Daniel Mahdavian pours crystal spoon of Hungarian Royal Tokaji. For $140 you can get taste of $2,250 bottle of wine pic.twitter.com/CxWfdhZupt
— Anthony Zurcher (@awzurcher) September 12, 2016
Surely by now you’ve heard Donald Trump possesses his own brand of wine. You know, the same wine the Republican nominee offered to supporters during a victory speech during the March primaries. Uproxx writer Jennifer Martin toured the Trump Winery in Charlottesville, Virginia back in April, where she discovered a typical tasting includes six pours and a $12 price tag. It was definitely “one of the most expensive wineries to visit” in the area, but compared to the fine wines offered at the newly opened Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., $12 is a steal.
Unless, of course, you don’t mind buying your wine by the ounce and drinking it out of a crystal spoon.
As Washingtonian magazine, BBC News and many others recently discovered, tasting some of the more expensive (and decidedly non-Trump Winery) wines available to Trump International Hotel guests doesn’t require a preference for glass and an endless checking account. Instead, interested parties can simply order the smallest serving size available and drink it out of a clear, non-plastic spoon. And it’s all thanks to Director of Food & Beverage Daniel Mahdavian, who told Washingtonian he wants patrons to “sample pricey wines at a slightly more accessible price.”
This is what happens when you order wine by the spoon at the Trump DC hotel. https://t.co/ctea0yr4Ue pic.twitter.com/PjQBSgWxmt
— Washingtonian 🌸 (@washingtonian) September 13, 2016
This means choosing between four (and only four) spooning options from Royal Tokaji, a Hungarian winemaker that specializes in sweet grapes afflicted with noble rot. Three of the four wines come from Royal Tokaji’s 2008 and 2009 vintages, and will cost spoon-drinkers between $15 and $20 a pop. The fourth choice, however, consists of an ounce of 2007 Royal Tokaji Essencia worth $140.
BBC reporter Anthony Zurcher stopped by the hotel to try out the wine, joking, “the expensive Hungarian wine served in crystal spoons tastes like any other Hungarian wine.” He quickly added “that last one was speculation,” but only so that he could write up his experience tasting wine from a crystal spoon that, sadly, “you don’t get to keep.”
No word on whether or not taco bowls will be added to the menu anytime soon.
(Via Washingtonian and BBC News)
