Posts Written OnMay 2009

Friends of Sisson Family Fundraiser is TONIGHT @ Bedell Cellars

Just a quick reminder about the fundraiser for the family of Ben Sission tonight at Bedell Cellars. From the event website: The Sisson Family Fund has been set up in our friend Ben Sisson's memory to help financially support his wife Alice Wise and their children Ethan and Emma during these difficult times. Our primary goal is to enable Alice, Ethan and Emma to remain in their family home as the children mature and to allow the family to maintain a continuing quality of life within their community of family and friends. Our enduring friendship and love of Alice, Ben,…

TasteCamp 2009: An Interview with Lyle Fass

Today, talk with the one, the only Lyle Fass about his experiences at TasteCamp EAST 2009. Lyle has been in and around wine since he was 19. Of course he started drinking it when he was 21. Most of his background is in retail buying for Crush, Chambers Street Wines and The Wine Shop in Manhattan. Before he arrived in NYC he he learned the ropes of retail in Boston at The Wine Press, Brookline Liquor Mart and The Wine Bottega. His blog Rockss and Fruit has a loyal, devoted readership and has been featured numerous times in the paper…

Roanoke Vineyards 2006 Cabernet Franc

Lenn Thompson, Editor and Publisher There's been a lot of TasteCamp content this week (for obvious reasons) so let's get back to some of the actual wines being made in New York. Not that this wine doesn't have a TasteCamp connection — we tasted this Roanoke Vineyards 2006 Cabernet Franc ($32) on our visit to Roanoke Vineyards Saturday morning. As you've probably read elsewhere, 2006 wasn't a great vintage for reds on Long Island. It was cooler growing season and was marked by a lot of overcast days and higher-than-average rainfall. Still, even in down years, the best producers put…

TasteCamp 2009: An Interview with Erika Strum

Today's TasteCamp interview is with Erika Strum, who I've had the pleasure of hanging out with more than any other blogger at TasteCamp (a whopping 3 times). Erika works in her family business at Wine Enthusiast Companies where she is involved in many aspects of online marketing. She writes for 3 blogs: the Wine Enthusiast Magazine blog (UnReserved), the Wine Enthusiast Catalog blog, (Winstons Wisdoms) and her personal blog, StrumErika.com  Was this your first time to Long Island wine country? No, I visited last summer for the first time. Had you ever had any Long Island wines before? And if…

My Friend Hardy Wallace is Good — Murphy Goode

Or at least he should be. In case you hadn't heard about it, Murphy-Goode Winery in Healdsburg, California is looking for a wine-loving social media guru to help them. The winner of this little contest will receive a 6-month job paying $10,000 per month plus accommodations. To earn that money, the winner will: Explore the vineyards of Murphy-Goode and surrounding areas and discover what the Sonoma County Wine Country has to offer, from well-known destinations to off-the-beaten-path spots. Taste hundreds of wines and meet the locals in their tasting room. Increase their wine wisdom. While studying isn’t required, our winemaking…

TasteCamp 2009: An Interview with Dale Cruse

For this, our second post-TasteCamp interview, we talk to Dale Cruse, a website developer from Boston who is "helping to change the wine world." He likes to eat, likes to drink, and likes to write about both at his blog Drinks are On Me. Was this your first time to Long Island wine country?Yes. Had you ever had any Long Island wines before? And if so, what was your impression of them?Very few. I had the Bedell Cellars First Crush Red and a few of the Bouke wines. The Bedell was tasty but a bit soft. The Bouke wines I…

The State of Long Island Wine

By Lenn Thompson, Editor and Publisher As expected, TasteCamp EAST 2009 has initiated a flurry of blog posts by some of the best and brightest in the wine blogging world. I've enjoyed reading through all of the posts and commenting on many of them. I'd encourage you to do the same — especially if you are one of the wineries that poured for the group last weekend. One thing that has become clear is that I was blind to one pitfall as I put together the TasteCamp format — it sent attendees away with only a snapshot of Long Island…

About TasteCamp

The concept for TasteCamp is a simple one: getting enthusiastic bloggers together in a region that is new to them to taste as much wine as possible and speak to as many winemakers as possible over the course of a weekend. Most smaller, lesser-known wine regions in the world would love to get their wines in front of bloggers, but with TasteCamp, the bloggers will go to them. For TasteCamp EAST 2009, 30 wine bloggers attacked Long Island wine country with great energy and interest. Below is a list of the blog posts that the event generated. As new posts…