White House Wine Always a Winner

Sometimes food and politics come together in unexpected ways.  When Nixon made his historic visit to China in 1972 he brought with him a Schramsberg sparkling wine.  After the “Toast to Peace” in Beijing, the wine has been served by every subsequent administration, and as one could guess, this little Californian winery has become rather well known.

toasting-nixons-visit-to-china

President Nixon toasting Chinese leader Chou En Lai in 1972 with Schramsberg sparkling wine

This year after a reporter mentioned seeing a bottle of Kendall-Jackson chardonnay at the Obama home, the winery quickly sent off a couple cases to the president elect.  Being the chosen dinner drink our nation’s capitol is a big deal in the vintner world.  The president’s palate could boost a winery out of obscurity and into infamy, so US wine makers are abuzz to find out what Obama will fill his glass with after filling his cabinet (link).

The policy to serve only American wines goes back to the Lyndon Johnson administration.  According to William Seale’s book The President’s House: A History, this was a problem for French wine loving Nixon, who sometimes had to wrap a napkin around a label in order to obscure the wine’s origins.  Consequently, Obama’s wine list may help some US vintners pull through the recession without begging for a bailout.  I think we can all drink to that.  Cheers!

December 22, 2008  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: Fun Food Facts

2 Responses

  1. Sleepless in the ivory tower - December 28, 2008

    I was hoping the link was an actual picture of the white house wine “cabinet”. :(

  2. foodbubbles - December 31, 2008

    I guess we will just have to use our imaginations. : )

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