Depression Treatment : Is There Magic in Those Magic Mushrooms?

Psychedelic Treatment with Psilocybin Relieves Major Depression, Study Shows

11/04/2020

Psilocybin
Credit: Modified Getty Image

Note: To view and download footage of Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., talking about his research, click here. To view and download footage of a research participant talking about his experience in Johns Hopkins’ psilocybin study, click here.

In a small study of adults with major depression, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report that two doses of the psychedelic substance psilocybin, given with supportive psychotherapy, produced rapid and large reductions in depressive symptoms, with most participants showing improvement and half of study participants achieving remission through the four-week follow-up.

A compound found in so-called magic mushrooms, psilocybin produces visual and auditory hallucinations and profound changes in consciousness over a few hours after ingestion. In 2016, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers first reported that treatment with psilocybin under psychologically supported conditions significantly relieved existential anxiety and depression in people with a life-threatening cancer diagnosis.

Now, the findings from the new study, published Nov. 4 in JAMA Psychiatry, suggest that psilocybin may be effective in the much wider population of patients who suffer from major depression than previously appreciated.

“The magnitude of the effect we saw was about four times larger than what clinical trials have shown for traditional antidepressants on the market,” says Alan Davis, Ph.D., adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Because most other depression treatments take weeks or months to work and may have undesirable effects, this could be a game changer if these findings hold up in future ‘gold-standard’ placebo-controlled clinical trials.” The published findings cover only a four-week follow-up in 24 participants, all of whom underwent two five-hour psilocybin sessions under the direction of the researchers.

“Because there are several types of major depressive disorders that may result in variation in how people respond to treatment, I was surprised that most of our study participants found the psilocybin treatment to be effective,” says Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., the Oliver Lee McCabe III Professor in the Neuropsychopharmacology of Consciousness at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. He says the major depression treated in the new study may have been different than the “reactive” form of depression in patients they studied in the 2016 cancer trial. Griffiths says his team was encouraged by public health officials to explore psilocybin’s effects in the broader population of those with major depressive disorder because of the much larger potential public health impact.

For the new study, the researchers recruited 24 people with a long-term documented history of depression, most of whom experienced persisting symptoms for approximately two years before enrolling in the study. The average age of participants was 39; 16 were women; and 22 identified themselves as white, one person identified as Asian and one person identified as African American. Participants had to taper off any antidepressants prior to the study with the help of their personal physician to ensure safe exposure to this experimental treatment.

Thirteen participants received the psilocybin treatment immediately after recruitment and after preparation sessions, and 11 participants received the same preparation and treatment after an eight-week delay.

Treatment consisted of two psilocybin doses given by two clinical monitors who provided guidance and reassurance. The doses were given two weeks apart between August 2017 and April 2019 at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Behavioral Biology Research Building. Each treatment session lasted approximately five hours, with the participant lying on a couch wearing eyeshades and headphones that played music, in the presence of the monitors.

All participants were given the GRID-Hamilton Depression Rating Scale – a standard depression assessment tool – upon enrollment, and at one and four weeks following completion of their treatment. On the scale, a score of 24 or more indicates severe depression, 17–23 moderate depression, 8–16 mild depression and 7 or less no depression. At enrollment, participants had an average depression scale rating of 23, but one week and four weeks after treatment, they had an average depression scale score of 8. After treatment, most participants showed a substantial decrease in their symptoms, and almost half were in remission from depression at the follow-up. Participants in the delayed group didn’t show decreases in their symptoms before receiving the psilocybin treatment.

For the entire group of 24 participants, 67% showed a more than 50% reduction in depression symptoms at the one-week follow-up and 71% at the four-week follow-up. Overall, four weeks post-treatment, 54% of participants were considered in remission – meaning they no longer qualified as being depressed.

“I believe this study to be a critically important proof of concept for the medical approval of psilocybin for treatment of depression, a condition I have personally struggled with for decades,” says entrepreneur and philanthropist Tim Ferriss, who supported the funding campaign for this study. “How do we explain the incredible magnitude and durability of effects? Treatment research with moderate to high doses of psychedelics may uncover entirely new paradigms for understanding and improving mood and mind. This is a taste of things to come from Johns Hopkins.”

