RKS Wines: Frightened by the Unknown Malagousia

My bet is that many wine drinkers are frightened by grapes they rarely encounter. Always sticking to the same wines made with the same grapes dulls the mind. Sameness equals boredom but that’s me and may not be you. Could you imagine having pork chops, mashed potatoes and peas for dinner every night. What would you know about Chinese, Hungarian, Italian or Vietnamese food?

Do not quiver in terror then when I say we are trying a wine made from the Malagousia grape widely thought to be a Greek grape that of late has clawed its way back from near extinction. It has ripe peachy flavours and low acidity.

I picked up a Malagousia on a Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s store manager’s discount which each store manager has the authority to do when space is needed for incoming shipments of wine. Ordinarily this wine is $17.50 but at this particular store it was marked down to $12.10.

As for aromas a luminous combination of peach, apricot, mango, pineapple and a smidge of honey. On the palate the acidity is indeed gentle but it is there! The tropical nose is carried through on the palate with guava, pear, apple and Greaves peach jam. Short finish.

While the wine won’t cause you jump up and down it has some features in common with Viognier, Moschofilero and Gewurztraminer. We might call it reticent but that is simply a characteristic on the wine spectrum. The label says it would pair well with salads and light appetizers and I take no issue with that. I would say take a filet of perch, bass, pickerel or Northern Pike and place it in foil with garlic, onions and a splash of this wine and after adding salt and pepper wrap it up and put on a grill or under the broil. A light freshwater fish deserves a light and fresh wine like this.

You needn’t fear night sweats. This grape does not bite!

(Malagousia 2020, Mylonas Winery, PGI Attiki, $12.10, LCBO # 991850, 750 mL, 12.5%. A little Birdie Told Me So Rating 89/100).

Poetry Corner: “Damn Goat Soap!”

Damn Goat Soap!

Having run out of the usual body wash
using goat soap instead and suddenly a burgeoning rash
the chest is itchy and on fire
I am perplexed and full of ire
I have perhaps eaten to many mussels and oysters in the past few days?
could be some flesh eating bacteria that will cut me down in my old age
but I have done an inventory of food and possible irritants
it is being eliminated to that damn goat soap
readers beware if you have sensitive skin you may suffer from goat soap rash
should I chuck my feta cheese in the trash?
should I go to the derm for a view?
I think not I am putting the blame on goat soap
don’t follow me if you have sensitive skin and be a dope

Robert K. Stephen

RKS Wines: The Inexpensive Greek: Nemea 2016 Reserve; My Brush With Celebrities!

Most of my time in Greece has been spent on the Aegean Island of Samos south of Lesvos and just off the Turkish coast.

Samos produces absolutely world class sweet Muscat wines some of which are fortified. Over the past few years the United Winemaking Agricultural Cooperative of Samos has tried to create a brand of off dry Muscat based whites which are drinkable but hardly memorable. Some newer wineries are taking a stab making at times some very good Rosé. But red wine from the rest of Greece is not easy to find there. We do here in Ontario get a small flow of the dry and tannic Xinomavro but like old style Barolo it needs at least a decade in the bottle. I only wish, as usual, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario could expand its portfolio of Greek wines preferring instead to import loads of California wine. How long this may last with President Biden’s “Buy American” programme who knows as that may cut deeply into the Canadian auto industry and spark some Canadian retaliation.

Putting aside these unpleasant political thoughts of trade wars that few countries win we can delve into the Nemea 2016 Reserve made with Agiorgitiko grapes. On the nose there is a pleasant presence of red cherries with raspberry and strawberry. On the palate the tannins are moderate. The rawness of the wine continues on the palate with cherry and wobbly and febrile notes of raspberry and strawberry. Rough and choppy like the Athenian port of Piraeus years ago before it was gentrified but still home to some remarkable cuisine.

