RKS Wine: The Great Ontario Pinot Noir Hope

I think it was 15 years ago I received my first invitation to a media wine tasting and it was for Clos Jordanne Pinot Noirs. It was at a snazzy bar in Toronto’s Manulife Centre way up at the top. Their Pinot Noirs won me over but my interest began to fade as they changed their winemaker and the Pinot Noirs lost their appeal. I think it has been a few years since I have tried their Pinot Noirs so why not see if my blast from the past still lives.

They have several Pinot Noir labels and the Jordan Village is their entry level offering and at $24.95 it is reasonably priced. Spend that a Burgundian Pinot Noir and you are bound to be disappointed. Will the Jordan Village fall in the disappointed category?

On the nose a classic Pinot Noir nose of raspberry, black cherry and strawberry. It is heading in the elegant direction. On the palate it is a smooth wine- pure and clean. Not a heavy hitter but a delicate Pinot Noir. Notes of red cherry, fresh picked raspberries, Obidos Cherry Liqueur with a hint of chocolate. A long solid finish. Overall perhaps the word “dainty” might be the style. Far more restrained than an Okanagan Pinot Noir. An excellent effort from the eminent winemaker Thomas Bachelder who if I recall correctly was the winemaker when I first was introduced to Clos Jordanne many years ago.

The wine picks up a bit more assertiveness when aerated but I do not think decanting would be warranted. Serve slightly chilled. Drink by 2025. You can enjoy on its own. I am not one that has 20 different wine glasses for different wines but for this dainty delight a large bowled Pinot Noir glass is a must. I think match with farm raised Irish organic salmon. It will be ruined with wild salmon. You could make kebabs with the salmon and grill them. I think it would suit a variety of pâtés or a duck rillette.  

The great Ontario Pinot Noir Hope has arrived.

(Le Clos Jordanne 2019 Jordan Village Pinot Noir, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Le Clos Jordanne, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, $24.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 33894, 750 mL, 13%, RKS Wine Rating 92/100).

“Travels to a Different Time” : 22June1975: Gdansk, Poland: Train Troubles

Up at 10:00. Wrote a couple of letters and updated diary. My Polish gang and I went to the store and bought food for breakfast and lunch. I am pleasantly surprised by the smoked sprats I bought at 30 cents a kilo. We also bought a massive bunch of pastries. The Poles know their pastries for sure. After lunch a smoke with Dutch tobacco roll your own. They loved it. The cigarettes are awful here. They were as pleased as punch when I gave them a pouch of it. When I get to Sweden, I am told alcohol and tobacco is enormously expensive. We then went to play some Frisbee. The Polish guys are mostly spazes. The Frisbee ended up on a roof, in between a car fender and all places it shouldn’t be but it was not lost which is good as it has a lot of usage ahead of it. After a rest we headed into the old part of Gdansk and as tired as I was I am glad I saw it. It is unlike anything I have seen in Poland so far. One of the Polish students said Gdansk was not affected by the Italian Renaissance but rather by the Dutch. I can see that based on the pictures of Amsterdam I have seen this part of Gdansk looks like it.

We came home by train and I bought a ticket for my train trip to Szczecin which will be a 5-hour trip and with a student discount cost $2.50. My train left at 23:40. We had a farewell dinner of leftover sprats and some goulash over spaghetti which was a new way for these guys to have goulash! Not the tastiest meal but at least it was filling. We were at the local train station so I could take my train at the central station. But the train arrived late so I would have missed my train so we headed back knowing the train I was going to take from the central station would leave at 05:15 which meant I would have to wake up at 04:00. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day.

RKS Wine: Château de Montfaucon Côtes du Rhône

The Château de Montfaucon 2017 Côtes du Rhône is a blend of 50% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 15% Carignan 10% Cinsault and 5% Counoise. Counoise plays a small part in Southern Rhône red blends. It adds body and fruit to blends.

What aromas do we encounter? It has an earthiness to it mixed with hot pebbles that have been roasting in the sun. There are notes of ripe strawberries, raspberry and Fig Newton cookies with a tad of white pepper. On the palate the tannins are moderate. Notes of strawberry, raspberry and black cherry cola. The finish is moderate with light spice and pepper. Best suited to food such as pasta with Putanesca sauce. Vegetarians can safely omit sausage from the sauce and add some extra anchovies.

(Château de Montfaucon 2017 Côtes du Rhône, Appellation Côtes du Rhône Protégée, Château de Montfaucon, Montfaucon, France, $18.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 13439, 750 mL, 14.5%,RKS Wine Rating 89/100).

RKS Film: “Peace by Chocolate”: Struggles of All Sorts

“Peace By Chocolate” is based on a true story. The film could have easily taken the route of another food namely cheese but it does not. Yes it has a happy ending but after many struggles between the characters.

Tareq (Ayham Abou Ammar) and his family flee war in Syria which has destroyed Tareq’s father’s chocolate factory in Syria. His father Issam (the late Hatem Ali) owned a renowned chocolate factory in Damascus employing some 50 people. The family flees to a refugee camp in Lebanon. Tareq is the first to arrive in Canada followed by Issam then his sister and her daughter. They settle in Antigonish in Nova Scotia. I have been in Antigonish and it is certainly not the mecca for refugees that Toronto is. It is a small town.

