The sauvignon blanc was from California, the pinot noir from Oregon.
But the wine served Sunday night with dessert as the nation's governors dined at the White House with President Barack Obama and his wife was the most unusual — a Michigan ice wine from Black Star Farms in Suttons Bay.
The frozen grapes were picked in December 2007 and crushed outside so they wouldn't thaw. The wine was released last July and sells for $80 or more for a half bottle.
The White House paired the sweet A Capella Riesling ice wine with huckleberry cobbler with caramel ice cream.
Black Star Farms managing partner Don Coe said Monday that former President George W. Bush and his wife served the winery's 2000 A Capella ice wine to a governors' dinner seven years ago.
The Bushes also served the winery's Sirius Maple dessert wine during a May 2005 Rose Garden event celebrating Cinco de Mayo. A pinot gris was served once.
"It's always exciting," Coe said of his wine's White House appearances. "We're delighted."
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On the Net:
Black Star Farms: http://www.blackstarfarms.com
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MILWAUKEE (AP) — The average wage for agricultural workers in the Upper Midwest has dropped 70 cents an hour in the past year.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service says the average wage for agricultural workers in the lake region of Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota was just over $11 an hour during the week of Jan. 11. It says that's down 70 cents an hour from January 2008.
But workers in the Midwest earned more than those nationwide. The average hourly wage in those three states was $11.02 compared to $10.93 nationwide.
Livestock and field workers earned less on average. NASS says the average wage for a livestock worker in the lake region was just under $10 an hour, while field workers who plant, harvest and operate machinery earned an average of $10.83 an hour.
Copyright 2009 AP News
