Having suffered through half a glass of a Tawse 2020 Grower’s Blend Gamay Noir it is now to a sure winner? A Bachelder les Villages 2020 Gamay Noir. Aroma: Geez! After an initial whiff of oak upon uncorking the aroma is seemingly more than what might expect from “largely neutral oak barrels” but it doesContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Bachelder les Villages Gamay Noir”
Category Archives: Wine
RKS 2023 Wine: Ontario Tawse’s Grower’s Blend 2020 Gamay Noir: Swimming with the Fishes
If there is one red wine in Ontario that causes some excitement on my part in Ontario it is Gamay Noir. For the most part it is reliable but not quite at the point of Cabernet Franc for universal excellence but it is at the edge of that. So we try a Tawse 2020 GamayContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Ontario Tawse’s Grower’s Blend 2020 Gamay Noir: Swimming with the Fishes”
RKS 2023 Wine: Colossal Reserva from Lisbon: Big Name but What Quality?
Red wines from the Lisbon appellation in Portugal are not timid about blending with Syrah, Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon aside native indigenous varieties but all we can read on the label is that it is made from “typical grape varieties planted in the region”. A trip to the Casa Santos Lima website reveals the grapesContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Colossal Reserva from Lisbon: Big Name but What Quality?”
RKS 2023 Wine: Alyan A&A 2017 Carménère from Chile
The Alyan A&A 2017 Carménère from Chile is produced in the Maule Valley, Chile’s largest viticultural area yet one of the most geographically and climatically diverse encompassing the Andes to the east, the sunny plains throughout the central corridor and the rolling coastal hills to the west which makes it possible for both red andContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Alyan A&A 2017 Carménère from Chile”
RKS 2023 Wine: Ho Hum Pinot Noir from Ontario’s South Islands
When it is a question of Canadian Pinot Noir my favourites are from British Columbia’s Okanagan. Smooth, elegant, soft and just perfect with salmon. Ontario Pinot Noirs? More of a hit and miss proposition. Pelee Island is always a fun place to visit even if you do not like wine. Pelee Island Winery produces someContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Ho Hum Pinot Noir from Ontario’s South Islands”
RKS 2023 Wine: Better Pinot Noir for Less? Chile? A Darling of the Medical Profession?
I am a wine writer from the other side of the tracks! A retired and impoverished old codger. I even had lunch in a suburban restaurant 36 kilometres from Toronto! There wasn’t an orthodontist in sight! Actually, the food was excellent as was the conversation with a veteran wine writer friend! There are no wineriesContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Better Pinot Noir for Less? Chile? A Darling of the Medical Profession?”
RKS 2023 Wine: Laura Hartwig Chilean Carménère: Pinot Noir on Steroids?
From the Colchagua Valley in Chile we have a Laura Hartwig Single Vineyard Carménère. In 1966 Laura Bisquertt inherited the “Santa Laura Estate” from Osvaldo her father who had planted traditional crops and raised dairy livestock on it. Laura’s husband Alejandro Hartwig bought adjoining plots of land and planting of traditional Bordeaux grapes commenced inContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Laura Hartwig Chilean Carménère: Pinot Noir on Steroids?”
RKS 2023 Wine: The Superhero Wine Writer Humbly and Inadequately Explores a Chilean Carignan
Occasionally you encounter the superhero wine writer proud to be a judge at a wine competition or simply at some wine tasting event. Superhero has just tasted 83 wines and rated each of them maybe in the space of a couple of hours! Amazing! My crappy palate is put to the test on certain pressContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: The Superhero Wine Writer Humbly and Inadequately Explores a Chilean Carignan”
RKS 2023 Wine: A Georgian Wine Tasting at The Russian Gun Club
Most of my wine tastings have been at estates, chateaus, restaurants, ships and all sorts of event venues. The most memorable have been in various quintas in Portugal’s Douro region where I have been treated on occasion like visiting royalty. Perhaps the strangest venue in a Canadian city years ago was a Georgian wine tastingContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: A Georgian Wine Tasting at The Russian Gun Club”
RKS 2023 Wine: L.A. Cetto Petite Sirah: Treasure of the Sierra Madre?
I recently watched John Huston directed “Treasure of the Sierra Madre”. The 1947 film centres on the hunt for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountain range in Mexico. Bogart is a sociopath and Walter Huston an entertaining and honest old coot. Is there treasure in this L.A. Cetto Petite Sirah from Mexico? I saw aContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: L.A. Cetto Petite Sirah: Treasure of the Sierra Madre?”
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