By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief

Neil Miller's blog Stressing the Vine is one that I've been a fan of for some time, so when he expressed interest in attending TasteCamp, I was excited.

It's always fun to meet fellow bloggers — especially ones so focused on local wines and food — and Neil did not disappoint. I found him to have a very well-tuned palate and to be both entusiastic but pragmatic about local wines. 

And now, our TasteCamp 2010 Q&A with Neil:

Was this your
first visit to Finger Lakes wine country? No.

Had you ever
had any Finger Lakes wines before? And if so, what was your impression
of them? Yes. Very favorable.

After tasting a
larger sampling of the wines being produced in the Finger Lakes, what is
your impression now? I was glad
to see that many of the 2009 rieslings were showing well, as this was
the first opportunity I've had to taste examples of this difficult
vintage. 

I also was very pleased by the quality of several Finger Lakes
red wines, especially the 2005 Shaw Cabernet Franc, the 2007 Tierce, the
2005 Fox Run Reserve Cabernet Franc and the 2007 Ravines Pinot Noir. 

That
having been said, however,  I also still found many of the reds,
especially the cabernet sauvignons, merlots, meritages and syrahs, overly
lean and tannic. I entirely get the unique characteristics of cool-climate red wines, which I particularly enjoy in comparison to
Mediterranean-climate reds, but I am not persuaded, and I don't expect
the general wine drinking public to be persuaded, by the often-heard
refrain that these wines are made to pair with food, or require extended
cellaring.

High acidity and lower alcohol levels are great, but I
can't overlook the fact that many of the red wines I tasted lacked
concentration and depth of fruit, were over oaked, displayed overly
harsh tannins, and/or were generally unbalanced and unfriendly.

Food
might mask or mitigate some these issues, but in general I find this
claim about food friendliness to be a self-serving rationalization that
benefits no one, especially not the winemaker. 

And I am equally
skeptical that aging is going to significantly improve many of these red
wines.

What,
in general, impressed you the most? The
remarkable generosity and willingness of the winemakers to share their
best/rarest/most recent wines with the attendees, along with their
candid views about winemaking.

I was truly overwhelmed by David and
Debra Whiting's extraordinary generosity at Friday night's dinner at Red
Newt Cellars and Bistro. Not only did David pour a lot of his library
wines, along with Anthony Road and Fox Run, so that we could taste the
entire history of the Tierce bottlings alongside the wines that went
into them, while Debra served up an absolutely delicious dinner that
paired beautifully with the 2007 Tierce, but they sent home each of the
attendees with a surprise gift package of three Red Newt wines.  It was
an extraordinary, singular display of generosity, and was for me the
high point of the weekend.

What, in general, underwhelmed you the
most? The dinner served at the Stone
Cat Cafe (not the BYOB wine tasting or the enthusiasm and camaraderie of
the attendees). The Stone Cat should be ashamed of themselves for
charging $60.00 for that uninspired, mediocre meal, especially since we
brought and uncorked our own wines.

What tasting or vineyard
walk was and will be the most memorable for you? I'd
have to say the Wiemer tasting, because it revealed how distinctive the
wines were from the three designated vineyards. 

After listening to
Peter Bell of Fox Run and Morten Hallgren of Ravines discuss their very
hands-on approaches to winemaking, which gave me the impression that
they viewed winemaking as taking place at least as much in the winery as
in the vineyard, I was glad to hear Fred Merwarth describe the less-manipulative methods he employs at Wiemer.

After so much online interaction with the
attendees, which person surprised you the most in person? Of
the attendees, I was very impressed with the New York Cork Report's own Julia
Burke, for someone so relatively young her depth of knowledge of wine
and winemaking was impressive.

If you had to pick one, what would your wine of
the weekend be? The Anthony Road 2008
TBA was the most memorable wine of the weekend, followed closely by the
2007 Tierce, the 2008 Weimer HJW Vineyard Riesling, 2005 Shaw Cabernet
Franc, the 2006 Fox Run Riesling, the 2007 Fox Run Port, and the 2008
Ravines Argetsinger Vineyard Riesling, not necessarily in that order. 

Then again, I selectively sampled the Keuka Lake and Seneca Lake wines
on Friday and Saturday, in part because I was already familiar with many
of the wine/wineries, and because I had to drive back to Syracuse in
the evening, and I wasn't able to attend Sunday's Cayuga Lake tastings,
so I did not taste everything.