There were a multitude of wines on the table, for which I might have scribbled tasting notes for a couple bottles. But first – the conversation.

The winemakers talked with us about sustainable, organic and biodynamic farming. They incorporate practices from all three into their vineyards, but have found that the Long Island land/climate prohibits them from going completely biodynamic/organic. Pesticides, for instance, still need to be used occasionally. For the most part, the vintners try to "trust in the land."

They pointed out that they feel lucky to have anything grow at all, considering that Long Island is just a "giant sandbar sticking 120 miles into the ocean."  I can't argue with that, but based on the sheer number of vineyards, nurseries, and farms I saw, growing doesn't seem to be too much of a problem. Long Island grape growing, however, is only about 40 years old.

To achieve sustainability, they try to be true farms (yes, folks, vintners are often "grape farmers"), with chickens, rabbits, cows, and horses all resident on the property. This allows for effective composting and fertilizing, all within the farm. Part of the sustainability is letting things like dandelions grow wild. I can't remember why, per se, but it makes for a lovely photo. You'll also notice that the dandelions grow in the area directly under the vines, so something is healthy there somewhere.

It was a really interesting conversation and, oddly enough, they even passed around a flower pot filled with, um, manure. Sounds worse than it was. This is what they bury in the horn at the full moon, or some such thing. I've always sort of poked fun at that practice, but they made mention that the horns add calcium to the soil, so I feel better knowing there's a method to the madness.

(Tasting notes and more conversation after the jump.)

Someone jokingly called this our hippie lunch, although it was my favorite part of the whole day. The joke was sort of driven home, though, when we were told the nice folks at Shinn Estate try to "hug the farm in a really big way."  It's effective imagery – esp when you see their farm – but it also makes me smile.

Again, my verdict is still out on biodynamics, although I'm a full supporter of sustainability and organics. But anyone who pays as much attention to the soil and each individual vine as a biodynamic grower, well, that much attention will bring good grapes, full moon or not.

Tasting Notes

2008 Macari Katherine's Field Sauvignon Blanc: This was a grassy New Zealand style sauv blanc. This complemented the citrusy pasta/asparagus salad in a wonderful way. I just loved it. Had it been available at that moment, I would have purchased a bottle.

Our review:

2007 Shinn Estates Cabernet Franc – still in barrel: They had a bottle of this, but it had just been pulled from the barrel that morning. This was probably the favorite of everyone at TasteCamp. Yep, we all fell in love with a powerful red that isn't even available yet. I'm not even a fan of Cabernet Franc, but I loved this one because it was full and round with some heft, but no unpleasant bite. It was a confident wine. I'm sooo making Lenn send me a bottle of this one once it's bottled. It's rare to find a domestic Cabernet Franc that I truly enjoy.

Our review:

We also had an enjoyable Shinn Estate Sauvignon Blanc that had 4% Semillon blended in, a nice 2007 Jamesport Sauvignon Blanc, and a pleasant 2006 Jamesport Pinot Noir. Aside from writing them down as enjoyable though, I have no actual notes.

Finally, our table stole a bottle of a Macari Rosé from the other table. It was a dry enough rose, with less floral and more heft, that even Kevin thought he might have found his inner pink. Apparently not enough to take notes, though. I think we were distracted by conversation and food.

Our thanks to the the three wineries who provided lunch and wine, and especially to Shinn Estates who invited us into their beautiful kitchen and their lovely vineyard.

PostScript

This is my last Long Island post (unless Kevin writes a few). Today I head back to Amish country to empty Grandma's apartment. It's sad we're doing it on Mother's Day, but good that we're doing it soon, if that makes sense. Anyway, I'll be out of touch, again, through Sunday. Starting Monday, I hope to return to some semblance of normal, back to regular tastings, dance classes, work, and, yes, updating the calendar. Goodness what a year it's been – thanks for your patience. I love my readers!

Nifty tidbit: Paumanok was the first vineyard on Long Island to move to screwcaps for many of their wines.

Tasting notes are after the jump.

Tasting Notes:

2007 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay, $18.99: Aged in French barrels for 8 months. Between Kevin and I we noted spice, butterscotch, and apples.
Our review:

2007 Sauvignon Blanc, $28: We enjoyed this, but we're subtracting some happy just because of the price. It's a tropical and fun sauvignon blanc (in fact, I enjoyed a lot of Long Island Sauv Blancs) but it wasn't $28-worth.
Our review:

2008 Semi-Dry Riesling, $22: Filled wtih flowers, pears and pear blossoms, as well as a healthy dose of peaches. This was actually one of the last wines we tried and it was a perfect ending to this visit. It's also the only wine we ended up taking home. I thought it was worth the $22.
Our review:

2008 Chenin Blanc, no price: A happy accident. I thought it was
heavy on the lemon and acid and not as balanced as it could be.
However, it was also probably a good bet that a little longer in the
bottle and this would be a fantastic chenin. I did enjoy the earthiness
and trees I found (well, not literally) in the wine.
Our review:

2005 Merlot, $18.99: We had tried a lot of merlot the night before and at the previous winery. This was the first current merlot (as in, from this century and not the last one) that I considered buying. I thought it was very good for the price. It was light and bright, with soft tannins.
Our review:

2004 Assemblage, $36: This was filled wtih complex flavors and nice tannings. We were told (and I agree) that it was a good wine for aging. It's a blend of 12% Cabernet Franc, 12% Petit Verdot, 38% Merlot, and 38% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Our review:

2005 Tuttle Lane Vineyard (I might have that name wrong) Cabernet Sauvignon, est $60: This is a small production wine. It was robust, structured, and nicely tannic – well-balanced – but still has a fair amount of time left to hang in the bottle. I can't actually remember if this one was bottled yet or we just had a "bottled today" sort of taste.
Our review:

2005 Petit Verdot, no price: I got some barnyard on the nose, but I often find that with Petit Verdot. It's a really inky grape too, and this one was no exception. It was really tight, but still had dark jammy berries all over the place. It needed to open up a lot, but we still gave it a

Our first barrel tasting I managed to take some notes. However, I was holding a spit cup, a wine glass, pen, paper, purse, and a camera. Eventually something had to give.

