RKS Wine: Happy Canada Day and Happy 4th of July

All living souls in Canada and the United States have been through a difficult and frustrating time with COVID-19. There hasn’t been much optimism this year with wave after wave and dire threats and a ceaseless stream of propaganda from a politico medico elite funded by our tax dollars. But it would seem finally that this mythical light at the end of the tunnel is there unless it’s the engine light of a new virus mutation rendering the rush to market vaccines ineffective. And there has been an upheaval in American politics and ugly incidents of white supremacy and racial strife.

Well is it time to celebrate Canada’s birthday or are we to be so smothered in the shame of the residential school mass graveyards that have a genocide tinge to them? My heart goes out to the indigenous population of Canada perpetually treated as just about non-existent relegated to substandard housing, education and contaminated soils and waters. The residential school debacle is but a nasty continuum for which all Canadians deserve the truth and an action plan how to deal with our First Nations population. Americans seem to be realizing the ugly side of residential schools for their indigenous population. Oh by the way Happy July 4^th to my American readers.

I think all of us need a break and celebrate we are still alive and that the COVID battle is looking like it will be won. So lift a glass to you. Forget the ills and negativity of the world and mark your national holiday as a positive move ahead landmark.

Although the Frienzy Rosé Sparkling Wine can’t be opened with a pop as it is Stevin capped it does have bubbles! The label looks like something from the old Iron Curtain and has the dignity one might expect of a governmental minister breaking COVID protocol in the many ways they have. Again labels are not determinative of quality of what is inside the glass they are affixed to. Neither does the label indicate whether this sparkling wine is made in the Traditional Method or for that matter what method was used. Neither does it tell us what grapes were used.

As for aromatics this light pink wine has diffuse notes of raspberry, cherry, raspberry and Orri Tangerines. On the palate there is a streak of bitterness, ginger, ruby red grapefruit and chalk. I would suggest this wine be better used for christening a warship than drinking. Vineland Estates is a quality wine producer and this wine is uncharacteristic of its high standards.

I would say this would match a field tomato salad with basil and extra virgin olive oil. I would also say drink before the end of the year.

Serve very chilled as the wine shows more of its ugly side when not in a frigid state.

(Vineland Estates Frienzy Sparkling Rosé (Tank Method), VQA Ontario, Vineland Estates, Vineland, Ontario, $ 19.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 20162, 750 mL, 12%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 86/100).

As for Americans you can probably easily find A to Z Wineworks Bubbles Oregon Rosé. We see their Pinot Noir in Canada but this bubbly is new to Ontario. The label has a retro look attempting I think to look fun. This might be a good idea for the younger wine consumer looking for something friendly but it looks a bit too adolescent to me. Again it is what in the bottle that counts.

Moderate pink in colour. Aromas of strawberry, raspberry, watermelon and rose petals. Almost no visible bubbles though and no mention if the traditional or tank method was used. On the palate the bubbles are gentle and again like many Traditional Method sparklers there is an abundance of fruit on the palate although the wine is Brut. Cherry, strawberry and cactus pear. Just enough bubbles and fruit to make this a good sipper and celebrate the failure of the Great Insurrection and the toughness and grit of American democracy!

It was only a matter of hours but I was rushed back in vitro from North Hero Vermont and was born In Montreal so does that make me an “almost an American”? “Jesum Crow”, as they said in North Hero, he could have been a dual citizen!

(A to Z Wineworks Bubbles Oregon Rosé, A to Z Wineworks, McMinnville, Oregon, $19.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 19312, 750 mL, 12.5%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 90/100).

Well if you haven’t been blown away by the labels of the above two wines you may be put into overdose by the label on the Cava Vilaranu which by the way is organic. It looks like summer campers have been hard at work on a rainy day painting a bottle. Cava is made in the Traditional Method. Cava is Catalan for “cave” or cellar”. To be called a Cava the wine must be made in the Traditional Method.

Lots of tiny bubbles. On the nose apple, pear, lime and lemon. There is also a smidgen of cinnamon. The acidity is smooth and broad based and quite thirst quenching. On the palate ginger, guava, mango with the tiny bubbles giving the wine almost a creamy texture. This is a dry smooth mid weight wine with its army of bubbles giving it a medium finish.

