Yesterday, First Lady Michelle Obama invited DC superchef Jose Andres to cater a delicious-sounding luncheon for her and the spouses of the word leaders attending the G8 Summit at Camp David.
Unsurprisingly, the menu, as provided by Obama Foodorama, sounds completely local and extremely delicious: local cheeses, gazpacho, Maryland rockfish with grapefruit, asparagus, and local berries, a salad with greens from the White House Garden and caramelized olive oil (What is that? It sounds divine!) and a tangerine sorbet for dessert.
The wine pairing, however, gave us a double take: a 2010 Painted White from Blenheim Vineyards, owned by one Dave Matthews. Yes, that Dave Matthews.
Record scratch noise!
We didn’t know that Dave Matthews owned a vineyard, either, much less one that produces a vintage that Jose Andres would feature in a meal for some of the world’s most prominent women. But it’s true!
In 2000, Matthews purchased the historic Blenheim House and the surrounding lands, located in Charlottesville, VA, with the goal of restoring the farm to its former glory and turning it into a fully operational organic farm. Part of that mission focused on rehabilitating the old vineyard on the 1,260-acre property, because Virginia is not just for lovers, it’s also for some pretty high quality wine — and of course, Thomas Jefferson was into both. (Historical Apocryphal Tale: Thomas Jefferson, who lived five miles away at Monticello, is said to have been a frequent guest of the Blenheim House during the Revolutionary War. We didn’t think it was possible to bring more famous names into this post, either.)
Though this celebrity wine hasn’t won national plaudits like, say, Francis Ford Coppola’s Rubicon Wine, it’s a darn good regional wine, and Andres tweeted that it was an honor to use the prominent Virginia wine. “I love them!” he wrote in response.
He also posted a link to the full menu on his Facebook page, if you too want to know what Michelle Obama eats when she’s doing international goodwill work.
And Chef Andres, if you could tell us what caramelized olive oil is, we’d be eternally grateful.
[Image compilation via White House Press Pool, @chefjoseandres, and DreamingTreeWines.com]
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