RKS 2023 Wine: Perez Cruz: A Tsunami of Winners: Confessions of a Carmenère Convert!

At the Drink Chile 2022 event held last November in Toronto I tasted the Perez Cruz Limited Edition Carmenère and it suddenly dawned on me that perhaps Chilean red wines had turned the corner and escaped their minty characteristics of a decade ago. That was one reason I took a Chilean red wine hiatus for a decade but the Drink Chile event caused me to rethink my rather dated thoughts about Chilean red wine. Subsequent tastings have verified, at least for me, Chile and red wines seem to be meant for each other at least with the limited tastings I have done.

So can the positivity continue with a 2020 Perez Cruz Carmenère Limited Edition from the Maipo Valley?

Aromatics: Yet more of that Chilean raspberry and cherry encountered! Rich plum and blackberry with a hint of milk chocolate.

Palate: Full bodied yet smooth despite its firmness. Raspberry, blackberry, Greek fig and black cherry with a long finish with some tat tat tat of pepper.

Personality: Chatting and cheerful on the palate and on the nose but I become very serious afterwards but not overbearing.

Food match: Cornish hen and roast potatoes.

Cellaring: Drinking beautifully now. It should improve over the next two to three years and will coast into 2028.

In a nutshell: The wine is approachable and inviting supporting my conjecture that raspberry and cherry just may be a characteristic of Chilean reds. A high quality Chilean red wine at a very reasonable price. So says this Carmenère convert!

Price: $19.95 (Ontario)

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 94/100. Patricio Tapia 93/100.

(Perez Cruz 2020 Limited Edition Carmenère, D.O. Maipo Andes, Pérez Cruz LTDA, Huelquén-Paine. Chile, 750 mL, 14%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario #670539)

RKS Health: Misleading Physicians to Increase Sales

“The Kaiser v. Pfizer trial provided two key lessons about drug company marketing: First, because drug companies fund most of the research about their drugs and control the resulting data, they can (and do) mislead physicians in order to increase sales. And, second, under our current system, it is more profitable for large pharmaceutical companies to commit crimes and pay the fines than to obey the law.”

John Abramson, MD, MSc: “sickening: How Big Pharma Broke American Health Care and How We Can Repair it”: Mariner Books 2022.

RKS 2023 Wine: Viña Tarapacá Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon

It is quite remarkable Chile can offer us excellent Cabernet Sauvignon in the under $25 category. Why muck about with Californians in that price range. You’ll often be disappointed. Years ago one might have avoided Chilean red wines due to that minty touch on the palate as one would avoid South African reds due to an earthy if not a barnyard influence. Thank goodness that minty taint has largely disappeared and Chilean red wines are ready to take on if not take over reasonably price high quality red wines.

How will a Viña Tarapacá Gran Reserva 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Maipo Valley fare? Cabernet Sauvignon makes up 60% of the total wine production in the Maipo which is in the Central Valley Region.

Aroma: Loads of raspberry and sweet red cherry with blackberry and strawberry.

Palate: Moderate amount of tannins do not detract from the smoothness on the palate. Blackberry and red cherry with a bit of brackishness on the finish.

Food match: Seared duck breast with cherries and Port wine sauce.

Personality: I may be a Cabernet Sauvignon but don’t be misled into think I am a big hulking wine. My cherry and raspberry make me approachable and friendly. Many of my Chilean brothers have this raspberry and cherry streak in them. I am no weirdo in this regard. Just part of the pack.

Cellaring:  Might improve slightly over a couple of years. Consume by 2025-year end.

Price: $18.95.

In a nutshell: Yet another reasonably priced quality Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon that has little in common with Cabernet Sauvignons from California and Washington. Drink on its own or with food.

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 91/100.

(Viña Tarapacá 2020 Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon, D.O. Valle del Maipo, Viña Tarapacá, Isla de Maipo, Chile,14% 750 mL, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 18721)  

“The Penniless Pensioner” : Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous” : Chapter 29: All Shook Up! The Fat Fox Backs Down

I mean how would you feel receiving a severed goat’s head via Fedex! And how would dear Ginerva feel about her little “currykins” (my nickname) being threatened by her Daddy! We both were all shook up. Ginerva requested we not talk about it until our Saturday “Discover New York Day”. She had a few calls to make and set somebody straight. And when Ginerva is mad, as I saw with her knife fight with the Puerto Ricans in Harlem, you don’t want to mess with my little plum who is transformed into a tigress!

