Eric Degerman

Eric is a native of Portland, Ore., who graduated from Lewis & Clark High School in Spokane, Wash., Clark College in Vancouver, Wash., and the University of Washington.

During college, he worked for the Vancouver Columbian, the Valley Daily News in Kent and The Seattle Times before spending 25 years as an editor and award-winning sports writer at the Tri-City Herald. He co-founded Wine Press Northwest, becoming a food writer and wine judge. In 2018, he was a contributing writer to Wine Trails – USA & Canada by Lonely Planet. In 2020, he began contributing to The Seattle Times, Sip Magazine and the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business. In 2021, he received the Idaho Wine Commission’s Impact Award. He also served as the Washington state field editor for the 2022 Slow Wine Guide.

His judging history includes the San Francisco International Wine Competition, San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, INDY International Wine Competition, New Orleans International Wine Competition, Savor NW Wine Awards, the British Columbia Lieutenant Governor’s Wine Awards, Oregon Wine Competition, Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo International Wine Competition, Pacific Rim International Wine Competition, Grand Harvest Awards, Long Beach Grand Cru, Riverside International Wine Competition, Northwest Wine Summit, British Columbia Wine Awards, Okanagan Fall Wine Festival, Washington State Wine Competition, Tri-Cities Wine Festival, Idaho Wine Competition, McMinnville Wine Classic, Oregon’s Greatest of the Grape, the Wenatchee Wine Awards and the Capital Food & Wine Festival Wine Competition.

Eric resides in Washington wine country with Traci, his wife of 31 years, and rescue felines Anakin, Hondo and Pinky.