“Equity sends questions to law, law sends questions back to equity: law finds it can’t do this, equity finds it can’t do that: neither can so much as say it can’t do anything, without this solicitor instructing and this counsel appearing for A, and that solicitor instructing and that counsel appearing for B; and so through the whole alphabet, like the history of the apple pie. And thus through years and years, and lives and lives, everything goes on constantly beginning over and over again, and nothing ever ends. And we can’t get out of the suit on any terms, for we are made parties to it and must be parties to it whether we like it or not.”
You know in Canada the Canadian government Canada Pension Plan pays way under the poverty line. If you haven’t had the income to stuff your Registered Retirement Savings Plan or Tax-Free Savings Account or never benefitted from a private pension plan you may be close to penniless when you retire assuming of course you aren’t forced out.
This Rosé is about the cheapest Liquor Control Board of Ontario Vintages release wine you will ever see at $10.95. On my last trip to Greece you could buy a 500 mL bottle of local Rosé cheaper than Coca-Cola!
This Rosé is from the island of Crete and has been brought in by the LCBO several times along with its white cousin. It is made from a blend of Kotsifali and Mandilaria. I stumbled across Kotsifali in New York’s Wine Expo some 15 years ago and came to the impression of it being a cheerful grape!
Does my memory serve me right? This mid coloured pinkie has aromas of apricot, tangerine, ocean drenched pebbles, red grapefruit and maple syrup. On the plate it has some grip and is far from a flimsy or dilute wine. It is not about to bowl you over with a palate full of fruit but if you let it will present on the palate some watermelon, strawberry and some red cherry. I will say its grip is due to its minerality.
Many wines from Spain, Portugal and Greece are “brought back” in the memories of tourists and sipping this one can think of a long hot day exploring Greek ruins of Knossos or the winding streets of Heraklion in Crete and settling down to a restaurant in the market of Heraklion to have some of the best food in Greece on a hot summer evening where a chilled bottle of Thalia would suit many a Greek dish particularly stuffed vegetables or even grilled octopus. By the way making stuffed veggies such as tomatoes, zucchini, onion, zucchini flowers or potatoes is not that difficult. If you know the internet go a searching! Better yet find a Greek neighbour or even better send me your private jet and I’ll prepare a Greek feast!
So in summation let’s be frank Greek memories can give this wine a lift and I have many such memories. But being a nasty wine reviewer, the truth sets us free or does it rob us of memories? Isn’t wine made partially of memories?
(Thalia Rosé 2020, PGI Crete, $10.95, LCBO # 14153, 750 mL, 12%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Review 85/100).
The Jiber continued, “The Brits arrived in Quebec after the French and after a long struggle culminating in the Battle of the Plains of Brahms defeated the French. But they were calculatingly polite letting the French retain their language, schools and religion. The Brits should have crushed them like flies and wiped them out but instead let them flourish in their culture sowing the seeds for unified resentment to their oppression. By goodness the Brits even gave them some rights! Now the ancestors of the British in Quebec are paying the price, Sedition, rebellion and separatist ideology. The Catholic Church in Quebec kept their flock under strict control to the delight of the British masters. There were upstarts that challenged the Catholic Church but they were flash in the pans that is until the Quiet Revolution started in the 1960’s. The Brits over a few generations became the Anglos of Quebec controlling the French through economic power. The third largest French city in the world and the language of commerce was English. The French had the low paying jobs and were second class citizens and the Anglos sold out to the Americans.
The leaders of Quebec have always been pestered by the leaders of Canada. While the National Assembly of Quebec was full of the French the vast majority were supportive of a federalist Canada but as the National Assembly bows to the Canadian federalists a saucy and rebellious faction leads the province down a risky path of true independence creating Quebec as its own country. My friends this is what we are going to capitalize on. All we have to do my crew is to persuade these Quebeckers or Quebecois as they like to refer to themselves as that we can deliver them from the hands of their Anglo masters. We will promise them a world of freedom and cultural sovereignty. In the meantime some of you will concentrate on establishing contacts within the American political and business machine. We have to persuade these Quebeckers to create their own country which when created we’ll hand over to the Americans in return for control over the population to create a conquering army with Zortixia our first piece of booty. The rest of Canada won’t give a damn as these Quebeckers have been a thorn in their side for many years. Canada has no army to challenge an American invasion. So the game we play is high powered nationalism. I have developed an action plan with detailed descriptions of your responsibilities. You have Earthling money, forged identity documents and Earthling clothes so let’s get going. My new identity will be René Hecklevesque and my goal is to capture the reigns of power of Quebec and lead it out of the country of Canada and deliver it to the Americans giving us control of enough Quebeckers to create a conquering army. In order to cement their race to space and give them access to the goods and technology of The Federation these Americans will be only too happy to assist us including providing us with weapons!
