I have a boatload of Porto memories all good and many lighthearted. I have been somewhat of a regular visitor there since 2014. One very pleasant memory is attending Port Wine Day in Porto pre COVID and having a memorable lunch with José Maria Cálem proprietor of Quinta Sagrado in the Douro region of Portugal.Continue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Porto Memories: Sagrado Reserva”
Category Archives: Wine
RKS 2023 Wine: Are You Hunkering for a Hungarian?
Are we beggars here in Ontario at the mercy of state monopoly Liquor Control Board of Ontario? A dearth of Eastern European wines. I suppose the money trail leads to California, Italy and France. Eastern Europe is too risky. God help us if Polish Pinot Noir floods the market! The LCBO gods throw us, theContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Are You Hunkering for a Hungarian?”
RKS 2023 Wine: Tourism and Algarve Wines
Tourism in Portugal’s Algarve has had both a negative and positive effect on Algarve wineries. Being initially a “sun and beach” destination ramping up in the 1970s the rush for profits and the development of the Algarvian economy focused on sun and beach! Build, build and build more and who cared if vineyard land wasContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Tourism and Algarve Wines”
RKS 2023 Wine: Drinking Prohibited Wine in The Azores: Apologies and Gifts from the Portuguese Government
It was another windy and overcast day on Pico Island. I see why the vines are protected by those carrais i.e. lava rock enclosures. So I am savouring my toasted cornbread with a conger eel omelette for breakfast. My friend Fortunato Garcia knows my passion for conger eel so he had brought over some niceContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Drinking Prohibited Wine in The Azores: Apologies and Gifts from the Portuguese Government”
RKS 2023Wine: Drinking Prohibited Wine in the Azores: Minimum Security Accommodations at Adega a Go Go!
My last report had me imprisoned in Pico Island in the Portuguese Azores for drinking a wine “Proibida”. I mean it was a free pour and I am not even sure I saw the label yet hours later the Pico police force, all 8 of them, sweep in on me speaking in Portuguese so IContinue reading “RKS 2023Wine: Drinking Prohibited Wine in the Azores: Minimum Security Accommodations at Adega a Go Go!”
RKS 2023 Wines: Dichosa Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 from Valle del Maule in Chile
The vines for this wine are whippersnappers at 15 years of age and in addition to oak barrels the wine was aged in concrete giving it a leaner texture than oak only ageing. Aroma: Full of both black and red fruits all very harmonious and indicative of a smooth and ready to drink Cabernet Sauvignon.Continue reading “RKS 2023 Wines: Dichosa Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 from Valle del Maule in Chile”
RKS 2023 Wine: “The Wines of the Algarve”: Escaping the Sun and Sea Conundrum
I attended the Wine and Tourism Week in late February in Porto, Portugal. The direction seemingly taken by many exhibitors was to move away from promoting wine and broaden it to encompass not only wine but culture and heritage, leisure activities and gastronomic experiences therefore giving a broader definition of wine tourism. Wine is notContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: “The Wines of the Algarve”: Escaping the Sun and Sea Conundrum”
RKS 2023 Wine: Drinking Prohibited Wine in The Azores! Please Crowdfund Me to Liberate Me from My Prison!
I sit in the Pico Island Prison for Foreign Wine Writers! The food is so damn good here and the weather is so shitty in Toronto plus the wine they serve beats the shit they serve at the South Detention Centre in Toronto so I think the slammer here ain’t so bad. In fact IContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Drinking Prohibited Wine in The Azores! Please Crowdfund Me to Liberate Me from My Prison!”
RKS 2023 Wines: Drinking the Way of the Dinosaur!
Terrantez do Pico is one of three indigenous Azorean grapes and it is close to going the way of the dinosaur. It has somewhat of a tropical nose with pineapple, guava and mango. The palate is creamy with tropical notes mixed with spice and just a bit of Prince Edward Island red soil potatoes withContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wines: Drinking the Way of the Dinosaur!”
RKS Wine 2023: Falerina Reserva Syrah from Valle de Elqui
The Elqui Valley is set at the southern edge of the Atacama Desert and is one of Chile’s northernmost wine producing regions. Its crystal-clear skies attract some of the world’s most important observatories and create unique opportunities for winegrowing as well. New vineyards have expanded beyond its riverbanks and high up into the mountains inContinue reading “RKS Wine 2023: Falerina Reserva Syrah from Valle de Elqui”
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