Five (daft) facts about wine and American politics
No, this is NOT about the Three-Tier System or Prohibition. It's five things that you can tell people amusingly and entertainingly at dinner.
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1. Who is the only living US President to share his name with a grape variety?
It’s… Bill Clinton. Clinton is also the name of a hybrid grape variety. It’s grown in the US for wine, and in Europe for rootstock. It appears that the (illegal) “fragolino” you sometimes find in northern Italy is also made from Clinton . Clinton is a very thick-skinned grape making deeply coloured wines, and tasters are warned that “Clinton can stain clothing”. I’m genuinely not making this up.
2. Trump served Clinton
Donald Trump’s winery made the sparkling wine served at Chelsea Clinton’s wedding. Albeit under its previous owners (various members of the Kluge family) when the winery was noted for its sparkling wine. Not least their Kluge SP Rosé, an award winner chosen by Chelsea Clinton for her wedding toast. The winery subsequently faced endless financial problems and was eventually acquired by the Trumps. It’s wines are less well reviewed today.
Fortunately for Chelsea, the red at the wedding was not made from “Clinton”. Imagine a spill on the dress. Unfortunately for Chelsea, the wedding does have a different lingering mark, as Ghislaine Maxwell was photographed among the guests. Lame-to-fame, I once did a wine tasting for her defence attorney.
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3. Two Jags versus Two Vineyards
The former UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was famous for having “two Jags”. But the US is another country, they do things differently there. The former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, owns two vineyards. She doesn’t make Pelosi wine, but sells the grapes to other wineries. A trait (one of relatively few I suspect) that she shares with Princess Margaret. She also sold wine grapes to a larger winery in a very early iteration of the UK wine industry.
4. Ted Cruz beat Kamala Harris
In 2017 Republican senator Ted Cruz won two bottles of wine in a bet with Kamala Harris. Harris made the best over that year’s World Series between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
One of the bottles, on the right, was a Chardonnay from Ramey Cellars, and is particularly excellent. I used to sell it. This is a very good value option from Berry Bros & Rudd own label range.
5. Alexander Butterfield had two secret jobs
Alexander Butterfield has gone down in history as the man responsible for fitting recording devices in Richard Nixon’s Oval Office. The same recording devices that led to Tricky Dicky’s downfall over Watergate. What’s less well-known is he had a second, also secret, job. Nixon was a terrible wine snob. And didn’t like the US wines that were always served at Wine House dinners. Butterfield was tasked with buying special stocks of Chateau Margaux that were then served to The President, wrapped in a linen napkin, so that guests (drinking California Merlot) wouldn’t see.
This is fun, thanks, Joe! (Esp. since I am en route to DC at the moment.) A book to add to your reading list - Wine and the White House by Fred Ryan. Fred worked in the Reagan White House and was former Publisher of the Washington Post.
This is super fun. A good friend I grew up with is the granddaughter of Nixon and Eisenhower- I’m going to ask her about the wine- her mom would know I am sure!