“Later, working as a therapist, I fell into the same trap. When you become afraid that a client may commit suicide, you become anxious, and as your anxiety increases, your urge to control the client increases, too. So for awhile, my experience with clients was the same one the Institute had with me. I eventually learned that trying to control a suicidal person makes them worse, not better. Instead of reducing dysfunctional behaviour, trying to control it can reinforce-or promote-the behaviour. This insight became important in my work as a therapist.”
“A suicidal person is like someone trapped in a small room with high walls that are stark white. The room has no lights or windows. The room is is hot and humid, and the boiling heat of the floor of hell is excruciatingly painful. The person searches for a door out of life worth living but cannot find it. Scratching and clawing on the walls do no good. Screaming and banging bring no help. Falling to the floor and trying to shut down and feel nothing gives no relief. Praying to God and all the saints brings no salvation. The room is so painful that enduring it for even a moment longer appears impossible; any exit will do. The only door out the individual can find is the door of suicide. The urge to open it is great indeed.”
Hungarian wine dribbles into the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) at a slow pace. Shame.
While I enjoy the red Kéfrankos and the legendary Tokaji sweet white wine we really don’t see much more than that. This time it is a Zelna Bárka Red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Are we Barking up the right tree with this wine? At $23.95 it is quite pricey and is in the range of many lower priced Bordeaux reds.
It is black cherry in colour. On the nose a solid hit of blueberry, black cherry and blackberry. On the palate the tannins are mild and the acids are under control. You get on the palate what you get on the nose. A moderately long finish. All said and done a very good wine but considering its provenance a bit pricey which might frighten those looking for something different. I would think this wine would suit both a Mushroom or a Beef Wellington both very rich dishes. Drink until 2025 with its sweet spot being in 2023.It is organic.
Hungary was, of course, part of the great Austro-Hungarian Empire and as such has a long and noble wine tradition. Its communist period saw no great innovations in its industry but let’s excuse this blip for a country that has been producing wine since at least Roman times. In comparison Canada is the newbie on the wine block and not Hungary. Hungary ranks 15th amongst wine producing countries and Hungarians drink an average of 21 litres of wine per person annually. Canada by comparison ranks 16th amongst wine producing countries with the average consumption of 16.7 litres of wine per person.
Don’t gloss over Hungarian wine and hope we see more of it. It might be time to get that California monkey off our back.
(Zelna Bárka Vörös Cuvée 2017, Zelna, Laposteki, Hungary, $23.95, LCBO # 18463, 750 mL, 14%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 92/100).
Imagine as a wine producer no wine reviewer picks up your wine. Well that’s not so bad if your wine is good. Favourable news travels by word of mouth. If you receive a negative review distributors want to keep that off the radar. If you get a 90 plus it is as if you have a pot of gold. Just look at the shelves of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario where 90 plus rules the roost in terms of signage like a mark of distinction. What about the thousands of wines the LCBO does not stock? What about the wineries not offering payola or paying to have their wines reviewed? There are too many wineries producing excellent wines that have no score. And isn’t it odd that the LCBO rarely fails to disclose wines that it carries with reviews in under the 90 category. Is the whole thing a marketing sham? As a last marker to my reviewing wines based on score, which I rarely do, just for amusement let’s look at a couple of 92’s from Spain.
The first is an Abad Dom Bueno from the Mencia grape which Matt Kramer of the Wine Spectator once said was like a Pinot Noir on steroids. It received its 92 rating from ex Wine Spectator writer James Suckling a reviewer I see as slightly over generous in his ratings.
As for wine critics was it Karl Mark or Lenin that said the state would wither when ruled by the proletariat. Wine reviewers will disappear when wine drinkers start controlling their wine tasting experiences by writing their own reviews of the wine they drink. This may require taking a wine course or two at your community college to start.
This Mencia has a dark purple colour. Maybe it is on steroids? On the nose it is precise and well measured or perhaps we might say tight. Blackberry and cassis predominate on the nose but there is also some blueberry and lavender. On the palate moderate tannins and the wine is full of juicy black cherry. It has a short finish. The wine is direct, straightforward and serious. While its pals are out eating tapas and staying out late it is home reading some Franz Kafka.
Although it is quaffable I think it is built for food primarily grilled meats and octopus. While not a big bruiser it would be reasonably categorized as full bodied and if it’s a Pinot Noir on steroids it is taking an awful lot of them!
It might smooth out at bit in the bottle but consume before the end of 2025.
(Abad Dom Beuno Mencia 2017 Laderas e Norte, DO Bierzo, Bodega del Abad, Leon, Spain, $16.95, LCBO # 291989, 750 mL, 14%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 90/100).
