RKS Wine: Best Red Wines of 2022

Quinta dos Termos 2017 Beira Interior DOC, $13.95: Portugal 94

Mayhem 2019 Cabernet Merlot, B.C. VQA, $21.74: British Columbia 94

Two Sisters 2015 Cabernet Franc, VQA Niagara River, $75.80: Ontario 94

Viña Chocolan Vitrium 2019 Red Blend, Vale del Maipo: $25.95: Chile 94

Alamos Seleccion 2018 Malbec, Mendoza: $16,95: Argentina 94

Viña Tarapacá Gran Reserva Carménère, Vale del Maipo, $18.95: Chile 94

Tapiz Alta Collection 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon, Uco Valley, Mendoza, $19.95: Argentina 93

Los Clop Reserva 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon, Mendoza, $21.95: Argentina 93

Dagaz Estate Carménère 2018, Valle de Colchagua $24.95: Chile 93

Chateau Maucoil 2019 Côtes-du-Rhône Villages: $ 19.95: France 93

Domaine St. Michel Côtes-du-Rhône 2019: $20.95: France 93

Bastide Miraflores 2019 Syrah & Vieilles Vignes de Grenache, AOP Côtes du Roussillon $19.95: France 93

Cave Spring 2020 Gamay Estate, VQA Beamsville Bench: Ontario, $34.95: Ontario  93

Freakshow 2019 Zinfandel, Lodi, $24.95: USA 92

Cave Spring 2019 Estate Grown Cabernet Franc VQA Beamsville Bench $18.95: Ontario: 92

Cave Spring 2020 Pinot Noir Dolomite, VQA Beamsville Bench $27.95: Ontario: 92

Christopher Michael Northwest Winemakers 2019 Pinot Noir $20.95: USA 92

Uniqo Reserva 2014, Douro, Das Quintas $29.95: Portugal 92

Colossal Reserva 2018, Vinho Regional Lisboa $16.95: Portugal 92

KEW Barrell Aged Gamay Noir, VQA Niagara Peninsula, $17.95: Ontario 92

Viewpointe 2012 Cabernet Franc, VQA Lake Erie North Shore, $19.95: Ontario $19.95: Ontario 92

El Enemigo Single Vineyard La Esperanza 2019 Bonarda, Mendoza, $21.95: Argentina 92

Prova Cega DOC Douro 2019, $14.95: Portugal 92

Le Clos Jordanne Village 2019 Pinot Noir, VQA Niagara Peninsula, $24,95: Ontario $24.95: Ontario

92 Drumheller Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, Columbia Valley Washington, $19.95: United States 92

RKS Wines: A Greek Alternative to Ice Wine

In Ontario Riesling and Vidal icewines, particularly Riesling icewine, can cost a pretty penny but given the conditions harvested in and the very concentrated juice extracted from frozen grapes it is understandable that icewine is a luxury product.

A cost effective and delicious alternative to icewine is Vin Doux from the Greek island of Samos in the Eastern Aegean. It is made from Muscat grapes and has been famous since antiquity but its allure has faded but not its charm or excellence. Having been to the Samos Wine Festival and conducted an extensive tasting at the United Wine Co-Operative of Samos where most of the Vin Doux is made a glass of Vin Doux evokes many memories of Samos. Unfortunately on my September visit to Samos there was no time to visit UWC Samos.

However as the festive season is amongst us you may wish to consider buying a bottle of Samos Vin Doux. It is quite good as an after-dinner drink and matches cakes and pastries with honey such as a baklava or an orange spice cake. Not that you are into trickery but many a drinker will ask you if you are serving an icewine!

The Vin Doux has aromas of apricot, peach, honey and marmalade. On the palate it is silky smooth bursting with exactly what is on the nose! Acidity is way back there. A long finish and at 15% alcohol there is no burn.

If you are starting a meal with some “nibbles” like nuts, dried figs or apricots and soft cheeses with apricot or peach jam to coat the cheese it might work well.

It should be served slightly chilled.

(Samos Vin Doux $13.25, LCBO # 38931, 750 mL, 15%)

RKS Wine: Two Sisters’ 2017 Riesling: A King’s Ransom!

No need to beat around the bush here. Almost all Ontario Riesling gives me a puckered up mouth and is akin to sucking on a grapefruit. Being schooled on German Rieslings years ago Ontario Rieslings were a shock and still are a shock. I will venture out on my thin ice and try one now and then. If I had a go to Ontario Riesling I could rely on it would be “Elevation St Urban” from Vineland Estates at $19.95.

When staying in Niagara-on-the-Lake this summer I decided to purchase a Two Sister’s 2017 Riesling for a Christmas roast turkey dinner. It might be the best Ontario Riesling but at $47.80 it certainly isn’t the cheapest.

There is an aura of a lot of money at Two Sisters both in its facilities and its rather expensive Kitchen 76 Restaurant where very well-heeled boomers appeared to be spreading around the cash like money was no object! More than a few Mercedes and Audi’s in the parking lot. I get the sense there is much Toronto money resident in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Yes the $36 truffle pizza was excellent but the rest of the fare was average considering the steep prices. And was it $26 for a glass of Merlot?

I suppose $47.80 for the 2017 Riesling can be considered a treat that is worth it. On the nose apple, pear, musk melon and marzipan. On the palate there is a degree of tartness I have come to expect from an Ontario Riesling but it is gentle as well as its acidity which is not in your face but lurking discretely in the background. More apple, pear and some guava. Moderate finish. And it suits turkey to a tee. I must say for this price Germany offers much better value.

You’ll have to order from the winery.

(Two Sisters 2017 Riesling, VQA Niagara Escarpment, Two Sisters Vineyards, Niagara-on-the-Lake, $47.80, 750 mL, 10.2%, RKS Wine Rating 89/100).