There are few wines I would accredit as being thirst quenching but this falls into that category. Save it for one of those hot and humid evenings when you are sweltering outside. Keep it nestled in an ice bucket.

(Vilarnau Barcelona Reserva Brut Cava (Organic), Castel de Vilarnau, Saint Sadurni D’Anoia, Spain, $15.95. Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 515254, 750 mL, 11.5%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 90/100).

COVID Exposes Racial Inequalities in the United States

Health disparities and the racial burden of COVID-19

With new evidence suggesting Black and Hispanic populations were disproportionately affected by the pandemic, experts weigh in on the importance of vaccination and addressing health disparities

A woman with an oxygen tank is vaccinated for COVID-19

CREDIT:WILL KIRK / JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

BySaralyn Cruickshank / Published Jun 25

Despite substantial gains in vaccinating Americans against COVID-19, the United States must also grapple with new, sobering evidence about where the burden of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has disproportionately fallen: on minority communities.

A new study published Wednesday in The BMJ finds that, on average, U.S. life expectancy dropped 1.87 years from 2018 to 2020, when COVID-19 became the third leading cause of death in the United States. Life expectancy decreases were most significant among Black and Hispanic populations, which dropped by 3.25 and 3.88 years, respectively.

Importantly, the study indicates that COVID-19 deaths alone do not explain these life expectancy decreases. The researchers point to a constellation of systemic problems such as racial disparities in health care and a series of social and economic disruptions (such as unemployment, homelessness, and food insecurity) that have existed for decades among marginalized groups but were exacerbated by the pandemic, contributing to the dramatic declines in life expectancy seen among Black and Hispanic populations. “The large number of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. reflects not only the country’s policy choices and mishandling of the pandemic but also deeply rooted factors that have put the country at a health disadvantage for decades,” the researchers write in the study.

ALSO SEE

Pandemic caused U.S. life expectancy to plummet — especially among Black and Hispanic Americans, study finds

/ Forbes

The pandemic led to the biggest drop in U.S. life expectancy since WWII, study finds

/ NPR

Together, the facts paint a picture of a nation badly in need of resolving systemic racial issues and disparities and reveal an urgent need to continue vaccination efforts aimed at reaching vulnerable communities. During a media briefing Thursday, Johns Hopkins Health faculty members Lisa Cooper and Rupali Limaye, who were not involved in The BMJ study, discussed the scourge of racial disparities in health care and what it will take for vaccination efforts to reach vulnerable populations.

“We’re really seeing [vaccine] hesitancy now in specific populations, and specifically within populations that have health disparities related to COVID morbidity, as well as mortality,” said Limaye, an associate scientist in the division of Global Disease Epidemiology and Control in the Department of International Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is an expert in vaccine decision-making and hesitancy. “And this is really due to a lack of confidence in the vaccine, concerns about safety related to the vaccine, as well as distrust in government.”

Image caption:Rupali Limaye (left) and Lisa Cooper

And while vaccine access and vaccine hesitancy may appear to be two distinct challenges, Limaye added that during the pandemic, the two have become intertwined.

“Earlier on in the pandemic, because states were requiring older individuals or all individuals to gain a vaccine appointment online, [many older adults] gave up trying to get a vaccine appointment and it essentially led to distrust in the overall health care system,” Limaye said.

Limaye said there are a handful of policy strategies that could help address both vaccine access and hesitancy among vulnerable populations:

Build trust in vaccines by selecting trusted community leaders to serve as messengers of vaccine efficacy and safety
Lower the barriers to accessing vaccines by making them more readily available within the communities where there is need and providing vaccine options—such as the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine—to populations that may have trouble following up with a second dose of the mRNA vaccine options
Find innovative incentive programs for vaccination, whether it’s food incentives or financial incentives
Enlist employers as avenues for increasing vaccine access, whether by distributing vaccines themselves or allowing employees additional leave time for vaccination
Ensure reliable, accurate information on vaccines is publicly available to counter misinformation and disinformation that is circulating online

Cooper, a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor and pioneering researcher of health disparities, said the National Institutes of Health’s Community Engagement Alliance Against COVID-19 Disparities, for which she is a steering committee member, has enacted similar strategies at sites across the U.S. to great success.

