Tony Aspler pointed us in the direction of this wine: Terrale Sicilia Nero D’Avola 2004. General list at the LCBO for $9.70. A likeable food wine, a bit more expensive than bargain basement Sangiovese and worth the extra $$. Baked goods, tobacco, tar, plum and violet on the nose with decent follow-through on the palate.continue reading
Lawgeek Archives
Monsoon
We went to the opera tonight (more in another post, perhaps) and decided to stop by Monsoon for dinner beforehand. They’re an upscale fusion-inspired place at Simcoe and Adelaide, pretty close to the new COC digs. And they have a 15% discount for COC members. They’re not cheap–they have a few mains in the 20scontinue reading
French isn’t always a synonym for “overpriced”
We uncorked a bottle of the Rothschild Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 (Vin de Pays D’Oc) to go with our pizza this evening. It’s quite pleasant and only $10.15–sort of a cocktail/party/pizza wine. And I’ve always liked their label–a contemporary abstract thing that J. says looks like a bit like a Chinese brush painting of plum flowercontinue reading
Hey, we do *respectable* puff pieces
For some reason aldaily thought it was worthwhile to link to this piece concocted by the august-sounding Social Issues Research Centre. Executive Summary Gossip is not a trivial pastime: it is essential to human social, psychological and even physical well-being. The mobile phone, by facilitating therapeutic gossip in an alienating and fragmented modern world, hascontinue reading
Another tale of two vintages
You may recall our wine whine about how the 2005 Farnese isn’t nearly as good as the 2004. We got to do another 04/05 vintage comparison last night with the Coyote’s Run Unoaked Chardonnay. Coyote’s Run is an excellent new specialist winery in the St. David’s area of the Niagara Peninsula–near the river just downcontinue reading
Relatively painless
So I show up at the Summerhill Beer Store with my three bottles in my canvas bag. They have a separate returns area in the vestibule so you don’t have to go into the store proper. I plunk canvas bag down on counter. Beer Store guy: Just the wine bottles? Me: Yup. Beer Store guy:continue reading
Joyce Hatto or “Joyce Hatto”?
Back when I used to follow classical music boards on the Net with more frequency I used to fairly frequently run into references to a reclusive though very prolific recording pianist by the name of Joyce Hatto. She was a real pianist who died late 2006. It’s just come out though that at least fourcontinue reading
Yet another reason to stay out of the terrorism business…
Seventy-two virgins in the New Yorker (via aldaily).
You know the Court is unhappy when…
“Mrs. Dickie is awarded her costs before this Court on a solicitor and client basis and in the Court of Appeal on a substantial indemnity basis.” In any civil action, if you lose there’s always the risk that you’ll end up paying the other side’s costs–sort of. Usually costs are awarded on a party-and-party basis,continue reading
Faust
We went to see Faust on Tuesday. Kenneth Winters had a pretty accurate review in the Globe–the singers are generally good (Brett Polegato as Valentin somewhat more than good), but the real star is the orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin which impressed both with its virtuosity and in giving the music a sense of idiomatic Frenchness.continue reading