The researchers say they will follow the participants for a year after the study to see how long the antidepressant effects of the psilocybin treatment last, and will report their findings in a later publication.

Griffiths, whose research with psilocybin, begun in the early 2000s, was initially viewed by some with skepticism and concern, says he is gratified by Johns Hopkins’ support and heartened by the dozens of startups and research labs that have followed suit with their own research. He says numerous companies are now actively working to develop marketable forms of psilocybin and related psychedelic substances.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than 17 million people in the U.S. and 300 million people worldwide have experienced major depression.

Other authors on the study include Frederick Barrett, Darrick May, Mary Cosimano, Nathan Sepeda, Matthew Johnson and Patrick Finan, all of Johns Hopkins.

The study was supported by philanthropic donors The Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation, Tim Ferriss, Matt Mullenweg, Craig Nerenberg, Blake Mycoskie and Dave Morin; as well as by grants from the Riverstyx Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (T32DA007209, R01DA003889, K23DA035915).

Conflicts of interest disclosed to JAMA Psychiatry include the following: Johnson serves as a consultant and/or advisory board member for AWAKN Life Sciences Inc., Beckley Psychedelics Ltd., Entheogen Biomedical Corp., Field Trip Psychedelics Inc., Mind Medicine, Inc., Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. and Silo Pharma, Inc.

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” Mutantism on the March” Chapter 80 “The Mutant Hater United States Challenged”

Squid was outraged at the news of the construction of the secret missile base aka sewage plant. The St. Lawrence River encircling the Island of Montreal had been stinking shit for years with Montreal dumping its untreated sewage into it so why the sudden change of heart. It was a sham. Squid had hollowed out Mont Royal to make it his home and it was quite comfortable thank you. Squid had firsthand knowledge of American inspired genocide in Nicaragua and Columbia and the horrific napalm and Agent Orange drops by the Americans in Vietnam. Squid had no desire to see Canada dragged into such a blatant and sinful ruse of domination. In a perverse sense he felt vindicated as the Quebeckers were now receiving the same ills they had served upon the local indigenous population. But now was not the time for petty feuds.

The local chapter of the United Mutations were adamant in resisting this militaristic rape of Montreal and the most vocal amongst them were the Canadian war veterans who had seen war and many had been its victims. Conventional war was butchery but nuclear war was more appalling as a push of a few buttons could wipe out the human race. Bert Foonbean was distraught and at a mutant rally protesting the sham sewage plant he said, “We face a grave and potentially deadly situation. The American and Canadian military and corporate elite have concocted an evil potion of death and deception in their covert attempts to construct a secret nuclear missile base inside Mont Royal. All it takes is one mistake and the world can be wiped out. Who is better qualified to speak than the victims of the last atomic bombast than the Hiroshima Mutant Society. This morning they have sent us a message of solidarity in support of our struggle against what they call, “insensitive barbarian leaders who have no actual conception of the potent power of atomic war that will create a huge group of survivors inevitably transformed by radiation into mutants.”

Of course we all know in a few minutes the peaceful island of Hiroshima was transformed into a living hell and the effects of this American barbarity created legions of radiation mutants most of which died by radiation poisoning. What was dropped on his island by mass murder scientists is but a firecracker to what “humanitarian technology” had since developed.

The construction of this base threatens humanity. One new nuclear base is one too many. We should be demolishing them not constructing additional ones.

It is up to mutants to overthrow those who have given their consent to this death plant, this gas chamber of humanity. The whole world, if it would be fortunate to survive would be a world of mutants after a nuclear war. Of course I am not gaffing mutants just the manner in which they would be created. Any sane person knows that the billions spent on the war machine benefit the military industrial complex and with this wasted money so much suffering could be eliminated but this death industry is profitable for so many. Isn’t that disgusting? But that is a sick world for you. The big industrialists that benefit from the murder by Yankees in Vietnam and Cambodia will reap further profits from this missile base. They have the levers of political power that brainwashes our schoolchildren. The establishment criticizes the crimes of Hitler yet their actions are ten times worse. The mere fact that the military industrial complex profit from war makes them criminals like the Canadian and American government that supports them. These scum profit from war which makes them criminals as the government that supports them and rewards them with government contracts. These people are two faced profit mongers who cater to their own selfish and greedy needs. To them it is a matter of profit and balance sheets. Mutants in the developing world are aware of this lie and reality structure thrust upon them by Yankee and Soviet propaganda. Do they realize they will fry in a nuclear attack?