By Golly this is another Mencia! It is a Señorío de la Antigua rated a 92 by Wine Enthusiast. Black cherry in colour. On the nose black cherry, cassis and cherry liqueur. On the palate a deep streak of black cherry, plump very ripe strawberries and grape jelly. Very smooth and approachable. I can picture being in the main square of Bilboa sipping this watching the families out with their children enjoying the summer air with children playing under the watchful eye of their parents. Easy drinking and not complex. It has a friendly streak in it so it would suit a light snack of cured Iberian ham, olives and cheese in a totally chilled out familial atmosphere. Yes I miss Spain whether it be bustling Barcelona or Madrid or quieter Cadiz, Bilboa or Toledo. Maybe next year?
Drink now and serve with cheese, olives and cured meats. Drink by the end of the year.
(Señorío de la Antigua Mencia 2015, Vino e La Tierra Castilla Y León, Alvarez de Toledo Viñedos y Grupo Bodega, León, Spain, $14.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 481549, 750 mL, 13.5%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 90/100).
Jiber thought it was time to give his crew a talk and hand out some orders. He spoke to them under a grove of maple trees in a deserted part of the Montreal suburb Hudson. “Comrades. It is apparent that if one day we are to conquer Zortixia we require an army. We are aware that Zortixians will never welcome us with open arms but who likes taking their medicine? We will have to fight away to conquer those fools in Zortixia once and forever but we need recruits and that is the reason we are on Earth. Earthlings are dimwitted and slow but with them we shall fill our nets. They will be the backbone of our galactic army. Now I have instructed you to read Earthling history, sociology, art history and pornography etc. so that you would become well acquainted with their mannerisms and habits. It is time we put that knowledge to work. Our mission is to infiltrate all varieties or types of organizations and associations. We must determine the pulse of such groups. Blend in with them and curry their favour. They must accept and condone your thoughts. They must consider you as friends and leaders. Since many of you had high positions with The Opposite in Zortixia this infiltration and manipulation should not present you with great difficulties.
We should aim to brainwash, trick or force them into our ranks. We need a million or so of them. But knowing Canadian politics we must proceed with caution lest the federal government think some militaristic and separatist force is being trained to overthrow Canada. But then again that might work to our advantage as the Americans will think some threatening political and militaristic havoc is being fermented in Quebec and give the Yankees a reason to invade to “protect their interests”. Some of you will be sent to Washington to stir up some senile senators and public opinion that an invasion is warranted. It should not be difficult as the Yankees invaded Panama and a whole host of banana republics. If we are fortunate I plan to strike a bargain of some sort with the President of the United States. What bargain that will be I am still pondering. Perhaps we agree to deliver the entire province with its minerals and hydro electricity and in return we get exclusive rights over 50% of the population for our army and weapons from the Yankees with possible colonisation rights over a couple of planets in The Federation.
This is a mighty task but soon we will be feasting in the halls of the Legislative Assembly in Zortixia with the assembly members watching us with their heads on poles. The first white men of consequence in Quebec were the Frenchmen who were a brave lot and slaughtered aboriginals to prove it. Whomever they did not kill they subjugated them and stripped them of their culture and language. People after my own heart! But the aboriginals failed to completely conform so the Frenchmen imported more Frenchmen of the lowest order and wenches to increase the population. There were many impoverished nobles who were promised large tracts of land by their king to be worked by the paupers of France. The blackrobes of their church followed to spiritually subjugate the aboriginals and keep the French in line. So the foundations of the great French colony were laid until of course their great enemies, the British, thought they should own the same piece of real estate.”
“Two things make DBT unique. The first is the dynamic balance between acceptance of oneself and one’s situation in life, on the one hand and embracing change on the other. (That is what “dialectics” means-the balance of opposites and the coming to a synthesis.). Traditional psychotherapy focuses primarily on helping people change their behaviours, replacing negative behaviours with positive behaviours. The balance between pursuing change and pursuing acceptance strategies is a basis of DBT. This emphasis on acceptance as a counterbalance to change flows directly from the integration of Eastern (Zen), as I experienced it, and western psychological practice.”
“In mindfulness-based programs people learn to face their life problems and develop personalized strategies for working with them rather than simply giving themselves over to “experts” who are supposed to just “fix them” or make their problems magically disappear. Such programs are vehicles in which people can work to be healthier and more resilient, change their beliefs about what they are capable of doing, and learn to relax and cope more effectively with life stress. At the same time they can work at changing their lifestyles in key ways that might directly effect their health and physical well-being. Perhaps the most important step they can take in such programs is to expand the way they see themselves and their relationship to their life and the world.”
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