RKS Film: The Best Documentaries of 2022

The Best Documentaries of 2022

President (96)

Perfecting the Art of Longing (96)

American Reckoning (95)

Who Killed Vincent Chin(94)

Lodo (93)

Yanis Varoufakis: Eye of The Storm (93)

Anonymous Club (93)

Young Plato (93)

Jon Bénet’s Tricycle (93)

The Last Tourist (93)

The Killing of a Journalist (92)

The Quiet Epidemic (92)

Silent Beauty (92)

Images of a Nordic Drama (92)

Tigre Gente (92)

Delikado (92)

Million Dollar Pigeons (92)

RKS Spirits: J&B Rare Blended Scotch Whisky

I discovered that J&B Blended Scotch Whisky is a perfect match for shortbread cookies, pastries or cakes with a noticeable honey component such as baklava. It also is the perfect scotch to use in my Scotch Lentils recipe that called for a single malt scotch to be used however unlike J&B scotch whisky the single malt scotch imparted too strong a flavour to the dish.

J&B is a blend of 42 malt and grain whiskies and contains more single malt than any other blended scotch whisky.

J&B neat

On the nose apricot, mango, pear, quince, tangerine and persimmon. Almost tropical. On the palate the heat is pleasant and not quite firewaterish. There is also honey, butterscotch, spice and orange.

J&B over the rocks

On the nose notes of apricot, peach and ginger. On the palate the ice smooths out the scotch on the palate eliminating any burn but not the grip. Smokey warmness with some pepper, apricot and butterscotch. A long warm finish. Not a complex scotch whisky over the rocks but a great cold weather drink. Always used filtered or spring water for your cubes to avoid the unwanted influences of chemicalized municipal water.

J&B with a few drops of spring or filtered water

Water and ice really smooth out J&B but with a few drops of filtered or spring water the heat on the palate is somewhat greater and the finish a tad longer than J&B over the rocks. The aromatic profile is identical to J&B over the rocks with a more pronounced apricot on the nose.

Ice and water for J&B tone down the burn and make for a smoother drink but reduce the complexity and length of finish over J&B neat. A classic trade-off with scotch whisky neat compared with scotch whisky over the rocks or with water.

Coming soon matching three blended scotch whiskies and shortbread cookies.

All said and done a good value scotch whisky.

J&B Rare Blended Scotch Whisky $29.45, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 2360

“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous” : Chapter 19: Escaping Quebec Nationalist Fervor in Montreal to Hogtown!

I graduated with two law degrees from the University of Cote St. Luc Law School in Montreal. Despite the fact I spoke very good French having learnt this noble language at the King’s School for Young Men in Bombay my French was tres Parisian and nowhere near the joual of the Montreal working class. I was a “L’etranger” and a “Tete Carré” to the locals. Quebec at this time was going beyond its “Quiet Revolution” and trying to neuter the English or anyone not born in La Belle Province. The nationalistic Quebec Government’s Bill 101 criminalized all languages but French. In any city in Canada you could advertise in any language you wanted without any restrictions but oh no in Quebec you could only advertise in French with any other language secondarily measured in centimetres below the French text. This is how bureaucratic bean counters save a culture. Anyone perceived as English was penalized for the defeat of Quebec on the Plains of Abraham by the English in 1759.Oddly penalized for not completely wiping out the French population and giving them certain fundamental and cultural rights. No need to further discuss lest the FLQ terrorists who graduated into respectability with the Parti Quebecois firebomb a mailbox outside my home!

So I headed down the 401 highway with 425,000 “anglophones” to the safety of Toronto. What a horrific wasteland Toronto was! Everything closed on Sunday leaving only the smell of Yorkshire pudding and roast beef wafting in the air. Locals dressed in sweatpants and running shoes. Frightening but at least you could advertise in Punjabi without any restrictions. And the subway creaked and squealed like a pig in a slaughterhouse unlike the beautiful Montreal subway running on rubber tires! And bagels were Kaiser rolls. I recall heading out to a pizzeria after arriving in Toronto and asking for a mushroom pizza if the mushrooms were fresh. Well after sitting down I heard the stoned out server ask his pizza maker to open a can of mushrooms to ensure they were fresh. Yes high gastronomic culture in Toronto! Torontonians were well deserving of their nickname of Hogtowners due to their love of peameal bacon. Toronto was almost as intolerant as Montreal but they spoke English and they tolerated you if your English was impeccable. But if your skin was not completely white expect problems. I had problems. Details to follow.

My publisher Wuhan Wet Market Publishing demanded I replace my view of the Quebec government’s attitude with a kinder word “nationalistic”. I had another word in mind. Unlike Rosa Parks I decided to disembark from the political bus and flee.

“Travels to a Different Time” : 12September2022: Knee Fine but Ankle No! 9,000 German Deaths: Thessaloniki Greece

The pain in the knee has disappeared but overnight a pain in the ankle. What a pain in the ass! I am a Hop Along Cassidy and in excruciating pain. Nothing works not even the Dicoflex cream from the compounding pharmacy which I had to cease taking due to an adverse reaction being a rash and the chills. Stuck in the room and in no mood for breakfast. Sat around like a turnip and read the never-ending Anna Karenin full of thoughts at this point in the book of agrarian reform and the stupidity and decadence of the Russian aristocracy. At least Fotini saw her cousin and her husband in the bar downstairs while I watched an airplane disaster documentary then a documentary on propaganda in the Third Reich. The Nazis ran the largest travel agency in Germany. A cruise ship, the Wilhelm Gustlaff carrying some 10,000 escaping soldiers and civilians fleeing the Russian onslaught in Poland was sunk with an estimated 9,000 fatalities. The largest maritime disaster ever. Tomorrow off to Athens by airplane and not on a ship thank goodness.