Once again let me say me must stop this construction. A battle won against the United States, the largest and most powerful mutant hater, would be a boast to the international mutant movement. Let us show this bandit of a nation we will not tolerate its imperialistic crimes.”

“Mutantism on The March”: Chapter 80 “The Mutant Hater United States Challenged”

Squid was outraged at the news of the construction of the secret missile base aka sewage plant. The St. Lawrence River encircling the Island of Montreal had been stinking shit for years with Montreal dumping its untreated sewage into it so why the sudden change of heart. It was a sham. Squid had hollowed out Mont Royal to make it his home and it was quite comfortable thank you. Squid had firsthand knowledge of American inspired genocide in Nicaragua and Columbia and the horrific napalm and Agent Orange drops by the Americans in Vietnam. Squid had no desire to see Canada dragged into such a blatant and sinful ruse of domination. In a perverse sense he felt vindicated as the Quebeckers were now receiving the same ills they had served upon the local indigenous population. But now was not the time for petty feuds.

The local chapter of the United Mutations were adamant in resisting this militaristic rape of Montreal and the most vocal amongst them were the Canadian war veterans who had seen war and many had been its victims. Conventional war was butchery but nuclear war was more appalling as a push of a few buttons could wipe out the human race. Bert Foonbean was distraught and at a mutant rally protesting the sham sewage plant he said, “We face a grave and potentially deadly situation. The American and Canadian military and corporate elite have concocted an evil potion of death and deception in their covert attempts to construct a secret nuclear missile base inside Mont Royal. All it takes is one mistake and the world can be wiped out. Who is better qualified to speak than the victims of the last atomic bombast than the Hiroshima Mutant Society. This morning they have sent us a message of solidarity in support of our struggle against what they call, “insensitive barbarian leaders who have no actual conception of the potent power of atomic war that will create a huge group of survivors inevitably transformed by radiation into mutants.”

Of course we all know in a few minutes the peaceful island of Hiroshima was transformed into a living hell and the effects of this American barbarity created legions of radiation mutants most of which died by radiation poisoning. What was dropped on this island by mass murder scientists is but a firecracker to what “humanitarian technology” had since developed.

The construction of this base threatens humanity. One new nuclear base is one too many. We should be demolishing them not constructing additional ones.

It is up to mutants to overthrow those who have given their consent to this death plant, this gas chamber of humanity. The whole world, if it would be fortunate to survive would be a world of mutants after a nuclear war. Of course I am not gaffing mutants just the manner in which they would be created. Any sane person knows that the billions spent on the war machine benefit the military industrial complex and with this wasted money so much suffering could be eliminated but this death industry is profitable for so many. Isn’t that disgusting? But that is a sick world for you. The big industrialists that benefit from the murder by Yankees in Vietnam and Cambodia will reap further profits from this missile base. They have the levers of political power that brainwashes our schoolchildren. The establishment criticizes the crimes of Hitler yet their actions are ten times worse. The mere fact that the military industrial complex profit from war makes them criminals like the Canadian and American government that supports them. These scum profit from war which makes them criminals as the government that supports them and rewards them with government contracts. These people are two faced profit mongers who cater to their own selfish and greedy needs. To them it is a matter of profit and balance sheets. Mutants in the developing world are aware of this lie and reality structure thrust upon them by Yankee and Soviet propaganda. Do they realize they will fry in a nuclear attack?

Once again let me say me must stop this construction. A battle won against the United States, the largest and most powerful mutant hater, would be a boost to the international mutant movement. Let us show this bandit of a nation we will not tolerate its imperialistic crimes.”

