About Dan Berger

Dan Berger

Dan Berger

Dan Berger is a former full-time wine columnist for the Los Angeles Times who has been a journalist at major newspapers for his entire professional life. Dan earned a degree in journalism from Cal State Los Angeles and spent 10 years as a general assignment reporter/editor for The Associated Press. He began writing about wine in 1976 and has been nationally syndicated since 1979. For 21 years, he has written a weekly wine newsletter called “Dan Berger’s Vintage Experiences,” available by subscription. Dan has contributed articles to Wines & Vines, Decanter magazinein London, Wine Press Northwest, Robb Report, Tasters Guild Journal, SOMM Journal, California Grapevine, the Cheersand Beverage Dynamics trade journals,andWine Business Monthly.

Dan teaches wine courses at Santa Rosa Junior College. He is also an internationally respected wine judge, having judged at wine competitions throughout North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. His books include the Readers’ Digest “North American Wine Routes,” “Beyond the Grapes: An Inside Look at Napa Valley” and “Beyond the Grapes: An Inside Look at Sonoma County.” In 2010, Dan was inducted into the Wine Media Guild Wine Writers’ Hall of Fame in New York City. He is on the board of directors of the International Riesling Foundation. He is also the host of the weekly “California Wine Country” radio show on KSRO, the largest AM radio station in Santa Rosa, California.

...

Collecting Wine Jun 30, 2026

Wine collectors are often a target of derision by people who consider it silly to have a bunch of wine in a dark closet, under the bed, or in a basement. I know the feeling. I began collecting wine in the late 1970s and several friends thought of me ... Read More

...

Wine 'Additives' Jun 23, 2026

Anti-alcohol people who would like to see a reinstatement of prohibition occasionally suggest that wine is little more than chemicals added to grape juice before or after it's fermented. They like to argue that the U.S. government permits chemicals t... Read More

...

Learning about Wine Jun 16, 2026

My first exposure to fine wine occurred around 1973, when I took a UCLA extension course vaguely titled Wine Education, and I was fortunate to have some background in the subject. The instructor, a jolly West Los Angeles wine collector whose name was... Read More

...

Stale Views Jun 09, 2026

A "shelf talker" is a slip of paper or a card with a few words that describe the wine sitting on the shelf or in the box that retailers hope will entice people to buy it. One such shelf talker long ago said that a particular wine had received a gold ... Read More