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.
“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous”: Chapter 37: Caught in the Gunfire: John Lennon Down!
I arrived at JFK Airport in New York on a late and foggy November evening, Given the water damage to my unit at the Dakota I made reservations for myself at the Ritz-Carlton Central Park South. I checked in had a double Martini (the best in New York aside from the Yale Club) and had a brisk walk to the Dakota. I had chatted with John Lennon upon my check in and we were to meet to inspect the damage to the unit. John had let my insurance company adjuster in to assess the damage last week.
The doorman announced my arrival to John who came down to meet me at the lobby. We headed up to my unit. The kitchen ceiling had collapsed leaving a terrible mess and John said the disaster recovery service hired by the insurance company cleaned up the mess but the damage was so extensive a new kitchen would be required. All the hardwood floors adjacent to the kitchen had been saturated with water and had buckled. They would have to be replaced. A terrible inconvenience. John asked me up for a gin and tonic. He comforted me on my mini-disaster and to cheer me up invited me to see “The Elephant Man” on Broadway starring Bowie on December 9th with James Taylor and Yoko. John would never hesitate to extend his compassion to many.
I dealt with the insurance company and architects over the next few days and in no time construction was underway. I had my daily noon call with Ginevra and noting her increasing tension on each successive call I asked my sweet Campanian plum why she was stressed. Well Cyclops was becoming more threatening with Daddy, Don Lupara. Could I come back as soon as possible. I said I would return to Naples on December 11.
John asked me to meet him on December 8th in the service delivery entrance of the Dakota so we could head out to Jamaica New York for a late-night roti. I headed down to meet his limo around 22:00 hours. His limo approached and he exited with Yoko. I heard several loud cracks just when I was approaching John. A hot fiery pain seared my shoulder and I spun around hitting the pavement. John was down immediately saying numerous times that he had been shot. With blood pouring out from my shoulder and ready to pass out I staggered over to John. Yoko was standing over him sobbing. I took his hand and said to John that I had been shot and we would both be OK and walking in Central Park again. He looked very bad with multiple wounds. After I heard gurgling sounds coming from his mouth when he attempted to speak I passed out. I recall saying to myself how much sicker the United States could get. A man of peace gunned down.
Misadventures in Wine: Chapter 2: Wine Drinker Profiles: “The Nationalists”
The Nationalist supports the wineries in the country or territory resided in. The support may be even narrower than that and be limited to provinces/states within a country. For example a Canadian residing in the province of Ontario could decide to drink wines from all provinces of Canada or may focus on wines from Ontario. An American in New York could decide to support wines from New York. The Nationalist support could be an absolute or a preferential one.
The Nationalist supports not only the winery but all facets of the economy involved in wine production that would include but not be limited to labour, transportation, winery equipment and supportive professional services. It is not simply a bottle of wine but the spin-off benefits of wine production to the economy.
Commendable as if your local economy benefits well then so do you.
If your chosen jurisdiction makes a wide variety of wines the Nationalist approach just might satisfy the palate but that is a rare jurisdiction. For example in the province of Ontario if you prefer red wines you can cruise along with Gamay, Marechal Foch, Cabernet Franc and perhaps Pinot Noir but no such luck can be found with so many other grapes not even grown in Ontario such as Carménère from Chile . A Nationalist wine drinker might fare even better by focusing on wines produced throughout Canada which would include British Columbia, Quebec and Nova Scotia but still so many wines are produced ex-Canada the Nationalist would be depriving themselves out of a vast array of wines. Some wine drinkers can co-exist with that deprivation. Some can’t.
On occasion politics may come into play. When the Trumpster was on his blustering mumbles insulting Canadians (and just about everything else but himself) I encountered many Canadian wine drinkers happy to give a cold shoulder to American wines.
There is no need to criticize the Nationalists as if they are a happy lot why butt in! You may love that foot trodden Touriga Nacional from the Douro but the Nationalist couldn’t give a damn.
“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous”: Chapter 36: Let’s Plan the Future with My Sweet Campanian Plum That is Eating Three Pizzas at a Shot? John Lennon to the Rescue!
Upon our return to Naples we continued our holiday mode for a few weeks seeing the sites of Naples and eating for three. Ginevra was expanding rapidly. It would be two pizzas for dinner and many scoops of gelato afterwards. As my sweet Campanian plum was expanding rapidly my confusion was as well.
After a pizza extravaganza where Ginevra ate three tasty artichoke and anchovy pizzas it was time for a chat. What was our future aside from founding a branch of Weight Watchers in Naples?
Of course, we were deeply in love. But love must be tested.
What was our role in Naples? Ginevra had no doubts. We were to stay in Naples. We were to prepare to step into the shoes of Don Lupara when he was retired. Not when he retired but when he was “retired’. Don Ginevra was to rule the Scampian narcotics business and I was her head of the crews doing the on the ground business. An enforcer, executioner and arm of the family. Entertaining the crew and burying the endless cadavers and ensuring the families had a “survivor’s pension”. I would need lessons in Neapolitan, arms training and narcotic purity training.
My life was to be one of crime, violence, benevolence, paternalism and terror.
It had a ruthless attraction but heck I was a lawyer upholding the law or so thought I but as I knew very well lawyers served the highest bidder like hired guns, defending street rapists and corporate rapists depending on who was paying the bills. But a ruthless thug? My dad Paneer Gupta was a hashish dealer in a milieu where all shared the trade as opposed to wiping out each other over minor transgressions. I was coming to the conclusion my sweet Campanian plum might just be no better than a Campanian Charles Manson.
Thank goodness I received a call from my pal John Lennon saying there had been a bad flood at the Dakota and my unit was damaged and I should come home…home? Where was my home? So saying adieu to Ginevra I headed back to New York to deal with the Dakota situation.
