RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Henry of Pelham 2023 Lost Boys Baco Noir: Not a Wine for Cider House Rules Orphanage: Confessions of a Turkey Gravy Man!

Baco Noir is a French Hybrid grape produced in 1894 and planted in days of yore in Ontario and the Eastern United States. Perhaps a low life or roustabout grape for the unsophisticated decades ago? A “90 Day Fiancé” or a” Below the Deck” type of grape?

Like South African Pinotage it can be dreadful or magnificent. It presents the nose with a smoky and soft fruit nose but once it hits the palate it can be Concordish. Not so with Henry of Pelham. I recall a few years ago I pulled a Henry of Pelham Baco Noir that had been a lost boy in my cellar for some 8 years. It could have been one of the best Ontario red wines I have encountered.

Few wineries can pull off a memorable Baco Noir in Ontario but if any winery can accomplish Baco Noir excellence it is Henry of Pelham which should not be confused with the disaster movie “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3”.

This Baco Noir comes from some of H of P’s oldest vineyards planted in 1984 in crooked rows that follow the contour of the vineyard. The wine was aged in spicy American oak (new and one year old barriques) and finished in more subtle French oak.

Aroma: Dense smoky black cherry and chocolate infused root beer. Secondary notes of blackberry, black raspberry and coconut.

Palate: Smooth and big time fruity without disintegrating into foxy grape juice nor that terrible acidic fizz plaguing so many Ontario Baco’s. The smoothness and fruit camouflages the tannins and acids. But make no mistake this is no sloppy floozy wine. The finish is Tawny Port like meaning long and decadent.

Personality: Is there really any other Ontario Baco Noir other than from my master’s at H of P?

Food Match: Pasta with Putanesca sauce simmered with Tawny Port and using Ontario field tomatoes and garlic. Oh….a stellar match with festive turkey particularly when consumed with cranberry sauce! Perish the thought for me…a gravy man!

Music Match: “Foxy Lady”….Hendrix.

Cellarbility: A difficult question! It’s lack of perceived tannins and acids may indicate drink by 2026-year end but my personal experience hints at a wine that will evolve into 2031. This wine may defy established rules. The beguiling nature of exceptional Ontario Baco Noir.

Price: $40 CDN. YIKES!!! But evaluate this exclamation at the end of this decade.

RKS 2025 Canadian Wine Rating: 93/100. Natalie MacLean 93. Wine Align 89.

(Henry of Pelham Family Estate 2023 Bin 106 Lost Boys Baco Noir, VQA Ontario, Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery, St, Catharines, Ontario, 750 mL, 13%).

RKS 2025 Film: “Green Border”: Trials and Tribulations of Refugees and Migrants Crossing Belarusian Border into Poland

This Polish feature film opens with a Syrian refugee family flying from Turkey into Belarus where a taxi arranged by a family member living in Sweden will transport them to the Polish border where they will “illegally” cross into Poland the assumption being the trip from Poland to Sweden can be made without any difficulty as after all they are in the EU the land of refugee and migrant perceived milk and honey. The Syrian family muses flying into Belarus then “sneaking into” to Poland, an EU member, is less trying and much safer than a boat crossing. The film makes it quite clear this is not the case.

The Syrian family accompanied by an Afghan refugee take the prearranged taxi from the airport to an unofficial Belarus-Polish border crossing being stopped in a heavily forested area by Belarus military authorities that extort a further 300 Euros to permit them to crawl under the barbed wire and to the EU! After struggling through the Polish forest for two days the Polish border security forces roundup the Syrian family and toss them into a truck with other migrants and refugees and shove them back through the barbed wire to Belarus where they are extorted, robbed and beaten. The Syrian family escapes back into Poland and promptly herded by Polish border security forces again in ping pong fashion into Belarus. One refugee tells the Syrian family this back and forth has happened to him 5 times. Migrants and refugees are bled dry by the Belarusians and despised by both the Poles and Belarusians.  

The Syrian grandfather is severely beaten by the Belarusian security forces and separated from the family and their young son escapes into the Polish forest with the Afghani woman and drowns in a bog.

The Belarusians are portrayed as vicious louts. The Poles are less vicious but the Polish border guards are trained to treat these “darky” migrants and refugees as live bullets from Putin and dictator President Lukashenko of Belarus a strong Russian ally. We follow a border guard who gradually faces disillusionment, if not PTSD, after participating in so many terrorizing and brutal roundups and expulsions.

