Long Island Merlot Alliance to Sponsor Opening
Night of TasteCamp EAST 2009

First-ever wine-blogger event on Long Island’s East End

CUTCHOGUE, NY - April 1, 2009
The Long Island Merlot Alliance is a sponsor of TasteCamp EAST 2009, an event that will bring more than a dozen wine bloggers to Long Island wine country May 1-3. The Alliance and co-sponsor Raphael will host the opening reception of this event, the first wine-blogger conference to be held on the East End of Long Island.

As part of the welcome reception, the Alliance will provide TasteCamp attendees an exclusive, pre-release tasting of its 2006 Merliance, its private-label merlot, a blend of 100% merlot wines from all member-wineries. It also will offer a vertical tasting of its 2004 and 2005 vintages, and barrel sample of the 2007. Winemakers from Alliance-member wineries—Russell Hearn (Pellegrini Vineyards), John Leo (Clovis Point), Gilles Martin (Sherwood House Vineyards), Richard Olsen-Harbich (Raphael) and Roman Roth (Wölffer Estate Vineyard)—also will be present, pouring their merlot wines and blends, including some of Long Island’s earliest vintages.

“We are thrilled to have this opportunity to welcome wine bloggers to the East End,” said Richard Olsen-Harbich, a founding member of the Long Island Merlot Alliance. “Clearly, bloggers have a growing, collective voice that’s especially influential with consumers. We believe that their tasting of Long Island’s merlot wines—and resulting blog posts—will advance our region as the premier appellation for this varietal.”

TasteCamp EAST 2009 is organized by Lenn Thompson, whose award-winning wine blog, LENNDEVOURS, focuses on the wines of New York, in partnership with the Wine Bloggers Conference. Find complete details about TasteCamp EAST 2009 on LENNDEVOURS or the event’s dedicated Twitter feed.