Well Saturday came and I met Ginerva at our usual bench at the lagoon on a sweltering hot day. I stopped in at Whole Foods at Columbus Circle and picked up some organic pear juice and two carrot muffins for our breakfast prior to meeting up with her.

Ginerva told me a bit about her Daddy, Don Lupara, with a warning that if I ever repeated what she was about to say she could not guarantee my safety. Daddy was a huge cocaine and heroin importer bringing in hundreds of kilos of cocaine from El Salvador and heroin from Afghanistan for distribution in the Scampia district of Naples. Daddy controlled the retail network operating like a fine-tuned machine. In fact he had so many people working for him (267) they were referred to as the Cattivo Family and he was the don (boss) of that family. His nickname was the Fat Fox. In addition to his illegal activities he owned real estate, restaurants and a cheese factory selling to all the restaurants in Scampia and in Sorrento. Of course, in addition to restaurants in Scampia and Sorrento paying protection money to the Fat Fox they were “persuaded” to buy all their cheeses from the Fat Fox. Don Lupara was not fat but the enormous amount of money he generated made his pockets “fat”. And he required a constant flow of money to pay his family and their funeral costs. Family members rarely lived a full life. Ginerva remembered with dread the “wars” between rival families that Don Lupara survived unlike many other Naples family bosses.

Ginerva let Daddy have it between the eyes threatening never to talk to him again and should she have children that he would never see them. After all she was a grown woman and Daddy must not interfere with her life. And while she had Daddy whimpering like a naughty puppy she told him she and I were engaged! I could have blown up and walked back to Fifth Avenue and out of her life but I liked the idea. Oh those piercing green eyes set in that beautiful face had me saying yes when she asked if that was OK before slipping a ring on my finger.

There was only one little problem. We needed to visit Naples, introduce myself and then I had to ask the Fat Fox for his daughter’s hand in marriage.

RKS Health: Should the Real Goal to be Lower Cholesterol?

“Americans and their health care providers must remember that the real goal is not to have the lowest cholesterol level but to have the lowest risk of heart disease and stroke. Had the guidelines Jane’s doctor followed so scrupulously with regard to statin therapy first called for an in-depth program to help Jane overcome her resistance to making the lifestyle changes that would have far more effectively protected her health, surely her doctor would have followed that advice.”

John Abramson, MD,MSc, “sickening: How Big Pharma Broke American Health Care and How We Can Repair It” : Mariner Books 2022

RKS 2023 Wine: South African Chenin Blanc: A Signature Grape/Wine?

In today’s wine world can one properly speak of a signature wine or grape? Given most wine producing countries produce a variety of wines how can you select a signature grape? By volume produced? By sales? By quality? By exports? The categories are many and varied and who can agree on them? At best one might try and identify a signature wine within an appellation or viticultural area. But even then is there any point in trying to identify a signature wine? Perhaps we might want to say a “notable wine”?

South Africa has several notable wines one such white wine being Chenin Blanc. I recently attended masterclass on South African wines in Toronto given by Christopher Waters. One comment that caught my attention is that a certain producer of Chenin Blanc in South Africa sells a limited quantity of “premium” Chenin Blanc for several hundred dollars a bottle and even if you are on “the list” there is no guarantee you’ll receive a bottle of the coveted Chenin Blanc.

South Africa is the 8th largest wine producer, 6th in export values and 19th for wine consumption. The percentage of vineyards growing white gapes is led by Chenin Blanc. In Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc is second to Sauvignon Blanc in terms of acreage.

In this case at $15.95 there is no waiting list for the Rustenberg Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc. There is a huge supply in the pipeline now in Ontario.

Aromas: Pineapple, mango, guava and tangerine.

Palate: Definite underlying acidity but not to the degree it threatens the wine. Pineapple upside down cake, South African tangerine, Granny Smith apple with some grapefruit and a bit of brackishness in the finish which extends its length.