RKS Wine: The Rosé Stereotype: Neutrality in a Battle Zone of Taste

The Rosé stereotype is that it is a summer wine. Rosé is an all-season wine that suits many dishes and is good for sipping in January as it is in July. Think of the comparison to Champagne with someone saying it is a wine for special occasions only. But there is one advantage to Rosé in the summer and that is the heat of summer and red wine are often not great companions unless food is involved. If you are hot and sweaty do you want a glass of Malbec? Rosé has an attraction for red wine drinkers in the summer and white wine drinkers who are not wholly in the red wine camp when they drink Rosé. It is like a neutral country in a war.

British Columbia and Ontario both make quality Rosé. So let’s try one from Sandhill in the Okanagan. It is salmon coloured. As for aromatics watermelon, raspberry, red cherry with a bit of tomato vine. On the palate it has a good grip to it meaning to some degree it has substance and personality unlike so many Rosé wines. On the palate cactus pear, rhubarb and watermelon. It has a moderately long finish. I would venture to say its personality suits wild caught salmon with its stronger and meatier flavour than farm raised salmon. Also a go with field tomato salad with extra Virgin Olive Oil and shredded basil.

It is a blend of 65% Gamay and 35% Merlot.

An example that one of British Columbia’s strengths is its ability to produce world class wines.

(Sandhill 2020 Rosé, British Columbia VQA, $21.95, Sandhill, Kelowna, British Columbia, $21.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 19532, 750 mL, 12.6%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 93/100).

While I have been impressed with Mayhem and Meyer Family Vineyards Rosé from the Okanagan in British Columbia let us not forget that Niagara in Ontario can lift some heavy weights with its Rosé wine. One consistent Ontario winner is Pink Twisted from Flat Rock Cellars in Niagara. A great tasting area at the winery and a great view of the vineyards subject to various micro terroirs that differ by hundreds of feet. Their “specialities” are Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot Noir. There is no Pinot Noir in this blend but Gamay, Gewurztraminer and Riesling.

Can I say “mid pinkish” in color meaning not dark pink nor light pink! On the nose watermelon, cherry, strawberry, ruby grapefruit with a nice little twisted bit of tomato sauce and I refer to that good stuff you make with onions, garlic, field tomatoes and rosemary, basil and oregano from your garden with a heavy dash of this Rosé. There is some acidity to the wine most likely due to that tricky Ontario Riesling. But it is under control with the Gewurztraminer and Gamay. The acidity makes it a good match for foods like the tomato sauce I mentioned or a fresh field tomato salad I described above but with some crumbled feta to better match the acidity. My thoughts are that the acidity makes it a better match for acidic foods particularly tomatoes. My thought is that with Ontario Riesling you play with fire and in my camp it is easy to get burnt. However in this case the Gewurtz and Gamay puts harness on the acidity and sharpness of Niagara Riesling. The end result is a good Rosé. Niagara Riesling in my book is out of control with bitterness and excessive tartness but this blend tames if not welcomes the beast!

(Flat Rock Twisted Rosé 2020, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Flat Rock Cellars, Jordan, Ontario, $17.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 39974, 750 mL, 11.5%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 90/100).

“Mutantism on the March” :Chapter 79 “Is Montreal to Become Home for an American Nuclear Base?”

One chilly fall afternoon a class of engineering students from Montreal’s McSwill University were surveying the City’s Mont Royal with sophisticated hollowmeters they had developed for a project. This sophisticated device allowed one to determine the thickness of any mass which would also determine if there were any hollow areas in the mass. They discovered great hollow spaces in the mountain. The mountain was not solid! Experts soon rushed to the area to carry out more sophisticated tests and their results verified the work of the McSwill engineers.

News quickly spread to Washington and the Pentagon Hawks were jumping for joy. What a grand plan they had. Before making any commitments and with the blessing of the Canadian government they dispatched a corps of army engineers to check on the findings of the northern bush leaguers. You could never trust those Canadians. The hollow area was ideal for the construction of an American nuclear missile base in the heart of a solid mountain within a teeming metropolis in a “neutral country”. Dr. Strangelove could not have asked for more. Involve Canada in the nuclear game and you had an instant ally. Now the Canadians would be blackmailed in acquiescing to an American defence strategy. Their survival would depend on it.

