2 Napa Valley wines to be served at Thursday’s White House state dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Modi

Two wines from the Napa Valley were to be poured for 400 guests at the White House Thursday, June 22, during a state dinner honoring the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The two wines, a PATEL Napa Valley 2019 red blend and a Domaine Carneros brut rosé, were to complement a vegetarian menu prepared by White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford and chef and Plant’ish & Co. Culinary Arts director Nina Curtis, first lady Jill Biden said Wednesday.

A chardonnay from Virginia winery Stone Tower also was to be served.

PATEL Napa Valley owner Raj Patel, who was born about 100 miles from Modi’s hometown in India’s state of Gujarat, called the inclusion of the winery’s red blend “a privilege and an honor.

“The White House reached out to us a while back saying, please submit your wine,” Patel said. “When they did decide (on) the wine, they let the Indian delegation know this is what’s going to be served, and (the delegation) was ecstatic.”

Patel settled with his family in Northern California as a child in 1972. He founded PATEL Napa Valley in Oakville in 2007.

“Napa Valley continues to make great wine, and Julien Fayard, our winemaker, does an amazing job,” Patel said. “And at the end of the day, even though I am Indian, I grew up here, and when the White House serves wine, it’s representing America and the best that we can do.”

Remi Cohen, chief executive officer at Domaine Carneros in Napa, also called the state dinner’s inclusion of the winery’s Cuvee de la Pompadour Brut Rosé an honor.

“The White House has a long history of spotlighting top American sparkling wines, including our Le Rêve Blanc de Blancs, which was presented at the White House in 1995 and 1999,” Cohen said. “Our focus is on producing world-class méthode traditionelle sparkling wines. This acknowledgment is the highest praise.”

The state dinner’s menu included appetizers of marinated millet and grilled corn kernel salad, compressed watermelon and avocado sauce and main course choices of stuffed portobello mushrooms, creamy saffron-infused risotto and an optional sumac-roasted sea bass. Dessert was planned to be a rose and cardamom-infused strawberry shortcake.

The Bidens have served North Bay wines at each of the administration’s state dinners.

In April, the White House hosted a state dinner honoring South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife that featured wine from Calistoga’s Schramsberg Vineyards. In December, the White House honored French President Emmanuel Macron during a state dinner that featured several local wines as well as a Humboldt County cheese.