Barrel Tasting: 2007 Assemblage: A lovely blend of 69% Merlot, 22% Petit Verdot, and 9% Cab Franc. Aged in 50% French oak and with a 14.2% AbV, it was still balanced. We thought it was jammy and big, but had a bit of a short finish. Of course, the wine itself wasn't finished, so what do you expect?

Looking at the trip as a whole, I had two issues with Long Island wine:

I was impressed with the commitment to sustainable farming we learned about at a lunch provided by Jamestown, Macari, and Shinn Estates. The lunch was all locally grown / farmed / fished and all three wineries, while not certified organic, are working towards it. In some cases, they are happily adding in biodynamic practices. I've said before that while I don't actually buy into biodynamics, I do believe that anyone who is going to pay that much attention to each individual vine and the soil is just going to grow great grapes. Their efforts at sustainability are admirable, especially since, as they pointed out, Long Island is basically a giant sandbar. Biodynamic-leaning Shinn Estates, with their wild dandelions lining the vineyard, was by far one of the prettiest I've seen, even just at bud break.

Our weather for the trip was lacking, until mid-afternoon on Saturday when the sun chose to peek out of the rain clouds long enough to allow us all to traipse through Shinn Estate's vineyards. But for those of you who thought I had a relaxing, beach-filled trip to the Hamptons, rest assured there was much use of the umbrella. It didn't really dampen the fun though.

I'd love to go back to Long Island – I know that much. When Kevin and I travel, we love to learn about the local wine. But we itch to explore everything else as well. Time to learn a little more about the area wasn't really scheduled in, so we found time where we could. Friday, before the festivities started, we ate at an historic diner in Cutchogue and visited a couple of wineries on our own (as well as the Big Duck roadside attraction in Flanders).

Before dinner that night, as well as early Saturday morning, we spent some time walking the adorable town of Greenport where we were staying. I'd love to visit again in the summer when all the little stores are open. Finally, we made a decision to be late to the Sunday tasting so that we could at least drive through the Hamptons and visit the gorgeous old lighthouse in Montauk, at the very tail end of the South Fork. As Roman Roth (winemaker for Wolffer Estate) said when we walked in late, "It's a very Long Island."

If you're up for a weekend getaway, it was an easy flight from Cincinnati to LaGuardia, and an easy 90 minute drive down the Long Island Expressway to get to the North and South Forks of Long Island.

Kevin and I thoroughly enjoyed TasteCamp.  From hanging out in vineyards during budbreak to eating great food and learning a lot about the Long Island wine industry, it was a non-stop good time.

We really want to thank Lenn, who organized the entire shindig from start to finish. Additionally, it was great of the wineries to host us, often feed us, and take time out from their own busy schedules to take a bunch of bloggers seriously. That was truly appreciated.  I can truly say the Long Island wine industry is thriving. All day Saturday the tasting rooms were dealing not just with a crowd of bloggers, but with separate throngs of willing tasters.

No matter where we meet – Long Island, Sonoma, or the middle-of-nowhere – there is nothing but great conversation and camaraderie when wine bloggers meet. It is always so wonderful to sit at a table of like minds. It's also fun to sit at a table where I'm not the only one pulling out a camera to snap a photo of the food!  I can't tell you how great it is to meet and catch up with these other astute, funny, and friendly bloggers.  When I teach blogging, I explain that you are joining a community. Wine bloggers exemplify "Community" in every way.

I think Long Island and Ohio – at least what I know of the northern Ohio/Lake Erie area – are in a similar place with their wine industry. Southern and Ohio and Kentucky aren't quite as far along, but seeing thriving local wine industries like this reassures me that our local folks aren't that far behind.

View all our TasteCamp posts.

Tomorrow I'll start the first of several posts about some neat experiences we had on the trip. For now, you can flip through my Flickr album below.

 

So we're also attending the 1st Annual TasteCamp EAST in Long Island Wine Country. TasteCamp was the brainchild of my friend and Long Island wine blogger Lenn Thompson. He says,

It's a small group of us (about 30 bloggers and spouses), but we've got a full schedule. Our itinerary includes

• Welcome Reception and Wine Dinner at Raphael Winery, sponsored by Raphael and the Long Island Merlot Alliance
• Tasting at Roanoke Vineyards
• Tasting at Paumanok Vineyards
• Lunch at Shinn Estate Vineyards, sponsored by and featuring wines from Jamesport Vineyards, Macari Vineyards and Shinn Estate Vineyards
• Long Island Wine Council Tasting at Shinn Estate Vineyards featuring wines from 10 wineries we aren’t visiting
• Tasting at Bedell Cellars
• Tasting at Lenz Winery
• BYOB Dinner at Grand Cru Classes
• Tasting at Wolffer Estate
• Tasting at Channing Daughters Winery

It is a jam-packed weekend full of wine and blogger fun. Lenn's hope is that we can have TasteCamps all over the States. I have a head full of ideas for a TasteCamp OHIO in possibly 2010 but absolutely no idea how to organize it.

So that's where we'll be on Friday through Sunday. I hope to fill this blog with tales of the Hamptons (because we're pretentious, you know) throughout next week.

Cheers!