In the horizon tragedy upon tragedy was awaiting!
Misadventures in Wine
Chapter One: Wine Drinker Profiles: The “I Don’t Care” Crowd
These drinkers may differentiate between red and white wine and have price points but one bottle of wine is just a bottle of wine. Country of origin or appellation makes no difference. A Zinfandel from Mexico or Lodi or a Pinot Noir from Lake Erie North Shore or the Willamette Valley makes no impression or invokes any curiosity. In fact a Pinot Noir or a Plavic Mali makes no difference. Red is red. White is white.
Are these wine drinkers to be pitied?
That rather depends on who is doling out the pity! Pity isn’t going to help these easily pleased people. They don’t twist and turn in bed at night worrying about terroir, acidity, tannins, length or cellarbility. Oenophiles may smirk and say ignorance is bliss but if the “I Don’t Care Crowd” doesn’t care or know about their ignorance let them revel in their contentment. Back off with your judgement! Adam and Eve were in bliss until the apple was eaten.
They are perfectly at ease ordering a glass of wine in a restaurant not knowing how many days the bottle from the pour has been open. Was the pour from a 4-litre tetra pack of Spanish wine brought in in tankers like oil? Was it used in a sauce preparation or to swill the toilet bowls. These people are a sommelier nightmare! But they don’t have the nightmare. The sommelier does!
RKS 2023 Wine: Can the Baron Deliver?
If Miguel Torres from Spain can make wine in Chile so can Baron Phillipe de Rothschild! Is it a question of a flashy name attracting attention or is there quality here?
The wine is a Carménère named Escudo Rojo from the Valle de Colchagua in Chile.
Aromatics: Telltale notes of raspberry, strawberry and some blackberry. With those aromas in my experience we are in for a winner. Accentuated by a wisp of milk chocolate.
Palate: What strikes me is an example of near perfect acidity which alerts you as to its presence in a gentle and assertive way without crossing the line to wreck the wine. There is firmness holding back the raspberry, strawberry and black cherry but it is still discernable and requires another couple more years in the bottle or an hour of decanting. Basically still a youthful wine.
Personality: I may be a juvenile but all my credentials are in order so don’t call me a juvenile delinquent.
Food Match: We have an excess of wild boar in Canada. In fact there is a bounty on them. If you are going to kill the brutes at least make some Tuscan Wild Boar Stew and enjoy this wine. Wild boar can be nasty. My friend Walter loves fishing and when staying at an estate in Tuscany he went out in the underbrush to fish at a pond. He was charged by a wild boar and luckily rediscovered his track and field skills and took off.
Cellaring: Due to a lack of a firm tannic structure I think the wine will improve in the bottle during 2023 but I suggest drinking by the end of 2024.
Price: $20.95 (Ontario).
In a nutshell: A good introduction for those not familiar with Carménère and for those who appreciate it. Raspberry notes are often a “trademark” of Pinot Noir but they are also a sign of a quality Carménère.
RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 92/100. Jamessuckling.com 92/100.
(Escudo Rojo Reserva 2020 Carménère, D.O. Valle de Colchagua, Baron Phillipe de Rothschild, Buin, Chile, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 14058, 750 mL, 14%).
RKS Book Review: “sickening: How Big Pharma Broke American Health Care and How We Can Repair It” by John Abramson, MD, MSc
“sickening” is authored by John Abramson (MD, MSc). Abramson has been on the faculty of Harvard Medical School for 25 years. He has been a family physician for 22 years and has acted as an expert witness in litigation against various pharmaceutical companies. He has written numerous academic articles and a book “Overdo$ed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine”. If we have a critique of American Big Pharma here is a man with the credentials to deliver it.
In Part 1 Abramson discusses the failures of American Big Pharma concerning Vioxx, Neurotonin, statins and insulin using in simple terms case studies of the victims of these drugs. Abramson points out that despite the failures and shortcoming of these drugs which may surface in fines and lost court cases Big Pharma may still walk away with sizeable profits. Big Pharma is designed for profits so volume sales are key which can be driven in part by manipulated clinical trials and less than impartial journal articles. Put crudely it is SELL SELL SELL and damn the consequences.
Part II delves into how physicians may be misled and manipulated by Big Pharma and less than impartial clinical studies. It also explores how commercial interests have great control over medical knowledge.
Part III sets forth certain recommendations on how the Big Pharma mess weaking havoc on the American health care system can be repaired.
While the book is American in focus there are nuggets that can apply to other jurisdictions. What may be revealing to readers is that despite the highest spending on health care the health of Americans is declining as Big Pharma disasters and profits keep rising. In fact American healthy life expectancy is plummeting. And since 2000 American’s healthy life expectancy has plummeted from 38th in the world to sixty-eighth in 2019 (now behind China, Cuba and Jamaica). Citizens of Japan live 8 years longer in good health and Canadians live 5.2 years longer in good health than Americans do.”
I am left with an impression of an American health care system verging on Big Pharma corruption operating with an insatiable quest for profit to the detriment of the health of millions of Americans. From my research on medical cannabis it was used prior to its criminalization in 1937 in the United States for over 2,000 cannabis medical preparations. Its criminalization corresponded with the rise of Big Pharma. Ask your physician about the benefits and they may respond that apart from its recognized “and documented” efficacy for epilepsy (even if they are aware of that) its benefits are anecdotal and not supported by clinical trials! I bet you they will jump on the bandwagon for synthetic cannabis manufactured by Big Pharma. Big Pharma does its job well.
At times the read is a bit too technical for the average reader and may be better suited for physicians and health care professionals.
“Sickening”, a Mariner Books publication, retails for $28 in the United States and $35 in Canada
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