“Travels to a Different Time ” : 20July1996: Santiago de Cuba: Lounge Lizard Perverts and Pastors Against the Blockade

On the way to Santiago de Cuba at Toronto Pearson Airport at 11:15 a.m. there are a few scary Cuban bound passengers who are sleazy looking. Quite frankly they look like greasy little perverts up to no good. Computer nerds with criminal intent. I have a very bad vibe these are pedophiles looking for action in Cuba. One guy has sheer evil in his eyes and looks like a fat walrus and the other like a computer nerd with a plastic liner in his shirt pocket full of pens and pencils. They stand out amongst all the passengers. They are guzzled out already dreaming of cheap Cuban rum.

On a decrepit Royal Airlines Boeing 727 that should have been retired in the Nevada desert years ago. Cheap sparkling wine erroneously and most likely intentionally called Champagne. Lunch of carrot salad, chicken coq au vin with industrial chocolate cake for desert and liqueurs. The pervert behind me reeked of tobacco and booze. At Santiago de Cuba the customs officials were slow as molasses. Intentional harassment ? It didn’t help we were behind a group on our plane from the United States “Pastors Against the Blockade”. The pervert lounge lizards were lapping up the beers on the bus to the hotel. Arrived in the middle of the night. The road was full of potholes. The Mexican room shuffle became the Cuban room shuffle which finally ended with a room with an ocean view. They kept the dining room open for us so it was some beef over rice. Hot as blazes.   

RKS Wines: Memories of Lyon

They say there is nothing like travel to create a special relationship with wine. I recall eating in an astounding tiny Basque seafood restaurant in a small Spanish town of Hondarribia (right across from France) called Hermanad de Pescadores. We ended up in this simple restaurant as my wife had walked by it and said the smells coming from the kitchen reminded her of her grandmother’s cooking in Samos Greece. My goodness the halibut was the best I have ever had in a simple but flavourful broth. It was next to us that we met T a diamond merchant and I his aristocratic French wife. We ended up eating with them the next evening over another astounding seafood meal at Hermandad. I had written a review of the restaurant which was exemplary and they had it translated and placed outside their restaurant. We keep in touch with T and I and a few years just before COVID slammed France we ate in a sushi restaurant in Lyon with T and I. We had a Côtes de Gascogne with our sushi and T hit the nail on the head with the wine selection. So recently I spotted a Côtes de Gascogne and nabbed it fuelled by memories of the Lyon sushi.

The wine is a Domaine de Ménard Cuvée Marine 2020. It is a blend of 60% Colombard, 20% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Gros Manseng with an unusually low 11% alcohol content.

Colombard was not exactly a grape with distinction in California where it was a mainstay of cheap jug wine, but in the Côtes de Gascogne it is particularly effective in contributing peach and nectarine fruit and citrus lemon perfume to wines.

How does it fare in this Ménard wine? Fabulously! It is almost as if it has restored my faith in white wine with so much acidic and tasteless gallons of it floating around. On the nose apricot, peach with lesser notes of tangerine and mango. On the palate it fails to daunt with hyperactive acidity instead a gorgeous tropical composition. It is somewhat like a Gewurztraminer with a muzzle on its snout. At 8 grams of residual sugar per litre it is not floundering in a bone-dry casket.

It certainly can handle seafood but it should have a succulent and low-keyed broth like at Hermanos de Pescadores. I am not sure that will be so easy considering the Halibut was caught in the night and prepared hours later. Perhaps we can hope in Canada for some simply prepared Fogo Island Handline Caught Cod from Newfoundland.

Putting aside fish this will pair nicely with Thai and Vietnamese food with lots of noodles and broth.

The wine sips beautifully and pairs very well with the food suggested. Drink by the end of 2023. Not meant for ageing. It’s flying high right now!

(Domaine de Ménard Cuvée Marine 2020, IGP des Côtes de Gascogne, Menard, Gondrin, France, $14.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 310201, 750 mL, 11%, RKS Wine Rating 94/100).

RKS Film: “Paloma”: Brazilian Transgender Film; Predictable but Disturbing

Paloma is a transgender woman. He was born a he but is really a she. I know this LGBTQ stuff is getting complicated and politically correct. “He” “she” “they” “binary” “non-binary” etc. What ever happened to simply calling a person by their name but alas that has now become politically incorrect for many but not all.

Paloma is a hard-working transgender woman in a small Brazilian town. She has a child Jennifer who was given birth by a friend and surrogate mother from Paloma’s semen. She lives with José a construction worker. She is accepted in her small community if she plays by the rules. Paloma begins to dream about a church wedding with all the trimmings. It is a Barbie girl dream and it slams into the wall when the village priest refuses to marry Paloma and José as after all God only recognizes a union between a man and woman. The priest is sympathetic but can’t violate Papal edicts. Paloma writes the Pope and receives an answer that as devout as she is he will not approve the wedding. So the town priest connects Paloma with a “rogue priest” and alas a marriage takes place in the Catholic church.

