If the Obama White House has decided to stop publicizing which American wines are served at official events, she says, "I don't understand this. It's good for America."

Rick Small is co-owner of the Woodward Canyon winery in Lowden, Wash., whose 2009 Chardonnay was among the wines poured for the German dinner.

He and his wife noticed the shift because they had gotten billing on the menu when their wine was served at a Clinton administration dinner. He says he didn't know why the practice was changed but says it probably does help the industry overall to have U.S. wines publicized by name.

At the same time, Small says, it's an honor to be chosen at all. "You're not going to get pushy about it since they picked your wine," he says.

The White House declined to comment for this article or to make available Daniel Shanks, the usher who has managed wine selection since the Clinton administration, or social secretary Jeremy Bernard. First Lady Michelle Obama's office referred questions to the White House press office.

White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest declined to disclose which wines were served at the German or Korean state dinners, identify wines from non-state dinners, make menus of past meals available for inspection or answer questions about the shift in practice.

Earnest also declined to say whether the White House would release the names of wines at the Cameron dinner.
The White House has promoted its release of other documents and data. On March 8, it announced a Web site, www.ethics.gov, to expand access to government databases tracking White House visitor records, lobbying disclosures and Federal Election Commission reports.

"From the day he took office, the president committed his administration to work towards unprecedented openness in government," says the official statement announcing the site.

At the state dinner for Hu, the 2005 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley from Washington state, one of the wines poured that night, was $115 a bottle at release, the winery's general manager, John Ware, says.

The wine earned a rare 100-point rating from wine critic Robert Parker. By the time of the White House dinner, Ware says, it sold for $300 to $350. It was listed for as much as $399 per bottle, according to wine Web sites.