This past weekend Leah and I went out to Long Island to participate in TasteCamp East 2009, organized by Lenn Thompson of LENNDEVOURS. It was a weekend specifically for bloggers to have a place for us east coasters to meet up as well as learn more about Long Island wines.
You know those kids that played D&D, that turned into teenagers that played magic cards, that then went back to playing D&D in college because it felt retro, who have now found D&D clubs in the towns where they now live?
Yeah, it was kinda like that. But… not as creepy.
Everyone was great, really friendly with a passion for wine. From the moment I arrived I knew that it was going to be a great weekend. Everyone wanted to learn about each other, what everyone does in real life. Some (like me) were part of the gears that keep the wine industry moving. There were a few retailers, a few PR people, and an importer who all let their professional lives spill over onto the Internet. The rest had strong tech backgrounds, from insurance through database management and on to information technology.
And by God, did everyone love to drink.
The knowledge level of everyone there was very good. It was obvious that everyone had a palate that they were comfortable with and were willing to express their own opinions and insights on the wines without making anyone who was not as knowledgeable (like Leah) feel like they were not up to the group’s standards. There was also a great camaraderie. I am not sure if some of that stemmed from the recent hoopla at DrVino, but there was an immediate comfortable atmosphere the moment we walked into the first winery for dinner. Perhaps it was the Sauvignon Blanc that awaited us. More on that to come.
One thing that was a little over the top was all the twitter that happened. People twittered (Twit? Tweeted? Twat?) all the time, during meals, during tastings, during the car ride between one winery and the next, tweeting, twittering, twating, twhatever. Too much twitter where there were other things going on. I certainly cannot blame people for writing blog posts during the weekend, but I have no idea when people had the time.
This was a marathon tasting weekend and I am very much looking forward to finding out who thought what about each winery we visited. There certainly were not as many wines as some of the tastings I have held for critics, for which I am very thankful, but there was more than enough wines for us all to geek out about.
Throughout the next two weeks I am going to be posting reviews of the weekend. I have so many tasting notes that there is no way I will be able to get them all together for another day or two. Stay tuned for more.
A huge thank you for Lenn Thompson who helped organize the weekend, Melissa Dobson who helped organize a taxi service for the even portions of the trip, and all of the wineries and winemakers that hosted us throughout the weekend.
If you would like to check out all of the bloggers that I hung out with, here is the list:
Becky - http://smellslikegrape.blogspot.com/
Bryan - http://www.niagaraescarpment.net/
Dale - http://drinksareonme.net/
Debbie - http://hvwinegoddess.blogspot.com/
Diane - http://www.loveswine.blogspot.com/
Erika - http://www.strumerika.com/
Joe - http://www.1winedude.com/
John - http://anythingwine.wordpress.com/
Lenn - http://lennthompson.typepad.com/
Lyle - http://rockssandfruit.blogspot.com/
Melissa - http://familylovewine.wordpress.com/
Michelle - http://www.wine-girl.net/
Nick - http://homewineschool.com/
Remy - http://winecase.wordpress.com/
Rich - http://passionatefoodie.blogspot.com/
Robbin - http://www.vineyardadventures.com/
Tom - http://ithacork.wordpress.com/
And Leah put up a post too! http://leahhamburg.blogspot.com/