I would not write off the wine as one glorious birthday years ago I went to a grill house of great local repute in Samos at Ano Vathi (Old Vathi) overlooking Vathi below with the mayor of Vathi eating beside us. Yes why do I attract celebrities? I suppose my previous brush with celebrities in Greece was in the 1970’s eating at an island restaurant with Caroline Kennedy at the next table. Oh yes I had delicious grilled lamb on my birthday which this rough and ready wine would suit very well. Which reminds me of the time I was staying at the Ritz-Central Park South in Manhattan and entering the hotel was besieged by photographers thinking I was a powerbroker with Mariah Carey’s party. I could also tell you with my brush with Michael Douglas and Oprah but that will wait.

Ooops…sorry. Now the wine should be consumed in the next two years. Its tannins may evolve into something a bit softer. On the other hand if you like rough and ready now is the time!

(Cavino Nemea Reserve 2016, PDO Nemea, Greece, $15.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 245787, 750 mL, 13%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 88/100).

RKS Film: The Assassination of the American President: Insanity? Brilliance? Time Traveller? “Who is Amos Otis? “

Assume Trump actually successfully stole the election resulting in democracy’s continued erosion, race riots, bounties for journalists, scientists concerned about climate change and all enemies of the demagogue snuffed out with the world heading into a crisis. Then imagine Trump was assassinated with crowds dancing in the streets clashing with “patriots”. Well you have the background for this film with Trump not being named but I think viewers we are intelligent enough to know the assassinated American President is Donald Trump.

The evidence is compelling and the admission by a man calling himself Amos Otis rather seals the guilt. So quickly we are launched into a courtroom drama at which point if you can recall “Perry Mason”, “Street Legal” or “L.A. Law” you might start yawning and say, “Not another one!”.

But rather quickly what could become boring shifts into a riveting cat and mouse game. Amos Otis died two weeks prior to the assassination of a heart attack with a pile of opiates at his side and a big wad of cash which the assassin pockets to rent an apartment facing the airport and buy a very deadly and accurate sniper’s rifle. And from that apartment blows the President’s head off on the tarmac. He is quickly apprehended but there are absolutely no markers that show the assassin exists.

The assassin weaves a fascinating story about being from the future sent to assassinate the President and save the world or at least give it a chance to escape the dictators supported by the President and the President himself. He also claims Lee Harvey Oswald was a time traveller as if Kennedy had not been killed America would have descended into chaos.

The assassin weaves a compelling story that the jury seems to be convinced he may be a time traveller. An open and shut case weakened by a clever time traveler. Josh Katawick as the assassin delivers a convincing story. Is it a story or reality? The film does not answer that question leaving that up to you. A solid cast is a necessity in a film like this dealing with what may be absolutely ludicrous premise as a few bad lines could quite easily ruin the film. But the cast is skilled and very tight and successfully converts the unbelievable into possible reality. A courtroom drama like no other.

The film is directed and written by Cincinnati playwright Greg Newberry and will be released on Digital/VOD by Gravitas Ventures on December 28th. My film choice for New Year’s Eve is the original “Blade Runner”. “Who is Amos Otis?” might be a great holiday flick and perhaps suitable for the homebound on New Year’s Eve?

Newberry has this to say about the film, “My inspiration for Who is Amos Otis? came from the daily barrage of headlines and tweets that fueled the dangerously expanding divide among Americans. We are a nation hurtling toward civil war – divided by race, class, culture and religion not seen since the days of Gettysburg. I wanted to create a story that illustrated the devastation we could cause to our future if we failed to act. The stakes for our country were too high to do nothing.”

You can catch the trailer here https://vimeo.com/643665064/850dd2c3b1

RKS Wines: Quadrus Red 2015 from the Douro

You have some of your usual suspects in the Douro grape department. 55% Touriga Nacional, 30% Tinta Roriz and 15% Sousão.

