PHILLY GRILL: Benjamin Wallace and The Billionaire’s Vinegar
Former Philadelphia executive editor Benjamin Wallace has just released his first book, The Billionaire’s Vinegar, which traces the international mystery surrounding a wayward bottle of wine from Thomas Jefferson’s cellars. Philly Grill caught up with Wallace just as he was returning from his honeymoon with another Philly Mag emigrée, New York magazine’s Jessica Pressler. He’ll be giving a reading and talk at 3 p.m. on Sunday as part of the Free Library’s Philadelphia Book Festival. — Kyle Winslow
How did you come across this story?
Back in 2000, I read a memoir by [British wine critic] Jancis Robinson that mentioned this bottle that had disappeared and ended up in a Paris cellar.
You traveled from Europe to Monticello trying to uncover the mystery, in what amounts to a sommelier’s quest for the Holy Grail. Did you ever feel like you were in a Dan Brown novel?
I did feel like I was a detective while writing the book. That was kind of the fun of the book — trying to solve this mystery, going place to place. It didn’t seem like a Dan Brown novel per se, but it might have felt like I was in another mystery novel — not that there’s anything wrong with Dan Brown. Some people I was traveling with actually compared it to National Treasure.
What was the oddest thing that happened during the course of your research?
I was not a wine insider when I began my research. It was a learning curve to enter into this world of guys who go to tastings on a regular basis, who taste upwards of 50 wines in an evening.
One time in an old-world part of London I had lunch with Michael Broadbent, who is a main character in the book. We had a glass of champagne before lunch, a glass of white wine with potted shrimp for the first course, a glass of red wine with roast grouse for the second ,and we finished with a sort of after-lunch drink. For him this was the norm — he drinks champagne every day with breakfast. When we left it was light out — about 1 p.m. in the afternoon — and I ran into an electrical utility box. I had to learn how to conduct myself.
How much weight did you gain eating and drinking your way through Europe?
I am blessed with a good metabolism. I actually maintain a fairly steady weight, so I don’t think I put on many pounds. But it wasn’t for lack of trying.
In your book, you mention that Thomas Jefferson, on his way back to the United States from Paris, brought George Washington and John Jay two hampers filled with various wines. Were our Founding Fathers first and foremost drinking buddies?
They kind of were. Jefferson left this incredible mountain of documents behind him of just about every letter he wrote and received. It is incredible, in the middle of the formation of the United States and during the time of the French Revolution, that Jefferson would be talking about wine in his letters.
He also acted as a kind of sommelier to John Adams and James Monroe. When Monroe won the presidency, Jefferson wrote a four-page letter congratulating him at the very beginning and at the end. The entire rest of the letter was about which wines the White House should stock.
That 1787 bottle sounds like it’s undrinkable. What kind of food would you pair it with?
Well, I definitely would not pair it with 200-year-old food. Red Bordeaux is traditionally paired with lamb. It’s a cabernet sauvignon/merlot blend, so would typically go with anything you would pair with those wines, like red meat. But usually old wines like that are not drunk with food because they are so rare. You want to drink them in isolation to appreciate every subtlety and nuance.
