When one is on the road and promoting a wine brand, he or she may not know who could be the buyer at the other end.
As the story goes, Wes Hagen, brand ambassador and now the winemaker for J. Wilkes Wines of Santa Maria, partnered with a new East Coast distributor. That company’s sales manager, Michael Phillips, accompanied Hagen to a recent trade tasting in Alexandria, Va.
One of the guests sampling wines there turned out to be Jason Larkin, executive chef for the State Department’s Chief of Protocol.
In late April, word quickly spread via social media that several J. Wilkes wines had been selected for an upcoming meal hosted by Vice President Joe Biden. The occasion would be the U.S.-Caribbean-Central American Energy Summit in Washington, D.C., early in May. Also in attendance would be Secretary of State John Kerry.
The wine picked to pair with the luncheon on May 4 was the 2012 J. Wilkes Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay, according to Hagen and Nicholas Miller, vice president of marketing and partner with his family in The Thornhill Companies of Santa Barbara, owner of J. Wilkes Wines.
Luncheon guests enjoyed grilled breast of chicken with haricots verts, stewed tomatoes, red potatoes and a mango-cilantro salsa. Dessert was a praline cookie served with fudge sauce and praline crème anglaise, according to the menu.
And if that honor weren’t enough, Hagen and the J. Wilkes/The Thornhill Companies’ team learned that more of their wines would be served at the upcoming visit of Nordic Leaders this week — and that Hagen himself was invited.
Monday evening, Hagen posted the following on his Facebook page: “Mr. Hagen: Thank you for your RSVP. We look forward to seeing you at the luncheon in honor of the Official Visit of Nordic Leaders on Friday, May 13 at the U.S. Department of State. Best, The Office of the Chief of Protocol.”
Also included in the upcoming luncheon will be another Santa Barbara County wine, the 2013 Pence Winery Sebastiano Chardonnay.
Hagen, ever effusive when it comes to wine and education, emailed me: “Most people don’t know that democracy was ‘invented’ at formalized wine tasting parties in 5th to 1st century Athens, Greece.
“Wine was mixed with water, and after a few hours of spirited discussion, consensus was reached through debate. I’ve always believed that wine is an investment to keep those we love at table an extra hour every day, and that discussions at table tend to get a bit deeper and more passionate with great wines to share.
“I make wines for those who appreciate what a glass or two can accomplish for the humans that share the fermented grape. Now that J. Wilkes Wines are being consumed at State functions, by kings and prime ministers, presidents and ambassadors, my hope is that the same openness that I experience at table will also affect the leaders of State so we can look at the world’s problems with both intellect and soul — and leave this world a better place for our children.
“This may seem like an inflated hope — and of course if J. Wilkes Wines weren’t at table, some other wine would take its place, but gathering around any wine for discussions of foreign policy is an American tradition that began with the Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson specifically, who was noted for bringing out special bottles on a regular basis.
“It was difficult for Jefferson to accept that the U.S. could not produce high-quality wines in the 18th century, so I like to imagine how thrilled Jefferson would be to know that the State Department has so many delicious domestic wines to choose from, and I think everyone in Santa Barbara County, California, and even the United States, should be proud.”
Jefferson Wilkes, founder of the J. Wilkes label, died in 2010, and the Miller family — owners of Central Coast Wine Services, Bien Nacido and Solomon Hills vineyards, and The Thornhill Companies — assumed production of J. Wilkes’ pinot blanc, pinor noir and chardonnay to continue Wilkes’ passion for wine made from grapes grown in the Santa Maria Valley.
— Laurie Jervis blogs about wine at www.centralcoastwinepress.com, tweets at @lauriejervis and can be reached via winecountrywriter@gmail.com. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are her own.