Friday, Sep. 11, 2009

Letter: Plenty of room for wine blogs

Wine columnist and critic Dan Berger wrote an article in the Summer issue entitled, "Wine writing, blogs and warts," in which Mr. Berger takes exception to the numerous bloggers out there who express their opinion and observation about wine.

He asserts vehemently that most of these sites are written by individuals that as he states, "treat it as a lark to toss off after a day of arbitraging."

Excuse me for screaming, but it sounds as if Dan has torn a page from the worn out book of bloviating by Robert Parker Jr., who has long looked with askew at wine critics who are involved some way in the wine business. Parker has also been quite vocal about the many blogs in cyberspace referring to them contemptuously as "white noise."

Robert Parker Jr. is not the first and will not be the last newbie to come out with his or her opinion and observation about wine and go on and be well respected.

Dan Berger, nor anyone else for that matter, is the definitive voice in the world of wine. I respect Mr. Berger for both his experience in the wine world and his education in journalism. This in itself does not give him the license to decide who is and who is not qualified to write about wine. This is a country in which freedom of speech is coveted and respected. Blogging is an avenue in which individuals can exercise their freedom of speech. It is no different then a "newsletter" or any other form of writing.

Yes, there are blogs out there that do not deserve our time just as there are newsletters and Web sites out there that do not deserve our time.

My suggestion to Dan is share the space and drop the attitude.

Stan Reitan, Friday Harbor, Wash.
www.blucid.com