When the Canadian armed forces brass heard about the project they were delighted. For the self-made generals from Moncton, Gander and Halifax and the graduates of the Piss Point Military Academy in Cornwall, Ontario it was a chance for the real big time. Their childhood adulation of fireworks had never died. A meeting was arranged between the American and Canadian military. Even US General Nabalm from Burlington, Vermont who had been wounded in action in Vietnam (syphilis) directing the boys to great defeats was at the meeting. Both of the army teams forged an agreement and the Canadian Prime Minister Poster Pesterboy gave his approval to this top-secret deal. Construction plans were soon underway. The front was to tell all who asked a gigantic sewage plan was being constructed which made good sense as Montreal had been dumping all its untreated sewage in the St. Lawrence River for years. The Montreal Mayor Jean Droolpoop was initially outraged but after he gave serious thought to the construction tender contracts he would take a cut of he switched his dissenting mind.

Well one of Jiber’s men in Washington, well connected of course, spilt the beans on the secret deal to the Canadian media. A political hurricane ravaged the country. Quebec City politicians were sputtering with so much rage at a volume never heard.

The Parliament of Canada was non-plussed and vowed to continue with the sewage plant after “contractual commitments” simply had to be honoured. The clean environment was a priority. Ontario munition and armament manufacturers, having great influence in the Canadian government, also had made their wallets fat servicing American war supply needs in Vietnam were putting on a lobbying effort in Ottawa to pursue construction of the sewage plant. Quebec politicians did not share the joy this sewage plant had created for many. They had no desire to see Montreal and Quebec basted to pieces because of the worst kept secret of the “sewage plant”. A political showdown was inevitable.

RKS Wine: Penniless Pensioner Visits Bordeaux

The Penniless Pensioner is reluctant to travel this year wishing to wait until the dust settles from COVID-19. The Penniless Pensioner quite frankly has told me his pension income from his Canadian Pension Plan puts him below the poverty line. So he can’t really travel until he wins the lottery and he can’t afford more than $15 for a bottle of wine and he isn’t interested in tasteless rotgut so he’s willing to have me snoop around for him. So at times with so many penniless pensioners in Canada I feel I have the weight of the world on my shoulders.

So when I told him I found a Bordeaux for $13.95 at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario his eyes lit up as he was not a neuro surgeon, cardiologist or a captain of industry as those were the people he thought could afford Bordeaux wines. Well there are many small producers in Bordeaux and there are some bargain basement prices to be had. But what of the quality he asked? My reply was that one of the best wines I had this year was a $14.95 Italian wine from Campania. But I cautioned him simply because a wine is from Bordeaux does not guarantee quality.

In this case we have a simple Bordeaux Blanc called a 2019 Château Haut-Garriga. It is made entirely from the Semillon grape.

On the nose it shows little flashiness, depth or complexity. Simple aromas of pear, apple with a faint bit of pineapple. On the palate it is simple light and refreshing. A bit of grapefruit, lime with a subtle minerality. There are no flaws in the wine. It just is a simple nondescript wine. The Penniless Pensioner is holding his annual pickle ball tournament in his backyard with his buddies and he told me it will be a hot and humid day where red wine is out and a simple refreshing white is a must. He has one here! And his guests not being terribly savvy may just think he has won the lottery as he is serving a wine with a Château in its name. The Penniless Pensioner is a crafty fellow. In fact he was once a successful corporate lawyer who made an unfortunate mistake of investing his money with a guy named Bernie Madoff. Accordingly at the end of the line of a Ponzi scheme he lost it all.

More about the Penniless Pensioner to follow.

FILE – In this Jan. 5, 2009 file photo, Bernard Madoff, right, leaves U.S. District Court in Manhattan after a bail hearing in New York. Madoff, the financier who pleaded guilty to orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in history, died early Wednesday, April 14, 2021, in a federal prison, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

(Château Haut-Garriga Bordeaux Blanc 2019, Vignobles C. Barreau, Gironde, France, $13.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 18789, 750 mL, 12%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 86/100).