“Efforts to boost vaccine rates are still ongoing and are very strong, particularly in communities of color,” said Cooper, whose new book, Why Are Health Disparities Everyone’s Problem?, will be published by JHU Press June 29. “I think there may be places around the country where efforts have declined, but for the most part, in [communities where inequity is high], we’re really still seeing a lot of efforts being made, fortunately. Because we do need them.”

As more data on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic become available, Cooper said she is confident the evidence will serve as an alarm for policymakers and citizens alike about the importance of addressing health and racial inequities in the United States.

“Health inequities actually increase costs to our entire society,” Cooper said. “They result in loss of productivity and competitiveness on an economic level; they result in community disharmony, stress, and civic unrest; [and they cause] a huge burden of human suffering.”

Posted in Health, Voices+Opinion, Politics+Society

Tagged health disparities, lisa cooper, race, coronavirus, covid-19 vaccine Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Pin it on PinterestEMAILMORE SOCIAL MEDIA OPTIONSShare on LinkedIn Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr

The silver lining of COVID-19’s dark clouds

Published Aug 25, 2020Johns Hopkins expert in health disparities discusses how the coronavirus pandemic has shed light on the vulnerabilities of communities of color and the need to better protect everyone’s health

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“Mutantism on the March” :Chapter 76 “Why Don’t Those Idiots Simply Take Over Canada?”

According to the Jiber’s reading of the history of Quebec the British invaders failed to impose a strict conformity of the British Empire on the defeated French. A big mistake! Now the USA economically and socially was in command of Canada why not wipe it out as a country and make it part of the USA? These Americans were being half assed with Canadians or perhaps they were simply patient waiting for complete financial and economic integration? Why waste time trying to grab a dung hole like Vietnam when Canada was ripe for the taking! Few regarded the American threat seriously except for the communists and mutants who were threatening the patters of ingrained conformity. Nationalism took second place to Coca-Cola and blockbuster American movies. Could it be the mutants might be the mirror in which the reflection of mass manipulation could be seen?

The key to power was conformity. If only Stalin and Hitler had been more ruthless they could have paved the way to continual absolute power in their own countries and throughout the world. Jiber thought they really weren’t masters but amateurs in comparison to the iron fisted rule Jiber’s father had imposed upon Zortixia for many years. But then again the human race was relatively young and one could not expect miracles overnight. There would always be pockets of discontented and unhappy rabble rousers. You could never crush them but maybe that was unwise as they drew out other discontents who could be identified and crushed sort of acting like cheese in a mousetrap. Jiber became aware that to impose absolute conformity on all Earth, at least initially, would be fruitless and time consuming thus it was better to play with the existing cards. Infiltrate the schools, Parliament, the universities, the media, the Lion’s Club, Toastmasters and the Shriners! Create a new conformity with your followers to ensure conformity’s growth. Make it fun but subtle. At one point it would be easy to create a subjugated army. Wear Eves St. Moron suits, drive Chevrolets and even penetrate provincial and federal power structures. Jiber knew too well from his reading of even the sanitized Canadian history its founders and rulers had been swindlers and criminals. Stealing land from the aboriginals and wiping their children out through residential schools. He admired the railway men Canadian venerated as the builders of Canada even though Chinese workers had been exploited and fleeced to glorify the railway barons. How amusing the great founders of Canada had been slave traders and perpetuators of genocide over the indigenous population yet glorified in the history books and rewarded with railway cars full of cash! And the stupid Canadians lauded them as national heroes. Was “The Last Spike” a spike in the heart of decency and humanity? The most attractive thing was this scam was all legal. Anyone could play by conforming and jumping into the fray and grabbing anything they could lay their hands on. Who knew…if you tried hard enough you might even become a Premier or a Prime Minister? Hmmm…..that was an idea!

Unfortunately most of the cash and the glory had been usurped by earlier politicians who were cementing their dynasties by creating elite private schools like Lower Canada College and Upper Canada College to train their children to be their successors and maintain and grow their grip on society. Anyone who challenged their monopoly of power was dealt with harshly these days. The middle class had been prevented by the barricades from jumping up the social hierarchy leaving them bitterly complaining on their doorsteps about their exclusion. So what could the Jiber do? Perhaps he could ally with the Americans so as to curry favour and with their help invade Canada. The Yankees were mired down with Vietnam as they had been with Korea. Could he somehow persuade the Americans Quebec was another Hanoi and an easy apple for the picking? Quebec had the population for an intergalactic army. The Jiber needed to devise a coup.

