By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief By any measure, TasteCamp 2009:Long Island was a huge success. 30 bloggers descended upon Long Island and tasted more than 150 wines over the course of 2 1/2 days. Great discussions ensued, as did a dozens of posts about the experience. I think it was historic both for the blogging world and for the Long Island wine community. Well, tonight I'm thrilled to announce that we're doing it again — May 7-9, 2010 in the Finger Lakes wine region of New York. The programming specifics are still to be worked out, but I guarantee…
Posts Tagged“tastecamp”
TasteCamp 2009: An Interview with John Witherspoon
The TasteCamp interviews continue today with John Witherspoon, a blogger I met last fall at the 2008 Wine Bloggers Conference. He publishes Anything Wine from his home in Richmond, Virginia, and it's a highly appropriate name for him. When he's not blogging, he manages a local wine shop and helps with cellar rat and winemaking duties at his in-laws' winery in Virginia, Woodland Vineyard. John also achieved his Certified Specialist of Wine certification earlier this year. Was this your first time to Long Island wine country? Yes. Had you ever had any Long Island wines before? And if so, what…
TasteCamp 2009: An Interview with Remy Charest
I keep forgetting to mention that TasteCamp EAST 2009 was actually an international wine-tasting event… thanks to today's interviewee, Remy Charest. While doing a gazillion other things, Remy began writing about wine in 1997, with a monthly magazine column on Canadian wine and spirits, and kept on writing about food and wine since, notably as the Quebec City restaurant critic for Montreal daily Le Devoir. He started blogging about wine in July 2007, both on The Wine Case, in English, and on À chacun sa bouteille, in French. Remy lives in Quebec City where he works as Arts Editor for…
TasteCamp 2009: An Interview with Tom Mansell
This morning's TasteCamp interview is with one of my favorite new bloggers and someone who brings something unique to the blogosphere. Tom Mansell's blog Ithacork is one that I visit every morning and is one of the blogs that I learn the most from. You see, Tom is a PhD candidate in chemical engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Last spring he took a course in wine chemistry and since then has been borderline obsessed with the science of wine and winemaking. His blog focuses on Finger Lakes wines and always includes a "Science!" section, which is where I…
TasteCamp 2009: An Interview with Joe Roberts
On this beautiful Monday morning, we catch up with Joe Roberts, a fellow Pittsburgh Steelers fan who just happens to publish one of my favorite wine blogs, 1WineDude, which he sometimes describes as "Wine Edutainment for Intermediate Wine Lovers." Joe isn't a one-trick pony, however. He's a wine consultant and musician in the greater Philadelphia area, and holds the Level 3 Certificate in Wine & Spirits from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET). He is also a member of the U.S.-based Society of Wine Educators, holding their Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) qualification, and is a member of the…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Some Early Posts About TasteCamp EAST 2009
TasteCamp is barely in the rear view window and already several blog posts have been written about the weekend-long event. To make it a bit easier for those interested in the event to read what the bloggers are saying, I'm going to do my best to pull together (every few days) a list of links to various posts. Today is the first installment: Becky and Steve Borichevsky of Smells Like Grape Back From TasteCamp East The Way I See It Richard Auffrey from Passionate Foodie: TasteCamp EAST: Initial Highlights Rob Bralow from Wine Post: Absolutely and Totally Geeked Out Walking…