Poles are unsympathetic to the refugees and migrants flowing through the Belarusian border but there are Polish activists providing legal advice, food, water, medical care, phones, power banks and dry clothes but do not act as guides or offer transportation facing arrest for aiding illegal migrants. Even where the initial paperwork for Polish asylum is prepared officially requiring transport to a migrant camp this rule is ignored and the border police may simply “export” migrants and refugees back to Belarus.

Viewers may expect a steady diet of desperation, terror, fear, violence and corruption directed toward migrants and refugees entering Poland through Belarus and those that help them face harassment and or arrest.

Strange watching the Epilogue where during the first two weeks from the start of the Russian 26February2022 invasion of Ukraine close to two million Ukrainian refugees were admitted into Poland in a polite and good-mannered fashion unlike the treatment of refugees and migrants entering Poland through the Belarusian border. Was this based on religion, race, geographical proximity and politics?

The black and white cinematography lends a realistic and highly depressing tinge to the film. This film simply could not have been shot in colour.

Directed by Agnieszka Holland.

Screens 13September2025 at the Biannual Kino Polska Film Festival in New York.

RKS 2025 Film Rating 89/100.

RKS 2025 Film: “It’s Not My Film” (To nie moj): Can A Crumbling Relationship Survive The Odyssey?

Young urban Poles Wanda (Zofia Chabiera) and Jan (Marcin Sztabiňski) are suffering from marital blues.

It might be summed up by a depressed Wanda at a bar with Jan saying she wants to board an airplane and fly away, get morning drunk on tequila and have someone fuck her over a kitchen sink and it doesn’t matter with whom and one expects Jan to text her with messages like buying wieners and trash bags. About the only thing that makes Wanda in her relationship with Jan happy is being able to fit a cauliflower in a pot.

Jan, less expressive and more reserved than Wanda, simply can’t determine what Wanda wants or makes her tick.

Jan proposes and Wanda accepts they set out on a 400-kilometer winter hike along Poland’s Baltic coast trailing belongings with provisions in sleds along sandy beaches and camping out with minimal interaction or contact with civilization. As Jan states, “We aren’t going to fall in love again by sitting on the couch.”

Off they commence their marital odyssey with Jan setting yet another rule stating if they can’t make the trek they will end the marriage.

Be prepared for spectacular cinematography along the wintery Baltic coast. At moments one can’t but help thinking of similarities of the wintery Baltic coast with the desert of “Lawrence of Arabia” . Crashing waves, snow, greyness, sunsets with almost all humans encountered eccentrics like the hermit living in a trailer or the very drunk man with tomato seedlings he asks Jan and Wanda to deliver to his mother. It is almost as Wanda and Jan are explorers in a virgin land discovering its beauty and hopefully themselves.

Thrust and parry they go not making any ostensible progress with their crumbling relationship. Every advance made is countered by a set back.

The rules “of a perfect relationship” are after all “rules” aren’t they? Stereotypical and far from custom made for “real relationships”. Wanda believes her rules should rule the roost but will she waiver when Jan says to her, “If I am in a prison, you are the crack that let’s the air in”?

If there is any prison here it would be built brick by brick by Wanda’s expectations but with prisons there are always prison breaks.

You can watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNcBcLHlUPo&t=2s

The director is Maria Zbąska.

The film screens 18September2025 in New York at the Biannual Kino Polska Film Fest.

RKS 2025 Film Rating 87/100.

RKS 2025 Film: “Under the Volcano”: Metaphorical Streams of Lava!

Roma (Roman Lutskyi), his wife Nastia (Anastasiia Karpenko) and Roma’s children the phone obsessed Sofia (Sofia Berezovska) and the cartoon loving Fedir (Fedir Pugachov) are Ukrainians spending a vacation on one of the Canary Islands, Tenerife. Fun and good times and inevitably the departure back to Kiev. But the fun and games abruptly end with their return flight indefinitely cancelled due to the full scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia on 24February2022. A military eruption if you prefer.

They return to their hotel and are offered free room and board courtesy of hotel management. They endeavour to continue their holiday but emotions of fear, apprehension, dread, isolation, anger and frustration erupt. At times the familial tension is so high it is as if a final eruption will tear the family to shreds. There is also the spectre of Roma joining the Ukrainian Territorial Forces upon his return to the Ukraine.

The family takes a walk at the foot of Tenerife’s main volcano Mount Teide becoming lost leading to a battle royale between Roma and Nastia whose bickering becomes their normal tone of communication. At one point Nastia explodes in a tirade against Russian tourists at their hotel.