Cellaring: Will not improve. Consume by the end of 2024.

Personality: With my acidity you might say I am a bit high strung. I am a bit salty. With the salt and acidity I urge you to drink me with food.

Price: $15.95 (Ontario).

Food Match: Grilled sardines with a lemon, olive oil and oregano sauce with Swiss Chard and crispy bread as a side.

In a nutshell: Signature Chenin Blanc pineapple aroma. Its acidity and brackishness a good accompaniment to white fleshed ocean fish. Might do well with a roasted chicken with lemon and potatoes Greek style. Not a particularly good sipper.

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 87/100. Wine Spectator Rating 90/100.

(Rustenberg Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc 2021, Rustenberg Wines, Stellenbosch, South Africa, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 698274, 12.5%)

“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous”: Chapter 28: Goat’s Head Special Delivery from Don Lupara?

Ginevra and I had earmarked Saturdays for an exploration of New York City. There were so many sites to see.

My favourite site was Central Park an oasis from the urban frantic New York. No matter the mood or weather we had frequent walks. I liked the lagoon with its ducks and benches to watch the world go by. I would often pop up to Whole Foods at Columbus Circle and pick up our lunch or breakfast from their huge deli section. New Yorkers were obsessed with eating out so Whole Foods deli was for many New Yorkers a “home cooked meal”.

Ginerva’s favourite was The Met Cloisters at the tip of Manhattan. It was always quiet and although the installations were in my opinion somewhat boring the calmness and serenity was so anti-New York. I discovered something fascinating about Ginevra on one of our trips to The Cloisters. We took the bus up through Harlem to get there and the bus broke down and we were thrust out in the street awaiting a replacement bus. Four Puerto Rican hoodlums approached us making jokes about Ginerva’s ass and one of them tried to pinch it. Well my little plum took out a stiletto knife and slashed the buttons of the aggressor’s leather jacket. Well they took their knives out and in thirty seconds they were on the pavement bleeding. My little plum! My sweet little plum! She bellowed in what she later told me was in Neapolitan dialect, “Want more sons of a whore. Come and meet your end!” Well those scratched up hoods ran off in terror. What a tough bird my little plum was although she was shaking like a leaf. I asked her about her knife wielding talents and she told me Daddy had taught her how to knife fight! In Naples he had said a girl is not safe with men unless she knew how to cut. My my. It was time to meet Don Lupara.

After our visit to The Cloisters we headed to a safer part of Harlem to one of our favourite restaurants “The Red Rooster” where we split a Charleston Boil and some shrimp grits. Ginerva had to calm herself down with two Tito’s Vodka martinis. She loved her martinis.

Speaking of love she insisted we return to my pad at the Dakota. She looked me in the eyes when we arrived and attacked me like a savage animal. Too many months of good behaviour she said. It was a pleasurable attack but damn Wuhan Wet Market Publishing. I am not going to soil my reputation and that of my little plum by giving any salacious details. In the morning exhausted by our “cavorting” and numbed out and a bit shy about our amorous explosion she left back to her place to finish some research.

Well my readers within 24 hours I received a special delivery package. When I opened it up, I could do nothing but scream and then vomit. There was a severed goat’s head in the box and a message, “The next time you fool with Ginerva it will be your head and balls in this package.” I had the feeling it was time to talk with Daddy!

RKS Health: Deadly Profit Seeking

“Sadly, those priorities did not include the safety of Stacey Palmer or all the other tens of thousands of Americans who had suffered cardiovascular complications as a result of taking Vioxx. Many of those injuries and deaths could have been prevented if the New England Journal of Medicine had corrected its erroneous article as soon as it knew of the problem; instead, it left the article uncorrected, allowing Merck to profit from the drug’s blockbuster status for another three and a half years and the journal itself to profit from selling reprints of the misleading article to Merck.”