“Mutantism on the March” :Chapter 78 “The Nationalist Enslavement of Quebec Continues”

Jiber’s crew was ecstatic with Jiber’s words and they applauded wildly as finally the months of boredom would be terminated and like pirates there would be action. Soon they would return home to Zortixia to vindicate those who had expelled them from their homeland. Jiber did add, “However not all of you must act as crusading Quebec nationalists. Some of us should be vicious Canadians and Americans convincing Quebeckers they are surrounded by mean and greedy neighbours only too ready to jump on their throats if given the chance. Those of us who portray nationalists must masquerade as the great protectors. One strong man will appear in a messianic fashion who will persuade to lead the Quebecois down the yellow brick road to nationalistic freedom. I as René Hecklevesque will be that St. Joseph Oratory saviour!

And so it progressed according to plans. The crewmembers that ventured to Washington and other American urban centres did very well for themselves. Three of them were serving on the staff of American senators who were openly Canadian annexionists. One even became a coffee boy for the White House Staff. One became a McThinald’s sales manager for their restaurants in Canada. Those remaining in Quebec were pushing nationalism in the organizations they joined mocking the English and new immigrants as a threat to “national survival”.   The immigrants, or Allophones as they were referred to were to be treated as backstabbers and fifth columnists. While Quebec media types followed the Jiber path Western Canada was calling for executions of Quebec seditionists. The rise to power by the Jiber nationalists was facilitated by the usual pigheadedness of the rest of Canada who, ever since the days of Dumont, Louis Riel and company had done the utmost to silence the French minorities within their boundaries. And as Jiber predicted it wasn’t long before the Quebecois became increasingly paranoid of the hungry pack of Canadian nationalists salivating madness. Their hostility was the spark required to light the bonfires of nationalistic recruitment. In Quebec new parties and associations mushroomed under separatist and nationalistic banners.

Jiber’s first mate assuming the fictious name of Bourgblot, was instrumental in forming the RINTINTIN, a group who eyed separation as the salvation for the province of Quebec. Increasingly strong movements were gaining strength in the USA favouring annexation of Quebec as it was the only water that might extinguish the growing fire of communism in Quebec. Of course the communists in Quebec would certainly confiscate or nationalize American property in Quebec. That was against American law and democracy! A high point was reached when three senile and red hating American senators drafted an unsuccessful bill clamouring for the annexation of Quebec. Reaction to this was red hot In Quebec. Ottawa was dutifully silent fearing any comment would aggravate its “wonderful and mutually affectionate relationship the United States”. Jiber, alias Hecklevesque, was busily at work and there was one incident that rocketed him into the public eye.

RKS Wine: The Penniless Pensioner: A Stunningly Delicious and Affordable Wine from Campania

A couple of years ago courtesy of the EU I was off to Naples, the capital of the Campanian wine region in Italy. Such incredible food, archeological sites and of course wine. I was at Southern Italy’s biggest wine show Vitingo in Naples and was also ferried about to some incredible wineries and co-operatives. Fantastic wines that I had not heard of and off to the best restaurants in Naples each night. If  I can only bring back the magic by returning to Naples. And if you have had the experience of tasting the pizza of Napoli that alone with the right wine would have you returning in an instant. So it is with interest I see the wines of Campania trickle into the LCBO in a wave of tokenism.

From Fattoria Alois we try a Ponte Pellegrino Aglianico. A heady aroma of blackberry, blueberry, cassis and a handshake welcoming you into its heart and soul. On the palate sleek and elegant with a gentle acidity that compliments the fruit. Acidity in red wine can be a killer but here it works perfectly setting a perfect foil against the moderate tannins. As for fruit it is all so tightly knit it forms a coherent unified whole that leaves me saying the wine is full of black fruit. I think the wine is best suited to food but one must not bypass the opportunity to taste it on its own. One aspect I can’t pick up is if the grapes are grown in the volcanic soils of Mt. Vesuvius because in such cases there is often a hint of coal perhaps thanks to the lava soils. As a closing comment this is one of the rare wines where acidity is not obnoxious and destructive. That alone in my books is quite a feat.

Will it improve with age? Considering its perfect acidity today what will happen to its acidity in the upcoming years is a bit of a crap shoot. If I can give you some advice drinking this wine is like winning $400 on the slots in Las Vegas. Best cash out quick and save your winnings for a couple of great meals! Facing three cheers and the bing bing bing of a winner’s roll savour the moment and walk away. Put another way drink now and enjoy the three cherries.