Poor Tareq, Issam and his mother arrive in the winter freeze of Nova Scotia and that is the first struggle they face. Tareq then struggles to fulfill his dream of completing medical school but is rejected by all the medical schools he has applied to save one. Issam does not want his son to leave the family fold especially as he has just started his chocolate business in Antigonish and requires both physical and intellectual assistance. A bitter struggle ensues between father and son. Tareq has a dream of being a respected and admired physician and not helping Issam run the chocolate business. Syrian patriarchal society requires he follow his father’s wishes so Tareq is struggling against his culture in addition to his father.

Then there is a struggle amongst certain members of the local community who are suspicious of the newly arrived Muslims. But there are more supporters than detractors including Frank (Mark Camacho) who forms a bond with Issam. It is Frank that raises money in the community to help Issam start his business in earnest. Issam is encroaching upon a local’s chocolate business and Frank gets rebuked by the local chocolatier for assisting newcomers as opposed to neighbours. Many immigrants struggle against discrimination particularly if they don’t speak the language, have different religions and dress differently despite being in Canada that favours separate cultural identities as opposed to the American melting pot.

The chocolate business is called “Peace By Chocolate” and gathers steam after newspaper and television coverage of a remarkable Syrian refugee success story. Even Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau mentions the family and their chocolate company in a United Nation’s speech.

So who prevails in the struggle by Tareq to finish his medical studies? Can he reconcile his dream with commercial realities and opportunities? Can Issam take his little chocolate operation to the next level?

Ali, Ammar and veteran Canadian actor Mark Camacho sparkle in the film which is more than chocolate and certainly not cheese.

Theatrical release is on April 29 followed by a digital release on June 10, 2022. It is directed by Jonathan Keijser a graduate (like me) of McGill University and has a Master of Fine Arts from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. There is an authentic Canadian streak to the filmmaking which I might call raw human honesty and some grit a tradition evident since the seminal 1970’s Canadian film “Goin Down the Road” and more recently in “Away from Her”. Watch “Goin Down the Road” which will express better what I am trying to say!

You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YN5ZXrCkik

RKS Film Rating 86/100.

“Travels to a Different Time” : 21June1975: Gdansk, Poland: Polish Party: The Most Incredible Fish Market!

Was in bed at 02:00 as a big yakfest. Up at 10 and we had a breakfast of eggs and bacon with stale bread and butter. It seems I have become a Polish university student taken under their wings. As I will be attending McGill University in Montreal in September I guess I have the credentials. We took the train to Gdynia the port city about 15 kms away. The fare was 7 cents. We went to City Market Hall the most impressive public market I have seen in Eastern Europe. The fresh fish stalls were incredible. I bought a kilo of mushrooms hoping to make my Tuscan poor man’s mushroom sauce to have over spaghetti but believe it or not no onions or tomatoes. Not in season. It is often difficult to find the right food in Poland. It seems they eat locally available produce. We headed back to the dormitory and had some delicious smoked sprats with a mushroom tomato sauce and vodka. We played some frisbee after. My Brazilian friend Ricardo was quite adept but another Polish guy was a spaz. A nice guy but a spaz. We then went to a tail end of a party. It was the end of the semester so there were parties everywhere. There was only some awful warm Polish beer and no one spoke much English or French so I felt out of place. Stayed for an hour and played Frisbee in the dark. Played some harmonica then washed my filthy feet and crawled into bed.

“Travels to a Different Time” : 20June1975: Gdansk, Poland: The Washing Machine that Blushed

Had a good sleep and up at 08:30 and went out in search of some goodies for breakfast. Bread and cheese are hardly goodies. I tanked up on mineral water at several places getting hydrated for my slog hitchhiking. They don’t seem to do a very good job of washing dishes and glasses in Poland. In fact throughout Eastern Europe but at least no bubonic plague yet. I returned to the youth hostel. A series of grueling walks and short lifts. There are lots of girls and boys hitching but they are Polish and I can’t recall seeing any Westerners. I arrived in Gdansk as the sun was setting and was directed by a cop to the youth hostel which was not open until July 1 but I looked so beat and forlorn they let me in! I ended up in a room with a student, his wife and child. I am thinking that many of the youth hostels I stayed at before tourist season were actually student residences that convert to youth hostels when the semester is ended. I actually found a washing machine so no hand washing. The rinse water was so filthy if the washing machine was human it would be blushing. What a treat! Supper of goulash over noodles with a Brazilian student whose parents were Polish so he spoke Polish.

Vladimir Pooping

the little low ranked KGB Vlad the Butcher of Bucha
murdered rivals and opposition while quaffing Sambuca
confused over idolatry of Stalin or Catherine the Great
and worried about his balding pate (and his beady eyes)
transforms his corruption into convenient Ukrainian hate
your time has come you tyrannical little murderous bureaucrat
honoured along Stalin and Hitler inexplicably intertwined
you talentless swine
your elegance has ushered in a nuclear time
as Russia suffers a nuclear decimation
history will remember you as fondly as your poo!