“Mutantism on the March” :Chapter 75 “Montreal in a Panic”

Montreal was in a turmoil if not in a panic. Wild rumours spread of space creatures on a rampage. It had started at Expo 67 and spread to McSwill University where the “invaders” had attempted to initiate a “civil war”. The Quebec government declared a provincial state of emergency and school and business establishments were closed with citizens advised to stay in their homes. Churches were packed with thousands praying for salvation.

While Quebec was in a state of anxiety the rest of Canada, if not the world was highly skeptical of an alien invasion despite the fact that a parade of highly respected authorities and experts had verified they had seen aliens and their spacecraft fly away. The rest of Canada aware of the “unique nature” of Quebec society fluffed off the panic as a public relations stunt to draw large number of visitors to Montreal’s World Fair Expo 67. In didn’t take too long for the frenzy to subside as the media convinced them this was simply a prank of devious engineering students.

Mutants in Montreal were not so easily persuaded to forget the affair. It verified their assertion that planetary aliens existed and that by reaction of Montrealer’s they would be seen as mutants. For Squid and his band of Montreal mutants aliens were but a segment of the great galactic brotherhood. Squid wrote of the incident in the weekly “Hebdo des Mutants”, “Mutants have never been truly welcomed on Earth and this includes the newest variety being those from other planets. What sort of welcome were they accorded? They were shot at and thousands were stirred into a state of hysteria by sensationalist media hounds. It was disgusting they were treated and viewed in such a manner. Unfortunately we mutants are accustomed to such behaviour. Sometimes we fall under a hail of bullets but more often we are crushed under the weight of societal treatment and legalised discrimination. The establishment distrusts anything that does not conform to their conception of reality and the manner in which they treated these aliens flagrantly emphasizes this unsavoury reality.”

Jiber and his crew had been enjoying hearty snickers over the consternation they had created. It taught them an important point in Earthling psychology and that to survive one was to conform to a degree of respectability. It wasn’t advisable to parade about in strange garb or let one’s ship be seen. It only made these Earthlings suspicious, Dress like the masses, eat like the masses and think like the masses. It was this Squid idiot that was perceptive on this point. Another Earth idiot leading a band of hopeless humanity. Why was dignity so important to these fools? His own father on Zortixia had been executed because he failed to supress this type of moral weakling that could corrupt the soul with such slimy talk. These mutants were weak but tricky and he would have to keep a close eye on them. It was good that these mutants were weak and virtually no one paid attention to them. The mutants were of a nonconformist nature and they flaunted it openly. No wonder they were so politically weak. No one on Earth liked to hear the truth about themselves. The more conformist a population was the easier it was to detect their deviance and stamp them out. The ruling classes on Earth were doing a decent of supressing political deviants. Forget this insipid minority talk of welcoming cultural deviance. If only his father on Zortixia had carried this simple task he might be still alive.

RKS Wine: Gotta Dump or Return ! However moving on to more positive experiences

If you are in Canada, American wine imported is invariably from California and to a lesser extent from Oregon or Washington. Let us forget the possibility of any Pennsylvanian or Texas Chardonnay or Virginian Cabernet Sauvignon. The thought of such exotic wines would no doubt frighten the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) management as new to them must mean a crippling blow to their monopolistic profits. They are shaking in their boots as it is more or less letting evil British Columbia wines flood into Ontario and totally ignoring Quebec wines. Same old story cling like hell to California!

One New Mexican wine we occasionally see is from Gruet. Gruet has been producing sparkling wines for over 25 years.

So what is their Brut Rosé like? For one thing it is made in the Champagne Method meaning it is made the way Champagne is made in the Champagne region of France that France by treaties has sought to protect its overpriced and “symbolic” wine i.e., a celebratory wine.

It is crazy with its bubbles like rioters in the recent Great Insurrection on Capitol Hill in Washington. There is some strawberry and raspberry swirling about the nose but there is some rather stale and foreign intruder like wet cement or cognac that has been sitting in a glass for a week burglarizing usually reliable Gruet. Oh terror more ammo for the LCBO not to stray away from dearest California. Trichloroainisole (TCA) contamination i.e. corked was the fate of the bottle.

Gotta dump this infected wine or better yet return it for a refund.

