Last week Paul and I had the pleasure of hosting Stu Smith, co-founder of Smith-Madrone, for dinner. We had been looking forward to this get-together for a while, but a recent controversy in the wine blogosphere added a new sense of urgency to the event.

One of the highlights of my recent college reunion weekend was a trip to the Yale Farm.

I picked up this wine a few weeks ago at a hit-or-miss liquor store in my neighborhood. I’ve bought some real gems, as well as a few losers, at this shop. Fortunately, the Evodia fall into the former category.

As I mentioned in my Argetsinger Vineyard post, Lisa Hallgren’s breakfast tart was the culinary highlight of the weekend. Here, at long last, is the recipe.

This wine and I got off to a rocky start–but ultimately found a way to see eye-to-eye.

It’s been quite a week. I had surgery on Tuesday (everything’s fine) and have spent the past 6 days in and out of a Percoset-induced haze. During my more lucid moments, I’ve been reading wine blogs. A LOT of wine blogs. This has not been as good for my health as I would have hoped.

Sam Argetsinger was one of the highlights of the TasteCamp experience. Argetsinger is a grower who oversees his eponymous family vineyard on the east side of Seneca Lake. I’m not sure if he would approve of me calling it “his” vineyard, however.

Viognier is the finest white wine grape of the Rhône. These are wines with meat on their bones.

We’re back from our weekend in the Finger Lakes, and I’m pulling together my pictures, videos, and thoughts, many of which I’ll be sharing in the coming days. Here are a few first impressions.

Just a quick programming note to remind you that I’ll be heading upstate to the Finger Lakes for TasteCamp, a weekend of wine tasting, blogging, and perhaps some mild bacchanalia.