Sofia meets an African migrant Mike who tells of his voyage to Spain along with 55 others to start a “new life.” Mike is in the right place. Mike wishes to remain in Spain. The Ukrainian family is in the wrong place. They wish to return to Ukraine. Both are victims of circumstances and living in a stratum of unreality.

There are 4 scenes in the film of the rough and crashing ocean somewhat symbolic of the storm Ukraine and the family are caught in and the journey that migrants endure travelling to Spain in ramshackle boats.

The family’s visit to an abandoned resort is reminiscent of destroyed Ukrainian villages seen on news reports and documentaries about the war.

Sofia’s walk down the street while fireworks explode amidst a celebration is in metaphorical terms what awaits millions of Ukrainians.

Interpret the film the way you wish but aren’t we all are living under a volcano of sorts waiting for metaphorical eruptions?

The director of “Under the Volcano” is Damian Kocur.

Screens at New York’s Bi-Annual Kino Polska Film Fest on 13September2025.

The film was submitted as Poland’s official entry for the Best International Film at the 97th Academy Awards in 2025.

RKS 2025 Film Rating 87/100.

RKS 2025 Wine: The Liquor Control Board of Ontario Embarrasses Itself Yet Again

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) everyone’s favourite liquor monopoly has soiled itself yet again. It mouths a rah rah rah for Ontario wines but rarely delivers except for the wines of Niagara but even there….

In the 13September2025 Vintages Release catalogue the cover of the catalogue trumpets “We’re All In On Ontario”. The LCBO is so into Ontario wines it has completely forgotten, as usual, any serious inclusion of the wines of Lake Erie North Shore (LENS) and Prince Edward County (PEC) both wines producing areas in the province of Ontario.

And what is the love affair with all these Le Clos Jordanne wines in the catalogue?

Time to defund the LCBO! LENS and PEC wines matter!

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Redstone 2021 Gamay Noir

Aroma: Raspberry, Niagara red cherry and a generous dosage of French oak.

Palate: Restrained and tight giving little rein to the raspberry and cherry but not stifling it. Short finish with light and passing tannins.

Personality: So if I don’t flaunt my fruit this is a matter of choice and style.

Cellarbility: Drink now.

Food Pairing: Not much on the Redstone Winery restaurant menu that suits this Gamay to a tee. My choice would be their Nduja & Ricotta Ravioli (Roasted red pepper & tomato vinaigrette, toasted almond, arugula and Parmesan).

Price: $24 CDN.

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine Rating: 83/100. Michael Godel Wine Align 89.

(Redstone 2021 Gamay Noir, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Redstone Wines, Beamsville, Ontario, 750 mL, 12.5%).

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Ontario Sauvignon Blanc from Wending Home: Elegance with Attitude

If you are mired in the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc mud you enjoy its “thickness” and potency as the old gooseberry and cat’s pee hits you squarely in the eyes. If you prefer a “thinner” or perhaps more elegant Sauvignon Blanc you might turn to Bordeaux or Ontario!

I enjoy Sauvignon Blancs from Bordeaux and decided to try a Featherstone 2022 Sauvignon Blanc from Niagara, Ontario and noticed a stylistic similarity to Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux.

I decided to further this Ontario investigation by trying a Wending Home Sauvignon Blanc to determine if this similarity to Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc might be indicative of a “Niagara style” Sauvignon Blanc.

Aroma: Primarily white grapefruit with guava, mango, pear and Spanish clementine. As the wine warm some mild oak wafts upward.

Palate:  Initially gentle, diffuse with discrete acidity but some tannic presence on the finish imparting some “elegance with an attitude”. Seems some French oak involved here.

Personality: Definitely not Zealie nor Frenchie. I am Ontario ari ari Oh!

Food Match: I would say Ontario asparagus but that is long gone and replaced by dreadful Mexican and Peruvian. Pork Souvlaki skewers with Sheppard peppers, zucchini and eggplant all from the fields as we celebrate the fall harvest.

Cellarbility: Will happily loiter about until 2026-year end.

Price: $28 CDN.

Comments from the peanut gallery: At $30 expect stiff competition from lesser priced Bordeaux Sauvignon Blancs. Canadian patriotism at a price…..?

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine Rating: 91/100. David Lawrason 90.

(Wending Home Estate Vineyard 2020 Sauvignon Blanc, VQA Creek Shores, Wending Home Estate Vineyards and Winery, St. Catharines, Ontario, 750 mL, 12.8%).

