Return to Tastecamp: off to the Finger Lakes

In the next three days, I’ll probably be tasting more riesling than I’ve ever tasted in my life.

That’s because riesling is the number one grape in the Finger Lakes, host to the second edition of Tastecamp, a meeting of bloggers organized by Lenn Thompson of the blog formerly known as Lenndevours, and now more precisely renamed the New York Cork Report. After visiting Long Island a year ago, when we discovered a lot of great merlot and many excellent vineyards, we’re heading a little further West to another great New York wine region, where white aromatics reign supreme, with a bit of cabernet franc and pinot noir – and even some rkatsiteli.

My first impressions of Finger Lakes wines have been very good, as you can read in the reviews I wrote of Lamoreaux Landing Riesling and Dr Frank Rkatsiteli. I can’t wait to get a more in-depth look – and smell and taste – at what’s going on in the cellars of the region.

We’ll be tasting wines from over 35 wineries, over the weekend, and visiting the various lakes to get an idea of what’s at hand (finger… hands… couldn’t resist). It’s the kind of intense session that is highly rewarding, for a wine writer, as you get a real idea of what a region is about. And it’s also a moment to make the social aspect of social media even stronger, as real-life meetings reinforce the relationships that mostly exist online, over the rest of the year.

One way to find out all about what’s going on at Tastecamp this weekend is by following the #Tastecamp hashtag on Twitter. I’ll try to tweet regularly – and to blog first impressions quickly, on the spot. Keyword is try: we’ve got quite a full schedule ahead of us, thanks to great planning from Lenn Thompson and Rochester newsman Evan Dawson. There will, in any case, be plenty to report.