President Obama has displayed his taste for liquid diplomacy by serving US wines from estates founded by African-Americans at a White House dinner for African leaders.
Photo Credit: Vision Cellars
There are still only a few wineries among thousands in the US that were founded by, or are run by, African-Americans.
But White House aides managed to pinpoint two of them for this week’s US-Africa Leaders Summit, which saw 40 African heads of state jetting into Washington DC.
At a dinner to mark the summit, guests were served Black Coyote‘s Sauvignon Blanc 2013 and Vision Cellars‘ Las Alturas Pinot Noir 2010.
The wine list was confirmed to Decanter.com by an official who wished to remain anonymous.
A bottle price for the Black Coyote wine could not be immediately verified, but Vision Cellars’ wine, from the Santa Lucia Highlands of California’s central coast, was available on its winery website for $48-a-bottle. Only 246 cases of the 2010 vintage were produced.
Vision Cellars was founded by Mac Mcdonald in 1995, the son of a Texas moonshine whiskey distiller.
Black Coyote, based in Napa, sells Cabernet for more than $100-a-bottle and was founded by Dr Ernest Bates in 1997. Bates was previously a leading neurosurgeon. He has since handed control of Black Coyote to Vanessa Robledo, a fourth generation grower in Napa and Sonoma.
Written by Chris Mercer