John Abramson, MD, MSc “sickening: HOW BIG PHARMA BROKE AMERICAN HEALTH CARE AND HOW WE CAN REPAIR IT”: Mariner Books 2022

“The Penniless Pensioner: Chapter 27: Getting to Know My Sweet Italian Plum: Are Matters Getting Serious? Yoko and Ginerva Hit it Off

My assignment with the United Mutations in New York had concluded but I received a call from Squid asking if I was wiling to address world leaders at a United Nation’s General Assembly meeting to determine if the United Mutations should be granted observer status at the United Nations. You can imagine the preparation that this involved! So aside from getting to know Ginerva I had my hands full. I did manage to meet her after her classes at Columbia where in true fashion she’d down an espresso in three seconds and we chatted about many things except her family which she said we would discuss later on “when appropriate”. On occasion I noticed a heavily tattooed man with an Iroquois haircut and a big scar on his face watching us. It wasn’t an isolated incident just now and then. Ginerva brushed it all off saying it was just a fellow student. Hmmmmm. I managed to sneak in a few hugs and smooches which I felt Ginerva was willing to further but always that sense of reluctance like she was surveying her surrounding before succumbing to our juvenile antics. She just kept saying all in good time.

For an independent opinion and sanity check I invited Yoko and John Lennon to tea at my Dakota unit. I needed John to assess Ginerva. I didn’t require his approval but rather his assessment. So Yoko and John joined us for tea. John loved loose leaf tea that I made. He always used damn tea bags lacking confidence to make loose leaf tea! A man who had conquered the music world afraid to make loose leaf tea! But a man suffering from panic attacks perhaps has a proclivity for many fears. He was deathly afraid of eating sushi fearing someone may have substituted albacore with blowfish. Ginerva wore her vintage leopard dress which wowed Yoko who as I knew had a passion for Vintage clothing. Ginerva and Yoko were deeply engrossed in conversation ignoring John and me. After the last cucumber sandwich and last drop was drained from the samovar John and Yoko departed with Yoko inviting Ginerva (and not me) to a charitable event for the New Yorker Society of Panic Attacks. John had cornered me just before he and Yoko departed and gave Ginerva the thumbs up.

That was a relief. I had to gear up the courtship with Ginerva.

“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous” : Chapter 26: Getting to Know My Sweet Italian Plum Ginerva: Am I Playing with Molten Lava?

My romantic escapades have been brief and quite frankly have ended up in disaster. Minah ended up in psychiatric care, Reena was set ablaze by her evil mother-in-law and the Toad and her marriage obsession was enough to drive off any sensible young man. But heck better to have loved that not loved at all. No way Ginerva could have fallen into this pattern right? Those twinkling green eyes of her made my romantic past evaporate. It was time to know Ginerva better.

Ginerva was 26, quite close to my age. She was born in Naples, Italy to her father Lupara Cattivo and mother Malvagia. Lupara was of humble background who rose to fame and fortune selling what Ginerva referred to as a “recreational product”. She was a bit evasive about what these products were so I decided not to press her. Her mother Malvagia was from a family in Northern Italy, Bolzano that “ran” tankers of wine into Germany.

Ginerva attended Sacred Heart gymnasium in Naples with the crème de la crème of Naples society. Her best friend was the daughter of the Naples Chief Prosecutor. She was a brilliant student. She never worked as “Daddy” as she called Lupara, was overprotective. She spent her summer on the coast at Ischia where her family had a “little villa” and a few seafood restaurants. Ginerva continually watched by two men discretely in the background which she attributed to overprotective Daddy. Daddy had many a meeting at his Naples residence with his fellow colleagues referring to him as “Don Lupara”. When Daddy went out into Naples or for that matter anywhere two cars followed his, one in front and one in back full of men with tattoos and strange haircuts.

Ginerva had been looking to escape her luxury “Naples Nest” to see the world so she accepted an offer from Columbia University in New York in their Criminology Program. She had explained to me her rather morbid focus of “Italian Mafia Execution Techniques”.

One comment Ginerva made without providing an explanation and without conviction was that our relationship would, for the time being, have to be platonic. Otherwise, I might come to harm. Daddy and Malvagia had marriage in mind for my sweet Italian plum. Old fashion folk but not unlike the society I knew in Bombay. Floating in a cloud of infatuation the strange twists in her explanations remained in the clouds. For the time being Ginerva would have to remain my “brilliant friend”.