Wine generally breaches the political divide

By Bill Ward, Star Tribune

Last update: August 27, 2008 - 12:37 PM

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WINE OF THE WEEK

Michael David Petite Petit 2006

The experience: A quintessential California wine, this blend of petite sirah (85 percent) and petit verdot (15 percent) is jammy but smooth, a fruit bomb with depth and uncommon balance. Big berry flavors, spices and a touch of caramel are offset by just enough tannins to provide structure and a long, layered finish. An All-American wine offering great bang for about $18.

The setting: Meat and game, with sweets or spices playing off them, are an ideal companion. Think steaks with mushrooms, venison with a fruit sauce, lamb with a Provencal rub ... you get the picture.

The back story: No, I didn't choose this wine because there are elephants on the bottle and the Republicans are headed here. But the colorful and complex label is as fun and festive as the wine itself. Michael and David Phillips' other wines -- with varietals labeled Incognito, Windmill and Earthquake, plus 7 Deadly Zins and 7 Heavenly Chards -- show similar verve on the inside and outside of the bottles.

BILL WARD

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When it comes to politics, wine makes for strange bedfellows. Even in these most partisan of political times, people of divergent beliefs can socialize over wine and almost be guaranteed that it will not devolve into a shouting match about welfare or war or whatnot.

And it's not (just) because of the buzz.

"Wine heightens everybody's spirits, but it's one of those warming things, like chocolate," said Phil Colich, owner of Hennepin Lake Liquor in Minneapolis. "It has almost a calming effect, where other spirits get people excited."

That's certainly been my experience. I'm in a couple of wine klatches (for research purposes only, of course). One is coordinated by a staunch Republican, the other by a left-leaning oenophile. Both contingents include folks from each extreme of the political spectrum and every point in between. And if politics comes up, we either find common ground or move on.

"Wine brings people together," the esteemed critic Robert Parker recently told the Washingtonian magazine. "Put a couple of good bottles out, and political and philosophical differences can be worked through. Even the most sensitive topic can be discussed civilly over a good meal with great wine."

Part of the deal, I think, is that wine lovers tend to have other common interests that supersede their political leanings. I've yet to meet a wine fan who didn't also love travel and food, and experiences with all of the above are often the main topics of conversation at wine-fueled gatherings.

Not that these evenings are always beacons of gentility, bereft of disputatious behavior. It's just that the wrangling usually involves a different topic, and almost always a different tone.

"There often are huge arguments about wine itself," said Corey Burstad, owner of Tournament Liquors stores in Blaine and Ham Lake. "But it's a respected opinion rather than an ideological one. Different points of view are really respected. That's kind of an unwritten rule at the table."

That's not always the case in the public arena, where Republican ads of late have characterized Democrats as a chablis-and-brie crowd. But the guess here is that this line of attack has been mostly about attaching French words, and rather girly ones at that, to a rival.

A recent Gallup Poll found that Republicans were more likely to choose wine as their favorite alcoholic beverage (37 percent) than were Democrats (27 percent).

There's also some anecdotal evidence that Democrats might be a little more adventurous in their wine choices. "Off the top of my head, conservatives would tend to stick with the same wines, and liberals would tend to experiment more and be out there trying torrontes and malbec," said Marion Dauner, general manager of the distributor Vinocopia. "But I can't say that with any authority. It's just a gut feeling."

By and large, then, not much is known about how folks on the left and right buy and consume wine. Except for this:

"Wine is common ground," said Burstad. "It sheds all the walls people bring. Period."

Bill Ward • bill.ward@star tribune.com Read Ward on Wine at www.startribune.com/blogs/wine.