RKS Wine: Fighting in the Trenches for Gewürztraminer

Wine drinkers aren’t exactly running to the shelves snapping up the latest Gewürztraminer releases. I have given up trying to figure out why other than noting it has characteristics and likes to make a statement. It simply may frighten off those so comfortable with Ontario Riesling and Chardonnay. So if you don’t appreciate a heavier on the taste and body wine so be it. But at least give it a try or two and figure out why you don’t connect with it. Or discover that you like it.

I remember having a glass of Cave Spring Gewürztraminer on their patio restaurant on a sunny fall day and was glad I made the choice as it suited a cheese plate and some herbed fries to the tee. Or was it the beautiful fall day that accompanied it so well?

So I saw it in the June 18th Vintages release and wanted to verify its goodness.

The wine has a dark gold colour so dark it strikes me as a late harvest Gewurtz. Peach, apricot, mango and Romanian honey on the nose. On the palate this may qualify for a full-bodied monster. Its flavours are not on its sleeve for sure instead buried deep in the wine. There is apricot, Greaves’s peach jam, mango nectar and a hot and spicy lingering finish. A spicy curry would wrap its loving arms around this beauty. A wine that walks down the street with swagger but get to know its soul it has a quiet and fierce determination to win you over.

(Cave Spring Estate Gewürztraminer 2019, VQA Beamsville Bench, Cave Spring Vineyard, Jordan, Ontario, $19.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 302059, 750 mL, 14.5%, RKS Wine Rating 91/100).

“Travels to a Different Time” : Santiago de Cuba: July 1996: How About the Food? The Ignoramus With The Baseball Cap

The property I am staying at is managed by Canadian Hotel company Delta Hotels. As I understand Cuba a good part of the food is brought in from Canada. It was Canadians that gave a shot in the arm to tourism here. For example if you look at the juice dispenser the juice is from a company in Scarborough which is a suburb of Toronto. The food is simply prepared and tasty. There is not a huge selection but given the lack of meat and many foods available to Cubans I am content to be low key. The average Cuban hardly has any meat to eat. There is usually a good selection of fresh tropical fruit for breakfast and the papaya and mangoes are sweet and in season. There are grapefruits and oranges but they are not particularly sweet. The breakfasts have a Canadian edge to them with French toast, pancakes and made in front of you omelettes. The Cuban coffee is excellent but the milk rather ruins it.

There is a fish dish for both lunch and dinner.

Lunch is varied with a salad bar and copious amounts of fresh fruit. On Tuesday there was pasta with cream sauce, pork in tomato sauce and rice and beans. On Monday there were some burgers with fries.

There is a juice bar with a dispenser that makes a huge clackety noise every time juice is dispensed. The beer is light and fizzy which in this climate is appreciated. There is usually ice cream and meringue desserts. The cakes aren’t bad but there is an obsession with pink icing.

I saw a few turkeys on the tennis court one morning. There was roast turkey for dinner! I would call the cooking home style and I have no complaints. Especially since I hear the property next door too often serves hot dogs in tomato sauce.

What I find annoying in the dining room is not the food but a rather sluggish man with his overly fleshed girlfriend always grousing about the damn food. And he wears his baseball hat for every meal. How crude and ill mannered. I heard him at the airport in Toronto when we arrived saying how they were going to go to McDonald’s and get some “real food”. Idiots like that embarrass me. I hope the Cubans ignore that ignoramus. Cuba is a super cheap destination which you might say attracts a certain type of tourist.

On the Ledge Part 6: The Smell of Money: Wine Medals and the Big Wine Drinker Swindle!

As a former East German spy dedicated to the advancement of the proletarian revolution that has begun to fail miserably I have tasted the profits “Truth in the Vine” have been sending our way. Swindle wine drinkers for profit in the ratings game was a huge incentive to maximize profitability through medal awarding events. A winery that realizes a 90-point rating has a Willy Wonka ticket to the grand sweepstakes but gold and silver medals at a wine “competition” is even more profitable. Charge an entry fee, a fee for tables to taste wine, a set-up fee, a dismantling fee, a fee for labels to attach the winners is a gold mine. The stupid wine drinking public can be manipulated so easily without even thinking they have been duped. The small producers can’t afford our exorbitant fees. When I say our fees, we set up numerous benevolent and noble companies to sponsor these competitions! Of course we didn’t advertise every winery wins a medal. And the poor judges trying far too many wines with their burnt-out palates were dupes. These judges were trying at times over a hundred wines a day. My professor at the Karl Marx University in Dresden had studied the efficacy of wine competition judges and opined that a professional taster was only effective with 46 wines in a day punctuated by breaks including full lunches and dinners. To hell with that as when you taste the blood of profit you want more and more. The wine judges were dupes. The public were dupes. Our bank accounts swelled and the public lapped it up as did the Liquor Discontrol Board of Ontario. Sell. Sell. Money. Money. There are thousands of suckers born every minute!

“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!