(Ponte Pellegrino Aglianico 2018, Fattoria Alois Srl, Pontelatone, Italy , $14.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 18611, 13%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 94/100)

RKS Wine: More Penniless Pensioner Wines: South Africa’s Alvi’s Drift Signature Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

In today’s Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s monopoly any wine under $15 falls into the Penniless Pensioner Category.

The question of course is it any good. Cheap does not mean plonk. It may help there is no glowing review accompanying its description in the LCBO Vintages Catalogue which might keep the cost down.

Geez it has a gold medal sticker on it from what competition I don’t know as the print is too small to find out. It also has a generic” Ultra Value Wines” sticker whatever that means. Not to be nasty but cheap supermarket tactics to entice buyers?

On the nose a certain rawness with notes of blueberry, black plum, black cherry and cassis. On the palate the tannins are soft rather body checking out the rawness on the nose. There is some black cherry, pomegranate, red plum and a bit of black pepper all with a short finish.

There are no flaws in the winemaking as the acids and tannins are just fine. The grapes are not overripe. It is not a wuss nor is it a hidden gem. The best term I can think is a bistro carafe wine. When I bought this wine I ran into a restaurant owner that was buying a $9.00 per bottle case of Spanish wine for his Greek restaurant. I know that wine from a few years ago and as a house wine it passes the mark. This wine passes the mark for a house wine in your house!  I can’t say you can pour and savour by the glass but I will say with confidence that for simple carnivore or vegetarian fare like steak or burgers or Swiss Chard sauteed with onions, garlic, mushrooms and hot red peppers it does its job. It is about as exciting as John Diefenbaker but it gets the job done.

(Alvi’s Drift Signature Cabernet Sauvignon 2019, WO Western Cape, Alvi’s Drift Private Cellar, Worcester, South Africa, $13.95, LCBO # 19571, 750 mL, 13.5%, Robert K. Stephen, A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating, 87/100). I am not impressed by the vague and enticing stickers on the bottle but the wine is not plonk and as seniors when we assemble for our dinners and parties we can serve with confidence patting ourselves because that hot shot wine reviewer Robert Stephen said this is in the range of a $25 California Cabernet Sauvignon

Stag’s Hollow From British Columbia Hits the Mark!

7 JULY, LONDON: Full results from the Decanter World Wine Awards 2021 have been released today, revealing big wins for established wine regions but also many hidden gems from producers making exciting wines across the globe. This year marks the biggest ever Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA), which is already the world’s largest and most influential wine competition thanks to a rigorous judging process overseen by international experts.

More than 160 expert judges, including 44 Masters of Wine and 11 Master Sommeliers, tasted 18,094 wines from 56 countries at DWWA 2021, making it a record year for wines tasted. Judging took place over two weeks in Canary Wharf, London, with strict Covid-19 safety protocols in place. Only 50 wines, or 0.28% of those tasted, were awarded a prestigious Best in Show medal. There were also 179 Platinum and 635 Gold medals awarded, making up 0.99% and 3.51% respectively of the total wines tasted.

We’re excited that, in our first year of entering wines to the Decanter World Wine Awards, we received medals on the following wines:

Silver Medals

2017 Renaissance Merlot, 93 points: “Elegant, cool, and understated, this Merlot charms with red cherry, dried herbs, and lively acidity. Structured and stately.”

2018 Syrah, 90 points: “Crisp, classy, and a cooler-climate Syrah. Suggestive of confit blackcurrant, black pepper spice, and a touch of meat.”

 

Bronze Medals

2018 Renaissance Syrah, 89 points: “Meaty, bold and meticulous, with notes of bright blackcurrant, granite, charming clove, and confident oak.”

2018 Renaissance Pinot Noir, 88 points: “Bursting with dense red fruit, lick-me-up liquorice and crisp currant fruit, she’s hedonistic, pleasurable and proud.”

2019 Albariño, 88 points: “Super tropical on the palate, erupting with lime, pineapple, juicy peach, and a hint of minerality.”