The colour of the wine verges on purple which may be the result of the dark juiced Sousão. As for aromas there is an overall creaminess to the nose which is brimming with lively blackberry within a vanilla framework with black cherry skirting around the edges. The wine has definitely seen some oak some of it must be new French oak. On the palate there are some mild tannins that are seamlessly integrated into the wine. Big lighthouse beams of blackberry predominate the palate but there are hints of licorice and dark chocolate and even a tad of maple syrup. This is a rich full- bodied wine where pure blackberry champions both the nose and palate. It will improve in the bottle over the next three years. Dare I say simple and delicious? You might want to pour into a decanter an hour prior to serving.

It is so good on its own but with food would suit just about any cut of beef and would go well with a vegetarian pasta sauce with fresh herbs topped with Parmesan cheese.

(Quadrus Douro 2015, Douro DOC, Miravino, Porto, Portugal $ 22.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 440305, 750 ml, 14%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 93/100).

Poetry Corner: “A Curious or Suspicious Omission?”

Is it strange or suspicious
or perhaps even pernicious?
daily new case counts on two television channels I watch have always included those infected who are fully vaccinated
and they account for about half of the new cases
the effectiveness of the vaccine once said to be 96 % effective and heaven sent
seems to be taking a very bad dent
now for the past two days numbers of the infected that are fully vaccinated
are no longer seen on the screen
stupid are those that thought the media was playing on the fairness team
they’d rather play along with their advertising revenue and the Big Pharma dream
looks to me like they are trying to hide something
so their advertising revenue from Big Pharma goes kaching kaching!

Robert K. Stephen

Passage of the Day From “Bleak House” by Charles Dickens (Money and Responsibility)

” I’ll give you a piece of advice that your husband will find useful when you are happily married and have got a family about you. Whenever a person says to you that they are as innocent as can be in all concerning money, look well after your own money for they are dead certain to collar it if they can. Whenever a person proclaims to you. “In worldly matters I am a child,’ you consider that that person is only a-crying off from being held accountable and you have got that person’s number and it’s Number One.”

“Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time”

Where do I start with a review of this documentary? Should I get personal and thank my brother for leaving Vonnegut novels around in the early 70’s which I picked up and read. My first Vonnegut novel was “Slaughterhouse Five” that was unlike any piece of fiction I had read. Billy Pilgrim a prisoner of World War 2 captured in the Battle of the Bulge transported to imprisonment in a former swine slaughterhouse number 5 in Dresden, Germany safely locked in the basement as Dresden was firebombed in 1944 and reduced to rubble. Billy Pilgrim was then unstuck in time travelling from past to future and to different planets. Mating with was it Montana Wildhack a porn star in a zoo on some strange planet. An ophthalmologist from Indiana.

I was suckered into a whole series of novels, “Breakfast of Champions” and “Welcome to the Monkey House” to name a few. I was never a fan of American literature although there have been flashes of brilliance with Ken Kesey’s “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, Hunter Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”, James Baldwin’s “Notes From a Native Son” and J.D. Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye” but has there been the consistency that Vonnegut produced? Now you professors of American literature get your scissors out and cut me up as an ignorant illiterate Canadian!

Director Robert B. Weide (often a director of Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm”) followed Vonnegut for 40 years before taking a deep breath and crafting this documentary and it is a valiant attempt to compress 40 years into a little bit over two hours.

There is no sense in summarize the documentary. But what will it do? If you are a Vonnegut fan you will understand his background and gain a better understanding of what he wrote. If you are Vonnegut deprived it is a fascinating study of a novelist and his struggle for recognition and the toll such a journey takes upon the writer and his social circle. For me after reading “Slaughterhouse Five” I understand its characters are tied up with Vonnegut’s childhood. God bless Indiana! As Kurt said his role as a journalist in his high school paper was spill the beans in the beginning of the story to get readers interested! That is much in the style of his novels he says.

After 40 years of following Vonnegut Weide could have made a documentary that could have lasted hours with an intermission 2 hours in, Like “Lawrence of Arabia” or “Exodus”. However we get what we get and it is good that it reveals Vonnegut the man. Weide scratches the surface but thank goodness he had the fortitude to condense 40 years into two hours and 27 minutes.