Robert K. Stephen

RKS Wine: On the Hunt for an Under $20 Cabernet Sauvignon: Santa Alicia 2018 Gran Reserva from Chile

Finding a 92 plus Cabernet Sauvignon for under $20 (CDN) is a chore. In 2022 the only one so far I have discovered is a 2018 Tapiz Alta Collection Cabernet Sauvignon from the Uco Valley in Argentina at $19.95. I note that COVID has ravaged local and international wine tastings restricting many professional palates to a shrivelled offering.

Chile is a good source for modestly priced wines and what says the 2018 Santa Alicia Cabernet Sauvignon from Valle del Maipo?

A friendly and highly welcoming and smooth bouquet of blueberry, cherry, raspberry and red plum. The aromas are high toned so I am expecting a taut body and not overly fruit laden. On the palate my guess is correct as this is a tight and lean wine. Notes of boysenberry, cherry and pomegranate. Unfortunately the finish is astringent and barren. I fail to see how ageing will help this wine. Drinkable but you and I deserve something better than that. James Suckling gives this an overly generous 93 rating. Suckling is no Luca Maroni but the point spread between him and I is widening these days and I query if he was a tougher nut to crack when he was with Wine Spectator. A 93 in my book is an exceptional wine. This is not in that category.

(Santa Alicia Gran Reserva de los Andes Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, Valle del Maipo, Chile, Viña Santa Alicia, Santiago, Chile, $18.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 60244, 750 mL, 14%, RKS Wine Rating 85/100).

“Andrij the Orphaned Ukrainian Rescue Dog” : Chapter 24: Bob and Andrij Ordered to Rest for 5 Days: Rock on For Ukraine!

The medical establishment has been baffled that Bob and I were pronounced dead at 12:04 but hopped out of our sick beds at 12:05. Thank you all you Buddhists who meditated us back from death and for God telling us it was not really our time to go to the world beyond. Now our doctors tell us we must rest for 5 days. I think they can’t grapple with the power of prayer.

CSIS and the CIA confirmed the Russian hitmen were Russian military. Everyone knows who sent them but there is no proof that beady eyed hoodlum ordered the hits. Unfortunately all Russian Buddhists have been rounded up as “enemy agents” and are working at Oligarch Corporation’s various coal mines in Murmansk and in North Korea.

The world is shocked about the lowness of this attack. I am not. I am a mortal enemy of the beady eyed man and I vow I will rip out his throat before I die. Do you hear me you evil beady eyed man. You’ll be riding bare chested on your stallion into hell. And Russian Orthodox hell probably has a senior executive position waiting for him. Why he might even overthrow the Devil and create a new hell!

My countrymen are now seething with revenge in their blood and have just pushed the Russians out of Kiev and the world has discovered the beady eyed man is now the “Butcher of Bucha”. Brave Russians executing civilians and raping and looting. A big Russian warship has been sunk by two Ukrainian missiles. To my great satisfaction the CIA has learnt the missiles had “A Gift From Andrij” written on them and a fragment of the missile with that inscription sits on the beady eyed man’s desk in the Kremlin. Screams of rage were heard for two days. We’ve royally pissed off the beady eyed man!

Bob, Dylan the Westie, Bosco, Reggie and I set up a meeting with Mr. Gordon Lightfoot and Drake who have volunteered to set up a global rock concert with venues in Toronto, New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Sydney, London, Paris, Barcelona and Rome with the best musical talent. Bob’s Reggie’s Dog Foundation is covering all expenses. It is going to be called “Ukraine Rocks for Freedom”. I will be a guest of honour in Toronto, Dylan the Westie in London, Bosco in Sydney and Reggie will be at a live feed in a stadium in Washington where our friend Joe Biden will make a short speech with Reggie at his side.

Man we are going to rock. At each venue there will be a Ukrainian rock band. Mr. Gordon Lightfoot and Drake are working around the clock to get this up and running. The proceeds will be directed to fund humanitarian aid and for animal rescue in the Ukraine. The beady eyed man has miscalculated and a noose will be tightening around his neck.

“Travels to a Different Dimension” : Unknown Date in 1975: Warszawa and Treblinka, Poland: Was I In Treblinka and Why Can’t I Remember?  

As I sit down and write this I don’t know what has happened to me. How can a day disappear? How is it I remember so little of it? I keep thinking it was a nightmare I had. It goes something like this. I am in a rail car, a box car with slats in it so there is a bit of light streaming in.  There is a terrible sense of apprehension in the air. There are people behind me but I can’t see them. Shaking in fear I open the doors and see a brilliant blue sky and a forest. Beautiful pine trees in a sandy soil. The next thing I remember is an exhibition of children’s art. These children were in a concentration camp. A wave of sadness envelops me. I remember nothing more. How I got on the train, where I was going and how I returned. I think this is a nightmare as there are a couple of days that are fully accounted for and involved no train trip to a concentration camp if that is what it was. How is this possible a day has disappeared? This trip did not and could not have happened. That is until I see a train ticket stub in my pocket with “Malkinia” printed on it………..