“Have you ever been to France Monsieur Martin?” Candide asked. “Yes”, Martin replied, “I have been through several provinces. In some, half the people are mad, in others the people are too cunning; there are some in which they are gentle and foolish, and others where everyone is witty. And in all these provinces theContinue reading “RKS Literature: France: Love, Slander and Nonsense”
Tag Archives: France
RKS 2025 Wine: Beyond the Moon to Jupiter! An Animal Farm Red
Côtes du Rhône is known for its robust red wines occasionally exhibiting a tad too much acidity. We try a Halos de Jupiter and query will it take us beyond the moon to Jupiter? 75% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre and 10% Syrah. Aroma: Blackberry, cassis, black plum and black Vermont licorice. Palate: Yep, noticeable acidity cutsContinue reading “RKS 2025 Wine: Beyond the Moon to Jupiter! An Animal Farm Red”
RKS 2024 Wine: Famille Perrin 2023 Tavel: Bardot or Twiggy?
As far a rosé goes the darker the pink the happier I am. Those wimpy pale rosés strike me with their acidity and thinness. By way of a bad analogy would you prefer to date Brigitte Bardot or Twiggy? Aroma: Loads of raspberry with strawberry, red cherry, wet stone and a tiny bit of cottonContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Famille Perrin 2023 Tavel: Bardot or Twiggy?”
RKS 2024 Wine: Some Higher End Bordeaux: Château Clarke 2016
There is an ample supply at Vintages (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) of red Bordeaux under $25. Are they so much inferior to a Château Clarke 2016 from Baron Edmond de Rothschild at $55? This wine is a blend of 70 % Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. Aroma: A forceful and dense nose of plum,Continue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Some Higher End Bordeaux: Château Clarke 2016”
RKS 2024 Film: “Widow Clicquot”: A Champagne Adventure
“Widow Clicquot” is one of those historical dramas with lush cinematography, brooding music and period costumes. It is the struggle of Barbe-Nicole-Ponsardin Clicquot (b1777 d1866) to navigate a struggling Champagne operation inherited from her husband François Clicquot into a successful business enterprise. François (Tom Sturridge) was an innovator with revolutionary ideas which largely failed. AContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: “Widow Clicquot”: A Champagne Adventure”
RKS 2024 Wine: A Côtes Du Roussillon; Splendiferous Humility
From Southern France we try an Arnaud de Villeneuve 2022 Côtes du Roussillon. It is a blend of 65% Grenache Noir and 35% Syrah. Aroma: Disciplined in the sense it is content in the glass without having to shout out to your nose and slap it silly with excessive alcohol. Black cherry, blackberry, steroidal raspberryContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: A Côtes Du Roussillon; Splendiferous Humility”
RKS Literature: The Splendid Parisian Air (James Baldwin)
“…it is perfectly possible to be enamoured of Paris while remaining totally indifferent, or even hostile to the French. And this is made possible by the one person in Paris whom the legend seems least not to affect, who is not living it all, that is, the Parisian himself. Him with his impenetrable politesse, andContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Splendid Parisian Air (James Baldwin)”
RKS 2024 Wine: Côtes-du-Rhône Preferred to Côtes du Moan
You won’t be emitting moans when imbibing most Côtes du Rhônes. That is not to say you won’t encounter tastelessness or excess acidity but rarely. Expect Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault in the mix for a Côtes-du-Rhône red. We try La Croix de Beauliac Creation 2021 Côtes-du-Rhône. 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah. Aroma: With aContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Côtes-du-Rhône Preferred to Côtes du Moan”
RKS 2024 Wine: Château Castagnac from Fronsac
Fronsac, think Bordeaux. Think red wine. Think Merlot. Think of possible luxury at a discount price. We try a Château Castagnac from a good year in Bordeaux, 2020. It is Merlot and aged one year in French oak. The grapes were grown in a three-hectare herbicide free vineyard in clay-limestone soil near the town ofContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Château Castagnac from Fronsac”
RKS 2024 Wine: Moderately Priced Bordeaux’s Surge and Portuguese Imports Disappear
Although we try yet another moderately priced Bordeaux I can’t stop contemplating where Portugal has gone. Is there some new strain of COVID or natural disaster (not a political corruption one) that has strangled the outflow of Portuguese exports of wine to Ontario? Has some strange variety of fungus attacked Portuguese vineyards? Has TAP PortugalContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Moderately Priced Bordeaux’s Surge and Portuguese Imports Disappear”
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