Comments on: Dan Berger, Writer, pt 1

By: mark bunter

mark bunter — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:43:49 +0000

What Steve said. In bold, italics, underlined. Yes, Dan ventures his opinions. No, everyone will not agree. His opinions are always reasoned and the product of years of thoughtful and extensive experience. He’s one of the few extant greats of winewriting. Mike Pollard, sorry Dan got under your skin. I don’t think you’re stupid for liking high alcohol wine, if you do, and I’ll bet neither does Dan. He was making a general point, not a personal attack. I see your point, it’s about the logical contradiction between Dan’s two statements. Yes, but we all contradict ourselves, don’t we? Yes, we could all be more diplomatic. Even you. Peace, have a glass of wine and relax.

By: Steve Heimoff

Steve Heimoff — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:43:23 +0000

Dan Berger is a great wine writer and has been for a long time. He’s one of the pillars of the wine community in California. Thanks for an in-depth interview!

By: Administrator

Administrator — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 22:23:19 +0000

Mike, though I cannot speak for Mr. Berger, it seems clear he is not ridiculing all those buying a ‘particular wine’. He is, rather, ridiculing the naive association of a high price with quality for wines in general. It is the role of the critic to comment on terroir, structure, balance, value etc., after all.
I would encourage you to check back here early next week for part 2 of the interview. He talks about a wide variety of subjects, adds detail and greatly expands on some of the topics touched on here.
Thanks, again, for writing.

By: Mike Pollard

Mike Pollard — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 22:00:10 +0000

Hmm, my interpretation is very different. In the first quote Dan Berger is justifying his palate based on the comments of one individual who states “You’re absolutely right! It’s not a wine for every one but it really has some interesting flavors.” (i.e positive assessment of this wine, like all wine, is based on individual taste). Whereas in the second quote Berger ridicules all those buying a particular wine, which does not suit his palate, as fools. It may well be appropriate to add that with these events being separated by 30 years that Berger does not seem to have learned all that much!

By: Administrator

Administrator — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:01:26 +0000

Mr.Pollard, thank you for the comment. I suggest a closer read of Dan Berger’s two remarks: His first was from the late 70’s and was about a novice wine writer tasting French Burgundies alongside experts. He realized he might have the olfactory talents to properly assess wines. (And it doesn’t hurt that Burgundy is perhaps the richest area in France for terroir wines!)

His second remark, made over 30 years of experience later, speaks to a very different wine world where a high price has no necessary relation to either terroir or structure. I don’t believe Mr.Parker himself would disagree with that observation.

By: Mike Pollard

Mike Pollard — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:47:46 +0000

For me there are two quotes that sum up Dan Berger’s view of wine.

“I really felt I was out of my league until I was standing in a group of three gentlemen. And one of them said, “Well, this stuff is just wretched!” And I said, “No, there’s something really interesting about it; there’s a subtle aromatic here that I really like”. And the guy to my right said, “You’re absolutely right! It’s not a wine for every one but it really has some interesting flavors.””

“There are plenty of wines out there that are selling like hotcakes at very high prices. I would consider them a failure. I do. They are failures. But if they’re selling then the people who are buying them are fools.”

You simply can’t have it both ways, but that never seems to stop Dan Berger.