(Gruet Brut Rosé, Gruet Winery, Albuquerque, New Mexico, $25.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 15686, 12%, 750 mL, UNRATED DUE TO FAULT).

Now we move on to a store manager 30% discount off an Angel’s Gate Sauvignon Blanc Sparkler reduced from $29.95 to $20.80. These discounts are given due to overstocking or low customer demand which just might mean the same!

Settling down from the trauma of a faulty wine this one lacks a frenzy of tiny bubbles despite the fact it is made in the Traditional Method i.e. the same way Champagne is made. You can pick up traditional Sauvignon Blanc aromas but they are gently masked which is not necessarily bad. Firm notes of pineapple, tangerine and mango. On the palate the Sauvignon Blanc asserts itself with more force. And is has some fruit as opposed to so many Brut Champagnes that blast your plate with crispness. So I’d say you are drinking an Extra-Dry here. Notes of apple, pear, lime and clementine. I will note that when served very chilled the Sauvignon Blanc soul is in hiding but as the wine warms up it emerges from the shadows. Ladies and gentlemen we are liberated from the tyranny of Brut and Extra Brut which is becoming quite frankly a bit boring. Apart from the delightful novelty it is a well-made sparkler. And its retention of fruit makes it more than a palate cleanser. I’d pair it with Chinese or Thai food or at this price for a great afternoon sipper in the garden or patio. This fruit experience is what we don’t get enough of in Ontario.

(Angels Gate Estate Winery 2016 VQA Niagara Peninsula, Archangel Sauvignon Blanc Sparkling Wine, Angels Gate Estate Winery Beamsville, Ontario, $20.80, Liquor Control Board of Ontario #11984, 750 mL, 11%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 92/100).

We conclude with a 2017 Flat Rock Cellars Riddled reduced from $27.75 to $19.30. Made in the Traditional Method. Wild careening bubbles. On the nose apple, pear, citrus, wet slate and butter tart. It is dry but not overly crisp and acidic. On the palate a soothing and broad-based acidity making it more food friendly than some Extra Brut razor blade sparkling whites. You might detect some notes of pineapple upside down cake, key lime pie with a buttery pastry shell, guava, ginger and freshly cut lumber. This off dry sparkler has close to a creamy texture and is made with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes. Its carbonation is intricately woven into the wine making it a complex Niagara sparkler. Speaking of food I can’t think of a main course dish to pair it with but its creamy nature might make it a good match for some Camembert/Brie and with Malpeque oysters with a good squeeze of lemon. Of course, it is great on its own. It also has a bit of mystery to me as there is an aroma and taste I simply can’t pin down so I have tried to mention lumber and wet slate but that is as close as I can come to solving the mystery. Flat Rock obviously has a riddle in their wine I can’t solve.

(Flat Rock Cellars 2017 Sparkling, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Flat Rock Cellars, Jordan, Ontario, $27.75 (store specific reduction to $19.30), LCBO # 383315, 750 mL, 12%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating, 89/100).

“The Walk”: A Fine Atypical Animation Short From Quebec

There is much that can be the subject of interpretation in “The Walk”. It is an atypical animated short. Sort of like “ultrasound animation” if I can invent a new term!

“The Walk” is written, directed and produced by multi-disciplinary artist Yoakim Bélanger entirely painted by hand with Chinese ink and pencils, six images per second requiring five years of creation. It shows women coming out of the shadows and walking toward a light source calmly at first then with clenched fists and screams as the music intensifies. It can be interpreted as you wish and the distributor sates that it is a “striking tribute to the feminist movement and female strength”. Could it also mean women walking towards the shining light of death? Could it mean the segregation and objectification of women and the pain it causes?

That’s part of the fun interpreting what it might mean. The animation and music is well synched and as a whole it is both creative and innovative and similar to another Quebec animated film “Archipelago” from Félix Dufour Lappière. It is presently showing during the 27^th edition of Palm Springs Shortfest. At the 2021 Mecal Int. Short Film Festival in Barcelona it won the Grand Prize for Best Short Film of the Oblique Competition which includes all the atypical animated films. As to how you can view this short perhaps best to check with the distributor’s website travellingdistribution.com/film/la-marche-435.