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Rosehall Run’s 2024 Unoaked Chardonnay From Prince Edward County in Ontario, Canada

Rosehall Run 2024 Unoaked Chardonnay is an “entry level” Chardonnay from Rosehall Run in Prince Edward County although it is a VQA Ontario wine as opposed to VQA Prince Edward County. Wonder if the grapes were trucked in from Niagara?

Aroma: Pear, apple, lemon, pineapple and some lemon meringue pie.

Palate: Crisp and taut. While crisp it is smooth without any acidic interference. Green apple with lemon and lime influences. Short finish.

Personality: OK, I am not VQA Prince Edward County so I may have lost local identity but I am unmistakeably an unoaked Chardonnay. Curt and to the point.

Food Match: An ideal match would be Lemon-Pepper Zucchini Pasta with Dill. I have found pasta with zucchini is best prepared with coating sliced zucchini with olive oil, salt and pepper then roasting in the oven after sleeping in the fridge for 48 hours. The recipe I worked from called for one large zucchini but I added 9 more and the roasting lends the pasta a rich texture although you end up with almost a zucchini puree after baking it.

Cellarbility: Consume no later than 2026-year end but do not expect improvement with ageing.

Price: $19 CDN.

RKS 2024 CANADIAN Wine Rating: 85/100.

(Rosehall Run 2024 Unoaked Chardonnay, VQA Ontario, Rosehall Run Vineyards, Wellington, Ontario, 750 mL, 12.5%).

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Bachelder Bai Xu Single Vineyard 2021 Gamay Noir

From vines planted in 1981.

32% whole cluster.

Decant for one hour imparting more life and fruit.

Aroma: Loads of red cherry! Secondary notes of raspberry. Tertiary notes of dark chocolate and earthiness.

Palate: Not much tannic grip. Smooth. Modest acidity. Airy cherry and raspberry. Fruity. Long peppered finish with a tiny bit of sweetness.

Personality: I am a lightweight. Easy to get along with. Discrete and subtle I am an ultimate unpolitical.

Food Match: If I was in New York at my favourite bistro Les Deux’s Amis it would be a Bucky Burger. But for certain reasons I won’t be returning across the border anytime soon.

Cellarbility: Perhaps until 2026-year end.

Price: $30. CDN.

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine Rating: 93/100. Wine Align Community Score 92. Jamie Goode 94.

(Bachelder Single Vineyard Bai Xu 2021 Gamay Noir, VQA Four Mile Creek, Bachelder, Beamsville, Ontario, 750 mL, 12.5%).

RKS 2025 Film: “Live a Little”: Bosom Buddy Interrail On the Road Picture?

One can’t deny the Swedish film “Live a Little” falls within the on the road genre with two mid twenty buddies Laura (Embla Ingelman-Sundberg) and Alex (Aviva Wrede) seeking to tear up Europe on a trip they have been planning for years. But as in the Brit film “How to Have Sex” the surface gloss shouldn’t throw you “off the rails”.

Laura and Alex arrive in Warzaw looking to party down as apparently this seems the depth of their youthful intelligence. Trusting and naïve they locate a couch surfing home and meet Parisian Lucas (Oscar Lesage) a fellow couch surfer. And clubbing they do drowning copious amounts of shots. Oh the follies of youth!

The following morning Laura wakes up in the couch surfing palace in the buff with no memory of how she ended up in the bed or who with. A condom lies on the ground. Through flashbacks she pieces the story together and Lucas is the one.

Laura blames the alcohol. Is Lucas a creepster taking advantage of a virtuous Swedish lady? Was alcohol laced with some evil date rape drug? Or possibly is Laura so hemmed in by propriety and her boyfriend Elias (Odin Romanus) her sexual misadventure is really an adventure of sexual liberation? As the flashbacks progress could it be Laura was conscious of the event and a willing participant. Why did one of the couch surfers upon hearing Laura’s description of her Lucas encounter note,” You didn’t say you passed out.”? Are we witnessing self deception on the road to a form of moral and sexual liberation. As Alex says about her own sexual adventure “one needs to live a little”.

A movie about young adults testing the water and fine and dandy until the ice of trust cracks and sends a few sinking into the cold depths below. The concepts of trust, monogamy, sexual aggression and stereotypes, guilt, faithfulness, forgiveness, healing and sexism arise.

Laura’s story as evidenced by the shots of women, seemingly random at the film’s conclusion, could be a message that Laura’s adventure or misadventure is not unique.

You can watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNLESq_Mf44

Written and directed by Fanny Ovesen.

Will be available in North America on digital platforms on 16September2025.

RKS 2025 Film Rating 83/100.