Empty Glasses

I anticipated TasteCamp 2010 quite a lot. Then came the weekend and it delivered quite well. We’ve had lots of fun, tasted through around 150 wines (to be honest, I have lost count at the end…), met plenty of really nice people, both wine-writers and wine-makers. To sum it up, it was a great weekend.

However, the harder thing to do is to come back home after such a nice weekend. So while I sort through my notes to make sense out of it, while my palate is recovering of all that riesling and while I get a couple of days to reflect on everything that happened through the weekend, let’s enjoy a visual wrap-up of the weekend.

Table is ready at Red Newt Bistro for a dinner featuring wines from Red Newt Cellars, Anthony Road and Fox Run

A fascinating character in his natural element: Sam Argetsigner in his vineyard bordering Seneca Lake

It's bud-break in the Finger Lakes

Tasting through a vertical of Fox Run dry Riesling

Tank Sample at Hermann J. Wiemer

Lots of Empty Glasses, and of great discussions, at StoneCat Café

Tom and Susan Higgins (along with Fion) explaining the superb pinots of Heart and Hands

With Day One of TasteCamp EAST 2010 drawing to a close, we can draw a quick conclusion: the Finger Lakes is really a land made for riesling, but it’s not then good thing coming out of this region.

Sunset at Red Newt Bistro

During the course of the day, we’ve been lucky enough to have been treated with great care by the fine folks at Heron Hill Winery (who hosted the lunch and noon tasting which regroped many producers around Keuka Lake), at Ravines Wine Cellars (with an afternoon tasting of a large part of their lineup) and at Red Newt Bistro (who hosted the dinner and organized a tasting along with Fox Run and Anthony Road). I’ll come back with more details once I’ve decanted my experience, as there is a lot to say.

As one would expect, not all wines were excellent, but some have pulled ahead of the pack. I’m quickly thinking of Heron Hill’s Ingle Vineyard Riesling 2007, which after tasting the 2002 will make you wonder how long it will last. The dry rieslings from Ravines are straight, focused and have a clear plan in mind, which holds up remarkably well over the three vintages which were presented to us. I was also surprised by the general quality of the red wines presented by Red Newt, Anthony Road and Fox Run, not only the collaboration Tierce 2007 in red (and from 2004 to 2006 in riesling), but the Merlot, the Syrah (!) and the Cabernet Franc/Lemberger.

I am sure that Day Two will bring as much pleasure, discoveries and enjoyment. It will take me a while to sort through everything, but I can take one thing for granted: there will be lots to talk about.