You can see the trailer here https://vimeo.com/560141503

Poetry Corner: COVID’s Health Caste System

COVID’s Health Caste System

The Untouchables are the unvaccinated
stay away
penalize
trivialize
criticize
public health authorities the new Ku Klux Clan
socially lynch so quietly without actually killing except socially
then the one shotters
good boys and girls waiting for the second jab
to avoid being a social scab
then the two shotters
the wise and intelligent and caring
perhaps the over manipulated
or blackmailed
I’m so sick and tired of manipulation and scaring
you don’t play the game hammered by incessant soothing advertising paid by our tax dollars
and if you protest and holler
You are no better and free than a dog in a collar

Robert K. Stephen

“Mutantism on the March” :Chapter 74 “Jiber Causes Havoc at McSwill University”

Jiber ordered a quick retreat from Expo 67 and they landed on a green field surrounded by majestic buildings. A sign nearby said “McSwill University”. Soon students arrived for their morning classes but initially they showed little interest in the craft as the students in the Faculty of Engineering were always building strange contraptions, when they weren’t swilling beer and making misogynist remarks, and this was just another one of them.

The Jiber, noting the lack of hostility of the students, thought it safe to emerge from their spacecraft. Their lime green suits and sparkling shoes drew applause from a group of nearby students. Those engineers had really outdone themselves this time! Jiber took the applause as a sign of friendship and talked to the students in English a language the Zortixians mastered in minutes. Several professors from the Engineering Faculty emerged from their Martini breakfast and sauntered over to see the splendid craft their students had manufactured. What imagination these lads had! Word spread quickly about the spacemen these engineers were pretending to be. As no one in the Engineering Faculty recognized these spacemen it was thought they were engineering students from the Université de Montreal. The Engineering students and their professors asked Jiber and his crew design questions but only received evasive answers. Jiber and his crew were delighted to be receiving praise and attention. The gaiety was short lived as a noisy group of anti-war protestors and Friends of Chew an Lie who marched up to Jiber and dissed him for building a craft with Pentagon funds. After all the CIA was exposed for experimenting with psychiatric patients at the Mugless Mental Hospital a McSwill teaching hospital. Jiber was not certain what war the protestors were bellowing about but he praised the virtues of war and how it made the soul strong. The protestors shouted him down yelling “Fascist pig!”. The McSwill cadet squad jumped into the fray and started swinging at the commie protestors. The startled Zortixians were caught in the middle of a melee.

Jiber had read Montenez’s “A Short History of Earth” when he was in hiding on Zortixia but it was not enough to understand what these Earthlings we so upset about. One chapter in the book had been “Political Criminals and Their Legacies”. Montenez was a cowardly and stupid like the Slug People particularly when he criticized a man called Stalin for his show trials. Jiber admired Stalin and his iron will crushing all actual and fictious enemies in is path. Stalin was exactly like his late father. And Stalin loved executions! What was there not to like! Humans and their politics were proving difficult to understand. Jiber’s ruminations were disturbed by police sirens which sounded quite like those on Zortixia. It was time to leave this confusing mess and find a quiet place where he could do some research on Earthlings. If Jiber and his crew were to dominate and enslave humanity they needed to better understand them. The mini riot ended when the spacecraft flew off leaving a puzzled and frightened crowd behind.

RKS Wine: A Couple of 90’s from Italy

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) loves quoting reviewers that give a wine 90 plus points. I suppose that helps consumers select a good wine assuming of course the reviewer is realistic. Most reviewers are consistent and trustworthy. Some are notorious for overrating so take the rating with a grain of salt particularly if you consistently disagree with ratings of a particular reviewer.

The first is a Stefano Farina Barbera d’Alba rated a 90 by Luca Maroni who has a reputation for inflated scores. At times I have disagreed with his ratings by 7-8 points.

Barbera is a signature Piedmontese grape grown throughout Italy. The best one I have had was from Campania.

The nose reveals black cherry, blackberry, vanilla, cranberry, chocolate and violets. On the palate mild tannins that creep up in intensity on the finish. There are notes of blackberry, strawberry and chocolate wafer cookies. The finish is short. The Barbera’s I had in Campania were eminently quaffable and smooth but this is a “hot wine”. Many wines can handle 14.5% alcohol and you can’t pick up the heat from the alcohol. In his case you can feel the heat and can lead to the conclusion it is a bit unbalanced. I suggest this is one of those foodie wines best consumed with fattier cuts of grilled meat. I don’t know if you’ll agree with me but the high alcohol content robs the wine of its fruit on the palate?

