For the Land Chardonnay’s Chris Potter Label

Wine Broker Daniel Berman Celebrates the Late Santa Barbara Artist’s Landscapes on His First Bottling

By Matt Kettmann Sat Oct 12, 2024 | 01:53pm

When wine broker Daniel Berman plotted to craft his own bottles for the first time, the founder of Rincon Wine Group wanted to honor the landscape that drew him here from New York almost 15 years ago. For the Land’s inaugural bottling needed to be broadly appealing and in a fresh style that reflected the coast. But informed by his sales background, Berman also needed bottles to stand out visually on the shelves, explaining, “We’re given eyes for a reason.”

Daniel Berman among the vines | Photo: Courtesy

He was already a fan of the colorful, dramatic landscapes painted by Chris Potter, the prolific, Santa Barbara–born artist who died suddenly at age 49 this past February. “Chris’s art really evoked an emotion for me,” said Berman. “That’s what I wanted in the wine and on the label.”

A couple of years ago, when he reached out to Potter, the artist was open to the idea. So wrapped up in the regulation-ruled world of wine, Berman was worried about the rights of the image and the fees and all those particulars. But Potter just wanted a few cases of wine as payment. Said Berman, “That was the easiest deal ever.”

It was also the easiest part of the process. “It’s very common knowledge, but corralling any artist’s attention can be a little challenging,” said Berman, explaining that Potter was also in the midst of his very public fight against a rare form of cancer.

As Berman’s wine moved quickly toward bottling, the artist — who gained fame years ago for quitting his corporate stockbroker job to create a painting a day — eventually told Berman that he was ready to have the painting photographed. But two days later, on February 3, Potter died in his sleep.

After giving space to Potter’s mourning family and friends — about 700 of whom attended his funeral at Dos Pueblos High — Berman reached out to his widow, Julie Beaumont Potter. ”She was so kind and generous to me,” said Berman, to whom Julie said, “Chris loved doing these deals. We’ll make it happen for you.” For the Land finally had its look.

“I already knew that I liked Chris a lot, just from my brief interactions with him, but his family was amazing,” said Berman. “I was really humbled by that experience.”

Family is what lured Berman out to California in the first place. He’s the cousin of The Ranch Table’s Elizabeth Poett, which makes him the nephew of the Santa Barbara Independent’s co-owner/editor-in-chief, Marianne Partridge. When he was growing up, he visited their Rancho San Julian property every summer, usually around Fiesta. “I always remembered being so sad when I had to leave Santa Barbara,” he said, “and I was so excited to come back.”

After watching Elizabeth give New York City a go for a few years, Berman — who was raised nearby in White Plains and Westchester County — decided to do the same out west. “She was a bit of an inspiration and like a big sister to me,” said Berman. “I always wanted to give California a try.”

By then, Berman knew a good amount about European wine. His dad was a “humble collector,” flush with top-shelf Bordeauxs purchased when such things were affordable. “I was the lucky beneficiary of that,” said Berman. “I got to drink really good wine at an age that I shouldn’t have.”

While figuring out next steps after graduating from Temple University, he worked at AOC Fine Wines, a shop in New Rochelle. “Two months later, I was the manager of the store,” said Berman, then just 22 years old. “I spent my time reading and educating myself on wine throughout the day.”

But that Old World knowledge only helped so much when he came to Santa Barbara in 2010. “I didn’t know California wine at all,” said Berman. “I had to relearn everything, basically.”

He found work in hospitality for Firestone Vineyard and Foley Family Wines, rolling out the red carpets for VIP visitors, many of whom were wholesale buyers. “I got introduced to a whole channel of this business that I had never known about,” said Berman. Intrigued by the chance to sell a wide range of global brands to top restaurants and retailers, Berman got a wholesale distribution job with Angeles Wine Agency and then Young’s Market, staying there for nearly nine years as it was taken over by Republic National Distributing Company.

Meanwhile, he was tuning into the Santa Barbara wine scene, whose boutique-sized, craft-focused producers were a far cry from the massive brands that his company sold. “I started to feel more and more as an outsider, which was not a feeling that I wanted to have,” said Berman. “I enjoy being part of the community.”

Daniel Berman tasting in the cellar | Photo: Courtesy

In 2021, Berman joined the board of the Vintners Foundation, where he led the development of an annual golf tournament. He met a lot of winemakers along the way, realizing that their wines were fantastic but little-known.

“That gave me the catalyst to start Rincon Wine Group,” said Berman. “I could see there was demand for what they were producing, but they didn’t have the means or know how to have their wines in wholesale. The customers and the accounts wanted to buy them, but they had no means to buy them. All of those factors combined to where I saw an open door and I decided to walk through it.”

His first client was Alison Thompson of Lepiane Wines. Then came Story of Soil, Kaena, LaBarge, Dreamcôte, and so on. Rincon Wine Group now represents about 20 producers and a half-dozen importers.

“It was a small snowball on a very steep hill that quickly gained traction,” said Berman. “I was highly determined because I was confident that this was going to work, and that’s paid off in spades. Other than marrying my wife, it was the greatest decision of my life.”

With his own wine, which was made from Sta. Rita Hills fruit by Story of Soil’s Jessica Gasca, Berman is careful to not step on his clients’ collective toes. “I’ve worked too hard to get my producers presence and to sell their amazing products,” he said. ”If I created something that competed, I’d be doing a disservice to everybody.”

His aim was for an easy-drinking, refreshing chardonnay, priced to sell at $28. “Chardonnay has incredible transparency and sense-of-place in our area,” he said. “That’s what I wanted in this wine.”

Others must want that too, as the 166 inaugural cases of For the Land’s 2023 chardonnay are almost sold out just a month after release. Berman is doubling that amount for the 2024 vintage, which will be a Santa Barbara County blend thanks to the addition of Santa Maria Valley grapes.

“For the Land is a tribute to the place it’s made,” explained Berman. “It just shows off the beautiful corner of the world we live in.”

That, too, is what Chris Potter was all about. Said Berman, “The painting really brings everything together.”

See forthelandwine.com and rinconwinegroup.com, or try the wine by-the-glass at Convivo, The Boathouse, and Lucky’s.