Browsing CategoryTasteCamp

TasteCamp EAST 2010 Interview: Rick Van Sickle | WinesofNiagara.com

By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief Just like last year, we're going to publish short Q&As with TasteCamp attendees to find out about their individual experiences at the event, starting with Rick Van Sickle. Rick, who will be launching WinesofNiagara.com this week, was one of of the people I was most looking forward to meeting last weekend at TasteCamp.  Prior to last Friday, my only interaction with Rick had been via Twitter (he's @rickwine) where he enthusiastically Tweets about the wines of Ontario. Local wine geek? Absolutely. He's one of us. He brought some local wine to our BYOB dinner on Saturday…

TasteCamp East 2010 Visuals: Vertical Tastings at Fox Run Vineyards

Fox Run Vineyards' winemaker Peter Bell leads TasteCamp 2010 attendees through three verticals By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief As the NYCR staff sorts out all of the stories we want to write about TasteCamp (and we're going to have some guest columnists as well) we'll continue to share brief snapshots of different events during the weekend. Fox Run Vineyards hosted the group not only for a grand tasting of Seneca Lake wineries (16 all told) but also for lunch, which included three vertical tastings — two riesling and one (get this) Tawny Port. I found it to be one of the…

TasteCamp EAST 2010 Video: Sam Argetsinger Shares the Iroquois Tale of the Thundering Voices

By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief As part of TasteCamp, one group of attendees visited Argetsinger Vineyard with long-time grower Sam Argetsinger. During the course of an hour-plus walking the vineyard with Sam, he shared many insights into how he manages his vineyard as well as several Iroquois tales, including this one about the Thundering Voices — which was absolutely appropriate given the thunderstorm that had rolled through the night before.

TasteCamp 2010 Visuals: I’m On a Boat

With the passage of time we'll be able to give it a fuller evaluation, but for now, I'd vote for this photograph as the Best Picture Ever Taken. The man in the tuxedo, proudly displaying a magnum (what, no methuselah?) of Red Cat, is our Science Editor, Tom Mansell.  See, if you missed TasteCamp 2010, you might not have had the opportunity to join us for the Saturday night after-party on The Boat. Perhaps more will be said of this. Perhaps it should pass quietly into legend. But the bottom line is: We were on a boat, climbing buoys, in…

TasteCamp East 2010 Visuals: Argetsinger Vineyard Walk

I haven't been to every lake-view vineyard in the Finger Lakes…but it's hard to imagine there is any vineyard in the region that is more beautiful to stand in on a sunny Saturday morning than Argetsinger Vineyard on eastern Seneca Lake. It's just a special place. One worthy of it's ever-growing legend. It doesn't hurt that Sammy Argetsinger is one of the more charming, interesting people I've ever met.

TasteCamp EAST 2010… The Morning After

By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief The post-TasteCamp hangover has set in — a Meritage-style blend of relief, happiness and sadness, because it was such a great weekend with great people tasting great wines. I (along with Nena and Jackson) head back to Long Island later today after an evening here outside of Albany celebrating Mother's Day with my in-laws. Everyone drank Finger Lakes wine, of course, though I did focus a bit more on some beer. As my teeth enamel recovers from all that wine and I reflect just a bit on the weekend, I think the event was a tremendous…

Recovering From a TasteCamp Weekend

 By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor This week, we'll have plenty to say about a fascinating and successful weekend here in the Finger Lakes. While our palates un-nuke and our brains re-solidify, we'll be posting occasional photos to illustrate the events and memorable locations. This shot shows Damiani Wine Cellars grower Phil Davis, leading a vineyard walk on Saturday morning. The photo fails to capture how steep this particular vineyard site is. It was an educational and physical workout.  Cheers, stay tuned, and rest well, fellow TasteCamp folks. 

TasteCamp EAST 2010 Continues Through the Weekend

TasteCamp attendees tasting Tierce riesling (and components of) at Red Newt Cellars yesterday evening. By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief Why am I up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday when I'm technically on vacation? Easy — I'm up early getting ready for what I'm sure will be an incredible day two of TasteCamp EAST 2010. Yesterday was a stunningly wonderful day in the Finger Lakes — one filled with the kind of passion and top-flight wines that makes the Finger Lakes a wine destination. I'm sure that we'll see a lot of blog posts come out of the weekend's events, but…

TasteCamp EAST 2010 Begins Today

 By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief If the Twitter chatter is to believed, many of this year's TasteCamp attendees are either in the Finger Lakes already or are on their way. It's an exciting morning for me, Evan and all the Finger Lakes wineries who are taking part in this weekend's festivities. John Witherspoon (Anything Wine) and I kicked off the fun yesterday with a visit to Village Tavern in Hammondsport, not to eat, but to drink some older Finger Lakes riesling. After perusing the list for a long time (it's a long list) only to learn that our first choice (a…

TasteCamp East 2010 Finger Lakes Kicks Off on Friday

By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief TasteCamp, the roving regional wine event that fully immerses wine writers and bloggers in a wine region is back for its second edition this weekend in the Finger Lakes region of New York. As you might remember, the innaugural TasteCamp was held here on Long Island last year (read all the posts) and it went so well that we decided to do it again in a different New York region. Most smaller and/or lesser-known wine regions in the world would love to get their wines in front new audiences, but it can be a challenge.  With…