Can a Candidate For President Get Away with Praising a $20,000 Bottle of Wine?

We are going to find put, sooner rather than later.

Just a couple of issues ago, I mused on the tendency of wine to get mixed up in presidential politics, and almost always in a negative way. Wine is generally portrayed as an “elitist” beverage and those who drink it, let alone court wine drinkers’ votes, are branded elitists.

Now I think this is dumb. Most thinking people think this is dumb. So, it should be no surprise that I think the following clip of California Governor Gavin Newsom is absolutely refreshing. Click on the image below to watch the Governor and potential presidential candidate answer the question, “What one bottle of wine are you saving for a special occasion?”…then come back here for the rest of the story.

The best thing about Newsom’s response to the question is that he very clearly knows and understands that it’s not politically correct to espouse the virtues of, let alone admit to owning, a $20,000+ bottle of wine, and goes so far as to loudly proclaim this knowledge right there in the interview. But in point of fact, Newsom is a snob (and I mean that in a good way) when it comes to wine. In the interview linked above, he does the political thing and before naming his real Special Occasion Wine, says the wine he’s saving for a special occasion is a Mondavi Coastal Chardonnay. If I’m not mistaken, this wine isn’t even produced, as such, anymore. But it is a stand-in for the various inexpensive chardonnays that are likely purchased in greatest quantity by likely voters known as middle-class women looking for sweet, roundly textured alcohol in an acceptable form…It’s not beer, but it might be close enough.

For the record, his REAL Special Occasion Wine is the legendary 1947 Cheval Blanc. More about that below.