But the press sniffs out a story and the marriage of this “transvestite” to a man creates an international story. The town is shamed being called a transvestite town. Paloma is harassed and José deserts her saying look at all the trouble Paloma has caused. Very weak writing here as only a dimwit could fail to apprehend a negative reaction to their union.

From some Brazilian LGBTQ films I have seen urban Brazil is more tolerant of the LGBTQ community but as witnessed in this film rural Brazil is not so tolerant. One can admire the strength of Paloma but the result seems sadly predictable. One can also easily criticize her for her blindness and misguided and childlike faith. The town priest notes with resignation the world has changed but the Catholic church lags behind.

The film may cause you to query where the world stands towards the LGBTQ movement. In Kenya, China, Russia and numerous other countries there is widespread hatred. In North America there is hatred, ambivalence and support. In rural Brazil there is hatred which can escalate to murderous hatred. Isn’t about time for acceptance as a minimum. I mean even at one point Paloma calls José a gutless faggot. So there are holes in the script but that does not deter the message being sent and received.

Kika Sena plays Paloma perfectly. In addition to being an actress she is an academic, art educator, poet and performer.

“Paloma” premiered at the Filmfest München on June 24th.

It is in Portuguese with English subtitles. It is directed by Marcelo Gomez.

RKS Film Rating 76/100.

RKS Wine: Rock Bottom Priced Spanish Cava

A Spanish Organic Cava for $12.95? Yes here in Ontario you can have a Murviedro Brut Nature for $12.95. After a cooker of a day like today anything cold and bubbly will hit the spot. It is one of those days you wake up to shove the ageing dog out for a pee and you slurp down a root beer at 5 a.m. because the humidity is unbearable.

This Murviedro is made by the Traditional Method just like Champagne. It is a blend of 85% Macabeo and 15% Chardonnay. On the nose lime, lemon, fine lees, guava, pineapple and a bit of ginger. It is definitely Brut and hits with a bite making it a thirst quencher. There is whole wheat toast, asparagus and tangerine with well integrated bubbles and just the right relaxed citrusy touch. A fantastic thirst quencher and better than root beer!

To cool the culinary heat try with a Sichuan-Style Asparagus and Tofu Salad served over Korean Soba noodles . https://www.seriouseats.com/sichuan-style-asparagus-tofu-salad-recipe

(Arts de Luna Organic Brut Nature Sparkling, Vegan, DOP Cava, Spain, Bodegas Murviedro, Spain, $12.95, 750 mL, 12.5%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 25073, RKS Wine Rating 91/100).

A 18June22 Vintages Release.

RKS Film: “100 Ways to Cross the Border”: Bizarre and Marginalized by Mainstream

“100 Ways to Cross the Border” is a bizarre film and for those with a short attention span it may have a lifespan of 5 minutes. And performance artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña whom the film focuses on would most likely laugh and say your confusion has made the film a success.

As to what the goal of the film is I recall a brief bit of dialogue where Gomez-Peña says performance art is more than throwing shit and animal innards at the audience but in this film there are piles of shit and innards thrown at the viewer resulting in a delightfully incoherent piece of sarcasm and constructive anarchy. The film is not about performance art. The film is performance art.

Are you looking for a linear plot? Not here. A Monty Pythonesque collection of performance art “skits” which in entirety  make little sense but individually contain nuggets of wisdom.

If you don’t understand what performance art is and why its performers pursue it this film will give you some insight.

As for borders Gomez-Peña has insight that is compelling. At the beginning of the film he explains entering the US border from Mexico was problematic for him. Dress like a peasant you are sneaking in in illegally to the promised land. Dress in a suit and you are a drug dealer. Dress in a Mariachi outfit and you are in the realm of an acceptable Mexican stereotype and can enter the country easily! Yes there are numerous references to the US-Mexican border and what is means to Mexicans and their identity. But the borders referred to in the film are not only geopolitical borders but cultural ones.

Strangely the film starts repeating itself. Why? A mockery of the linear film? God knows and who cares but his repetition is there for a purpose. I leave it up to you to guess it.

If you enjoy a non- linear film where parts make sense and others leave you puzzled this may be for you. But enjoy the outlandish costumes and what else you are mentally capable of processing. You may walk away saying Gomez-Peña is full of shit or is a brilliant artist but the reality maybe he is a bit of both.

Gomez-Peña leads La Pocha Nostra which is a transdisciplinary arts organization devoted to erasing the borders between the arts and politics.

Although the promo piece I received indicates this is a documentary I see it as a piece of performance artistry with only a sliver of a documentary in it. It premiers at BAMcinemaFest on June 25th. BBAM is Brooklyn Academy of Music. How far it goes beyond that festival?

