President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump do not drink. In a country where more than two-thirds of adults consume alcohol, that’s a surprising fact — not that there’s anything wrong with abstaining (and both Trump and Biden have their reasons).
However, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris not only counts herself in the majority of Americans who drink, but she apparently has good taste in wine.
According to a Washingtonian article published after Harris snagged the vice presidential nomination in 2020, the current VP enjoyed spending time at Cork Wine Bar in Washington, D.C. The venue tweeted a photo of Harris with the bar’s owners, taken during a holiday party that the current presidential candidate held for her staff in 2019.
Harris’s wine bonafides extend to her time serving as a U.S. senator from California, a top winemaking state, where she was a member of the Congressional Wine Caucus, a 117-member, bipartisan and bicameral group that “protect[s] the interests of our vibrant wine community from grape to glass.” As well, the VP was reportedly a member of Rock Wall Wine Co., an urban winery in Alameda, CA, before it closed in 2022.
How 10 US Presidents Took Their Booze
Fun fact: Harding liked to sneak a few in his golf bag“You know if you go to a foreign country and you know like six phrases or something? She’s well beyond that,” Cork Wine Bar co-owner Khalid Pitts told the Washingtonian. “She can talk about different varietals. She can talk about differences between California oak and French oak…. She knows what she likes and doesn’t like, and knows why she doesn’t like it.” According to Pitts, Harris likes California wines and has a “great appreciation for Old World wines.”
She also apparently once asked for ice to put in her white wine, a practice that’s slightly contentious but has its supporters, including Martha Stewart. In France and other countries, they call it “Vin Piscine,” which directly translates to “wine swimming pool,” when white wine is served in an oversized glass with lots of ice.
But most importantly, Pitts says Harris is a good tipper and gracious to the staff.
If you look at past presidents, their drinking choices didn’t necessarily line up with any particular political leaning. George Washington taxed whiskey but made his own (and his own beer, too); Martin Van Buren imbibed Schiedam, an aggressive, clear liquor akin to gin. Teddy Roosevelt enjoyed Mint Juleps, Warren G. Harding drank Seagram’s (during Prohibition, no less), Gerald Ford dug Martinis and Bill Clinton enjoyed Snakebites, a mix of lager and hard cider.
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