No business as usual for bubbly

For the last six presidential inaugurations, Sonoma County’s Korbel winery has paid for the honor of being crowned the “official” sparkling wine of the inauguration.

But change is coming to Washington, D.C.

Korbel and other big companies have been told by President-elect Barack Obama’s Presidential Inaugural Committee that this year there will be no inaugural corporate sponsorship agreements.

“He’s kind of set a tone that he doesn’t want to owe anybody anything,” said Gary Heck, owner of F. Korbel Brothers, maker of Korbel and other wine brands. “I think it’s kind of a pretty clean way of living, to tell you the truth.”

In the past, in addition to its wines being served at inaugural events, Korbel has secured the right to sell wines to the public bearing the official inaugural seal. The winery sent $5 to the inaugural committee for every case it sold, and the boost to sales was worth the price, he said.

“I’m sure it sells more boxes,” Heck said. “Hell, that’s what I’m in business for.”

But just because Korbel won’t have a corporate sponsorship, it won’t be excluded from the 2009 presidential inauguration. Far from it. Korbel expects to be well represented at numerous inaugural balls and events, official and unofficial next week.

The list includes the prestigious luncheon for Obama hosted by Congress immediately after his swearing-in on Jan. 20. The winery donated 15 cases of special magnums of its “Russian River Valley Natural Champagne” for the event, Heck said.

Nevertheless, the elimination of corporate sponsorships from the official inaugural events — including 10 different balls — has sent a signal to California wineries.

“The game is different than it ever was,” said Laurence Sterling, of Iron Horse Vineyards in Sebastopol, which has had its wine served at the White House since the Reagan years. “It’s not just there’s a new sheriff in town. There’s a whole new mindset.”

What that means for wineries that have been, or aspire to be, served at the White House or inaugural events is still being determined.

Even before the committee announced the new rules about corporate sponsorship, many in the wine industry were already angling to capitalize on Obama’s presidency because he is a wine lover.

His home in Chicago has a wine cellar with room for 1,000 bottles. A feature story in People magazine over the summer noted that a bottle of 2007 Kendall-Jackson Reserve Chardonnay was on the kitchen counter.

That has Barbara Banke, wife of winery founder Jess Jackson, excited about the possibility that Kendall-Jackson may soon be the first choice of the First Family.

“I’m looking forward to him drinking many California wines,” Banke said, noting that K-J wines were also served in the Reagan White House.

The winery even sent Obama a couple of congratulatory cases of their finest after the election, hoping the wines would make their way into the official residence.

But competition for that honor is and will continue to be fierce.

Just because Obama, formerly a U.S. senator from Illinois, likes K-J chardonnay doesn’t mean it’s going to get served to foreign dignitaries at the White House, Sterling said.

“There’s a difference between what the junior senator happens to buy for his own consumption and what is served at the White House,” Sterling said.

The White House works hard to tailor its wine selections to foreign guests. For the King of Spain, Gloria Ferrer, which is owned by Spanish firm Frexeinet, has been served.

The president of France has been served Domain Chandon, which is made in Napa but is owned by French wine group Luis Vuitton-Moet-Hennessey, Sterling explained.

Ever since the Johnson administration, there’s been a strong emphasis on U.S.-made wines, said Christopher Silva, president of St. Francis Winery and Vineyards in Kenwood.

Silva’s is one of many California wineries doing all they can to keep it that way.

“Our mission is to share the Sonoma County story with the rest of the world, and that includes the White House,” he said.

Entrees to White House functions can be achieved, not through the First Family, but through the corps of long-time civil servants who keep the residence running, he said.

Silva visited the White House just before November’s historic election and used the opportunity to cement his long relationships with the key staff there, he said. The staff at the White House is fond of Sonoma County wines, he said.

“There’s a lot of affinity and a lot of warmth in the White House toward this small county of farmers who make wine,” Silva said.

He met with both Stephen Rochon, director of the executive residence, and Daniel Shanks, the long-time wine steward for the White House. Shanks joined the White House after a long stint at Napa’s Domaine Chandon, so local wineries often get a warm reception from him, Silva said.

Figuring out ways to share the story of his wines with Obama has “more than crossed my mind,” and he’s concluded the best way to do that is to stay close to the gatekeepers.

“It’s a lot easier to have a door open for you if you are standing right next to the door,” Silva said.

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat

.com.