It is directed by artist, filmmaker and educator Amber Bemak.

RKS Film Rating 87/100.

RKS Quote of the Day: José Saramago

“Why did we become blind, I don’t know, Perhaps one day we’ll find out, Do you want me to tell you what I think, Yes do, I don’t think we went blind, I think we are blind, Blind but seeing, Blind people who can see, but do not see.”

José Saramago (1922-2010) “Blindness”, Harcourt Brace & Company, 1999

On the Ledge Part 6: “Truth in the Vine”: Cheating the Chumps!

Lolita Wine Services was raking in the money with its “enhanced” Malbec “Confusion” which of course was Algerian plonk with added brown sugar. Residents of Canada were carting it off by the caseload. But as I understand capitalism as a commie one can dupe the masses for an enormous profit and In East Germany we duped them to stay in power and line our pockets.

So the next level was to have Lolita Wine Services offer rating services for wine for a fee by creating “Truth in the Vine All The Time”. Our “accredited wine writers” would review wines and publish them so consumers would get an “honest” appraisal of wines from Lolita Wine Services. At $40 a bottle this “slight administrative fee” could earn us hundreds of thousands of dollars. Of course, with so many unpaid internet wannabe wine critics we could recruit “impartial” reviewers. These minor “administrative fees” could quickly add up! And our “impartial critics” could be rented out for wine tasting events. Our estimates of revenue from these “slight administrative fees” were calculated by our accountants at $1.87 million a year. We would pay our internet writers with left over samples. Like scrabbling beggars fighting for a few coins.

To hell with those ethical types who said we were corrupted by the fact we were charging to review wines! We were not charging but only for the purposes of recovering our expenses. Our “impartial” reviewers were just that. Well irrespective of giving them a little bonus if their 90 point rated wines surpassed our sales targets for that wine. Wine is a dirty capitalist business. Get used to it. There is no better capitalist than a communist! Just look at China!

RKS Wine: Washington State’s Cosentino Cigar Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

For $19.95 a good Cabernet Sauvignon from California is a rarity or at least what the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) buyers put on the shelf. However of late Washington can deliver at that price. For the LCBO California is a sacred cash cow and Washington State must seem terrifying to LCBO bean counters lest consumers run off in terror!

The Cosentino Cigar Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 possesses that Washington warmness on the nose. There is plum, black cherry, blueberry with a touch of mocha. Speaking of a touch that is not the case with the alcohol level at 14.5% which rudely shunts aside some of the fruit. I am not a fan of Port wine power in a red table wine. Thankfully the alcohol does not fuzz out the fruit on the palate. The palate presents a smooth wine with moderated tannins and no alcohol fuelled burn. An intricate foundation of blueberry pie filling seems to be hiding deep in the foundations of the wine. In summation a good wine but its high alcohol obfuscates (but does not eliminate) that Washington charm I have encountered lately in Washington State wines. From where comes this charm? I’m working on that but I think it is a very skillful use of oak with top quality grapes. Would suit grilled beef, lamb and portobello burgers.

(Cigar Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 2016, Cosentino Winery, Richland, Washington, $19.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 698142, 14.5%, 750 mL, RKS Wine Rating 89/100).

On the Ledge Part 5: Jumping off the Ledge: Becoming a Capitalist Wine Toady: Our Lolita Label

I haven’t received any pay cheques from East Berlin in three months. My contacts at the Interior Ministry say there is no Western currency left in the state coffers. They say you are on your own! I have given my life to the East German state and all those bureaucrats can think about is saving their own hide as demonstrations against the government increases and the state apparatus is afraid of crushing resistance fearing a backlash. So I am jumping off the ledge in the capitalist abyss. I want to make money. I am a professional spy and stoolie but I doubt the Royal Canadian Mounted Police want me as a spy. I could be a double agent but as the East German state will be disappearing there is nothing to be a double agent for.

Perhaps in wine there is salvation. There is no money to be made by 99.9% of wine writers in Canada. So I had an idea and approached some investors including the Penniless Pensioner. He loved the idea I had and he needed to launder some dirty Panamanian money so we formed” Lolita Wine Services”. Our first piece of business was to have Lolita sell wines by the case throughout Canada. We created our own label and brought cheap Spanish and Algerian wine by the container and bottled it ourselves under the Lolita label. We bought at 45 cents a litre and sold it at $9.99. We had “trusted” wine writers give it inflated reviews. We had a huge hit with “Confusion” a cheap Argentinian Malbec which was really Algerian plonk we added a bit of brown sugar too. We loved our corruption and the profit it brought. Next step to become a wine rating boiler room where we could charge to review wines impartially of course. A 90-wine rating for any wine is the Willy Wonka ticket to mass sales.