So what is the conclusion to be drawn? All those moldy yellowed books of Vonnegut novels that would have lead to some respiratory disease if they had been kept longer by me need to be replaced.

A fascinating and courageous effort by Weide to present a fair picture of what one day may be said to be America’s greatest novelist’. Vonnegut died after a slip and fall in 2007 aged 84. Rest in Peace with Kafka, Dostoevsky, Balzac, Mann, Richler and Solynetzin.

(“Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time”, Director Robert B. Weide and Don Argott, 127 Minutes, USA, 2021, Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema Nov 24/25/27/29)

The Hot Docs website can be accessed here https://hotdocscinema.ca/

RKS Wine: Dão Delights

130 kilometres southwest of Porto you’ll find yourself in Dão’s capital Viseu which is a quaint city and very much lower key than Porto probably as it is a landlocked area and there are none of the culture killing cruise ships with their ruinous trail of destruction. The Dão landscape is in some parts like being in a different planet with huge boulders littering the landscape. The Dão can produce some excellent wines and the area’s cuisine is top notch. We visited some 10 wineries getting a chance for a deep dive. As for reds you can get the same Douro red grapes but you’ll encounter Jaen (most likely the same as Mencía) and Alfrocheiro. And as in the Douro most reds are blends.

Mushroom Risotto in the Dão: Photo Robert K. Stephen

We try a Bergamota Private Selection which is 80% Touriga Franca, 5% Tinta Roriz, 5% Jaen, 5% Alfrocheiro and 5% others. I have a feeling that this is a negociant wine meaning the grapes or the finished wine were bought from third parties and bottled by ENG No4483 for GOTA LDA in a Viseu industrial park.

On the nose black cherry predominates but there is also cranberry and raspberry and some black licorice. On the palate the tannins are gentle initially but intensify as the wine opens up. There is an interesting taste of cherries dipped in melted chocolate with some rather high-toned red cherry. A simple but intriguing wine with a unique personality. It plays with cherry like a coyote playing with a mouse before it gobbles its poor victim up. So lets just call this wine playful. Being on the Portuguese track why not match this with Cataplana? Being playful let’s go Mexican and mix this with a Red Snapper Vera Cruz? Or how about a vegetarian Putanesca Pasta?

I think it might marginally improve over the next couple of years.

Before I go I should tell you a slightly embarrassing story. The winemakers we visited would always give us some wine to take back on the media bus. Well getting into our hotel’s elevator in Viseu a case carrying 4 bottles gave way and the elevator was awash with a pool of red wine. My face turned the same colour as the pool of wine on the elevator floor. All in the life of a wine writer! At breakfast the next morning there was a slight smell of red wine. Not my fault!

(Bergamota Private Selection 2017, Dão DOC, Gota, Viseu, Portugal, $16.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 646893, 750 mL, 13%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 89/100).

RKS Wines: Wines from the Outer Limits: Portugal’s Tejo

We get more wines from Hungary in the Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s Vintage releases than we do from the Tejo region which runs behind and parallel to the Lisboa wine region.

One has arrived like a spaceship in Ontario and it’s a Quinta da Escusa. It is a white blend of the dry Arinto and Moscatel a heavier and more flavourful grape. It will be interesting if we are getting an off dry wine here.

On the nose you can smell the Moscatel out duelling the Arinto! There is peach, apricot, honey, pineapple and butterscotch. On the palate this is a dry wine without much character. You are getting on the palate the same influences you get on the nose but it is dilute and diffuse. I don’t usually comment on tannins when trying white wine but the cheeks are getting a dose of tannins and the wine has a certain funkiness to it. I am sorry to say this but this wine doesn’t know whether it is coming or going. Even with the discounted price way overpriced.

(Quinta da Escusa Branco 2016, Vinho Regional Tejo, Romana Vini, Portugal $ 31.85 (Manager’s Special $22.15), Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 736172, 750 mL, 12.5%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 84/100).