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Here’s the wines on Trump’s inauguration lunch menu

US officials have risked re-opening old wounds with Champagne houses by picking a 'California Champagne' for president Donald Trump's inauguration lunch. See the full menu below - and it doesn't include bottles from the Trump winery in Virginia.

  • California ‘Champagne’, plus Cabernet and Chardonnay make the line-up

California wines will be the toast of president Donald Trump’s inauguration day in Washington DC; the quality of California wines offsetting figures that show the ‘golden state’ voted strongly for Hillary Clinton in November’s presidential election.

There are three wines listed on the menu for the traditional inauguration lunch that will part of Donald Trump officially becoming president of the United States.

Such a prestigious platform can provide a sales boost to the wines chosen.

But, one wine threatens to re-kindle a dispute between inauguration organisers and the Champagne Bureau in Washington.

Officials plan to serve Korbel’s Special Inaugural Cuvée of  ‘California Champagne’. A similar Korbel wine was served at Obama’s inauguration four years ago and led to a letter of complaint from the Champagne Bureau.

Korbel is still allowed to label its wine as Champagne because it had already being doing so before a 2006 agreement between the US and EU that banned use of the term on future American sparkling wines.

Also on the lunch menu is a J. Lohr’s Arroyo Vista Chardonnay 2013, produced from the Arroyo Seco AVA of Monterey County.

The red wine choice will be Black Stallion Estate Winery’s limited release Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 from Napa Valley. Black Stallion winery is owned by Delicato Family Vineyards.

Both 2012 and 2013 are highly rated California vintages, albeit the 2012 California Cabernet vintage has since been a little overshadowed by the 2013 crop of wines – which are considered to have more ageing potential, according to Decanter’s California correspondent, William Kelley.

The J Lohr is priced below $25 per bottle. However, the limited release Black Stallion is priced at $60 per bottle on the winery’s website.

The wines chosen mark a contrast with the policy of UK officials, who tend to select more mature wines for important state occasions.

Food menu

Food to be served alongside the wines includes:

Starter: Maine lobster and gulf shrimp with a saffron sauce and peanut crumble.

Second course: This will be followed by a main of grilled Seven Hills Angus beef with a dark chocolate and juniper jus and potato gratin. Such a rich meal should meet the full-bodied Cabernet head-on.

Dessert: Chocolate soufflé with cherry vanilla ice cream.



Updated 22 January 2017: To correct the advertised price of the Black Stallion Winery wine. 

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