B.C. VQA, Meyer Family Vineyards, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, 750 mL, 13%).

Best to contact the winery for shipping and retail availability.

RKS 2023 Wine: Mayhem 2021 Cabernet Merlot

The Okanagan in British Columbia can produce top notch red wines including Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Given that solid reputation is it then simply a question whether Mayhem winemaker Ajay Chavan has the skills to produce this blend that will invoke the wow factor? I should add the wine was in my passive cellar at a summer temperature of 64 degrees about ten degrees higher than its winter temperature. I had to pop in the freezer for 10 minutes to bring it to a proper cool temperature. I should have checked the cellar temperature before opening the wine. Red wine should be served slightly chilled in my humble opinion. Do you ever go to a restaurant and see the wine so nicely displayed on shelves at room temperature! No. No. Sorry for the digression while the wine was chilling.

87% Merlot and 13% Cabernet Franc. Grapes were from Anarchist Mountain Vineyard and the Osoyoos Ryegrass Vineyard. 425 cases were produced.

Aroma: There is enough raspberry floating in the glass one might briefly surmise analogies to Chilean Carménère. Let’s not forget the black cherry, blackberry, root beer, Black Forest Cake and Quebec raisin pie.

Palate: This tastes like the product of a hot growing season as it is all about ripe fruit and the hot finish is no surprise considering an alcohol level just shy of 14%. June was a sizzler in the Okanagan with vineyard tonnages down by close to 35% but canopy management and irrigation scheduling resulted in quality small berries with concentrated flavours. It could be that heat which made me detect some raisin pie on the nose? It was aged 11 months in seasoned French barriques.

Personality: You might want to say I have a bit of a Latin personality. A bit hot and passionate about not love and lust but quality!  But I do love (platonically and professionally of course) winemaker Ajay for taming me considering the heat in June! You absolutely must chill me down so I am cool and I am not talking hipster cool!

Cellarbility: I would wait until September to open and would consume by the end of 2025.

Food Match: The winery suggests charred steak topped with Dragon Breath Blue Cheese and roasted fingerling potatoes. Who am I to argue with that. I would be daring to suggest Japanese Cod Curry. White fish and red wine the great evil? Oh yeah give it a try with some SB curry mix!

Price: $24.44 CDN. Check with winery about retail availability but most likely shipping to you is the best option.

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 88/100.

(Mayhem 2021 Cabernet Merlot, Okanagan Valley, B.C. VQA, (produced and bottled under WL302084), Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, 750 mL, 13.8%).

RKS Literature: Third and Fourth Rate Intellectuals (Aldous Huxley)

“Do you know what third-and fourth-rate intellectuals are? They’re professors of philology and organic chemistry at the minor universities, they’re founders and honorary presidents of the Nuneaton Poetry Society and the Baron’s Court Debating Society; they’re the people that organize and sedulously attend all those Conferences for promoting international goodwill and the spread of culture that are perpetually held at Budapest and Prague and Stockholm. Admirable and indispensable creatures, of course. But impossibly dreary; one simply cannot have any relations with them. And how virtuously they disapprove of those who have something better to do than disseminate culture and goodwill-those of us who are concerned with creating beauty-like me; or like you, my child, in deliciously being beauty.”

Aldous Huxley, “After the Fireworks”, 1930