Wine, the New State Secret

The White House stops publicizing the wines served at state dinners

Given the U.S. debt held by China, Stephen Colbert said the Hu dinner "should have been a sweatpants potluck with box wine and a sleeve of Oreos"Photograph by Lawrence Jackson/White House

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By Margaret Talev

March 15, 2012 at 11:03 PM UTC

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This article is part of the March 19, 2012 issue of businessweek.

When British Prime Minister David Cameron visits President Barack Obama this week, one detail may stay bottled up: the labels on the wines the White House pours at the state dinner tomorrow night.

For Obama’s first three state dinners, honoring the leaders of India, Mexico and China, the White House released the name, year and appellation of wines—all-American—paired with each course.