Wines at the White House State Dinner

[Eric_LeVine]

@David McMillen

@scott c l a f f e e

Pulling out some big guns to impress the Chinese (alas, rules say domestic only, so no Lafite):

With first course (lobster): 2008 DuMOL Chardonnay
With second course (steak): 2005 Quilceda Creek Cabernet
With dessert (apple pie): 2008 Poet’s Leap Late Harvest Riesling Botrytis

From Politico.com:
The menu: D’Anjou Pear Salad with Farmstead Goat Cheese (Fennel, Black Walnuts, and White Balsamic) … Poached Maine Lobster; Orange Glazed Carrots and Black Trumpet Mushrooms (Dumol Chardonnay “Russian River” 2008) … Lemon Sorbet … Dry Aged Rib Eye with Buttermilk Crisp Onions; Double Stuffed Potatoes and Creamed Spinach (Quilceda Creek Cabernet “Columbia Valley” 2005) … Old Fashioned Apple Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream (Poet’s Leap Riesling “Botrytis” 2008). Booklet http://bit.ly/eCBsti" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You know, that sounds like a pretty kickass American meal!

[Jeff_Baron]

Good grief, Charlie Brown. You guys can take the fun out of anything.

[Sean_P_Sullivan]

]Z. Hu wrote:
Okay, all joking aside, who chooses the wines for these events? Pretty cool honor for the wineries! I wonder if the White House buys these wines or if the wineries sent them after the request.

I wrote a post about the State Dinner today on the blog with some details about how the wines were selected. Should have an updated version of the post soon with some additional information and quotes from Daniel Shanks as soon as I get final approval.

Enjoy!
http://www.wawinereport.com/2011/01/washington-wines-in-spotlight-at-white.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[H_Wallace_Jr]

Screw the wine- Herbie Hancock played!

[Gordon_ZenMasterOfZin_Ng]

@scott c l a f f e e

@Z. Hu

Okay, all joking aside, who chooses the wines for these events? Pretty cool honor for the wineries! I wonder if the White House buys these wines or if the wineries sent them after the request.

It’s a guy named Daniel Shanks. Here’s an interesting article from a couple years ago in Slate:

Even more dismaying, though, was what Shanks revealed about the process of choosing wines for state dinners. He told McCoy that because only 55 minutes are allotted for the actual meal, it is essential that the wines served on these august occasions “have presence.” And what did he mean by “presence”? “A perfectly aged cabernet may be great in the glass,” he explained, “but it can’t stand up to the intense atmosphere of a White House state dinner. You have to have something with youth and vigor.” > Delicate wines will be overlooked; only strapping, assertive ones have what it takes to be “noticed in the context of the White House experience,” as Shanks put it. In other words, > the desired effect is shock and awe, achieved not with cruise missiles but fruit bombs> .

Hyperbolic much? Can we say Shanks is a Suckling-like “blowhard” ???


Williams-Selyem for all you youngsters out there: Served in three administrations. Ronald Reagan (left office in 1989), Bush Senior, and IIRC at least 3x in the Clinton Admin (man, how does the spunkin’ Pres get all the luck…it’s not fair!!!). QC is a like an Oz Shiraz compared to most of the W-S Pinot Noirs of that era. I don’t recall the specific W-S Pinot Noirs served at WH events, but I seriously doubt their most concentrated wine, very rare Summa Vineyard (see my 'tar) was served for the likes of White House meals/dinners.

Calling out BS on Shanks, that is his own bias, desires. Other Presidents and foreign heads of state enjoyed, IMHO; more sensual. seductive pleasures, so very ‘oral’… eh, not Drudge report ‘incidents’

[dteng]

@Jim Brennan

Hu’s face turned red after drinking all these wines?

*Fixed.