Drinkable now but I can’t say ageing will improve the wine.

(Stefano Farina 2018 Barbera d’Alba, Barbera D’Alba DOC, Stefano Farina, Cuneo, Italy, $17.95, LCBO #10601, 750 mL, 14.5%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 88/100).

The next 90 was given by Wine Current for a 2018 Valpanera Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso. Refosco is a north-eastern Italian red grape often highly acidic but gives deeply coloured wines often with harsh tannins.

The wine has a dark ruby colour. As for aromatics loganberry, cherry preserves and a little streak of chocolate. On the palate the tannins are restrained but there is a faint bitterness which does not really detract from the wine. There is some cherry dominating the palate but there is some dark chocolate which may account for the slight bitterness on the palate. There is some blackcurrant and lavender. There is a refreshing lightness to the wine. It doesn’t seem to mind what you think of it or how many points you give it.

A good match with warm Greek potato salad with lots of fresh field tomatoes, anchovies and fresh basil with a good shot of Greek olive oil.

(Valpanera Refosco Dal Peduncolo Rosso 2018, Friuli Aquileia DOC, S.A. Valpanera, Fiumicello Villa Vincentina, Italy, $ 15.95, LCBO # 10080, 12.5%, 750 mL, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 91/100).

“Mutantism on the March” :Chapter 73 “Panic and Terror at Expo 67”

Lucien Loup awoke to the shrill bells of his Bestinghouse alarm in his suburban St. Laurent duplex in Montreal. He rolled over a little too far to turn off the alarm and crashed to the floor tangled in sweat-soaked sheets. He picked himself up and staggered to the shower to see if some cold water could revive him from his beer-soaked evening. With a pounding headache it was going to be a long day. He had slouched downstairs where his wife Monique had prepared eggs, bacon and those damned Le Gros Jean baked beans which meant he might be wet farting all day, He gagged down his breakfast glancing at his favourite “Allo Police” newspaper so he could catch up on the local spate of murders, rapes and drug busts. He laced up his Greb work boots, kissed his wife and placed his battered hard hat on and farting like a sick pig headed out to his rusting Grand Prix Pontiac. It was off to another day’s work at Expo 67 Montreal’s big World Fair that the wonderful mayor of Montreal Jean Droolpoop had promised the world. His construction firm bosses were so delighted at the enormous contracts they had received they donated several thousand dollars to the Mimic Party of Droolpoop. Well political corruption was more his bosses’ business than his. The construction was hard work and he undertook it with pride. He was the foreman for the morning shift. Montreal was so beautiful in the spring almost enough to make you forget its savage winters. He arrived at the site and the security guard was nodding off at the gates most likely some college student taking on more than he could. Well at least he wasn’t smoking pot or demonstrating about the Vietnam War. He had to honk his horn to wake up the young wastrel security guard who woke up and opened the gate. Loup drove over to the US pavilion and checked some welding the evening shift had done. His eyes roamed the site. What wonderful work the working men of Montreal had completed.

Then he saw it. Something that wasn’t there when he had left the site yesterday. It was indeed a strange object and something very large. He chuckled and said it was looking like a spaceship and was most likely part of a large outdoor exhibit outside the U.S.S.R. pavilion. Hs fellow workers smoking their Export A cigarettes sauntered over to the strange object. No one knew what it was or why it was there so they just stared at it. It wasn’t on the delivery schedule. A few suggested with hearty guffaws it was a spaceship from Mars and some of the more adventurous placed ladders against the object and started climbing up the strange fixture. The first construction worker managed to open up the hatch and looked in and turned a ghastly shade of white and screaming headed down the ladder in terror.

Jiber and his crew jumped out of the craft causing a mad stampede and panic amongst the workers. Screams of “INVASION” were heard as the workers made a hasty retreat. An aged security guard took a shot from his shotgun and narrowly missed the Jiber who retaliated with a blast from his ray gun causing the guard to explode like a watermelon dropped from the top of Montreal’s Place Ville Marie. Jiber ordered a retreat leaving a scene of panic behind them. Jiber had hoped that Earthlings were not all so hostile. He had heard of an Earthling war occurring in Vietnam. Did they look like Vietcong staging an invasion of Montreal?