The Wine Knows

A few weeks ago, Eric Degerman, Wine Press Northwest managing editor, was a judge at the Tri-Cities Wine Festival competition in Pasco, Wash. At the table with him were Wilfred Wong and Dan Berger.

Wong is the cellarmaster for Beverages & More in the San Francisco Bay area. Berger is a wine writer based in Santa Rosa, Calif. Both are considered among the top wine judges in America, and each tastes in excess of 8,000 wines annually.

So Degerman chatted with each about their impressions of the wines in particular and the Washington wine industry in general. Wong's take was especially interesting to me because he has spent much less time in the Northwest the past decade, while Berger gets up here regularly to participate in Wine Press Northwest judgings.

I think it's important for the Washington wine industry to listen to folks such as Wong and Berger because they can provide perspectives those within the region cannot. Neither has much to gain by talking up the wines. In fact, Wong can be very influential in wine purchases, as BevMo operates nearly 100 stores in California. In other words, they move a lot of product.

Meanwhile, take a look at this video. I think it offers a lot of interesting insights.