Uncorking Washington: Women Rising in DC Wine Scene

As we close out another bruising week in politics, we turn to the latest installment of our series on wine in Washington, and a new generation of women rising into prominent roles in the business at a time when fresh perspectives are in high demand. I sat down with one of them inside the wine cellar at the Dabney, a Michelin-starred restaurant in downtown D.C., where Jessica Liberto-Husseini works as beverage director, and at times, political moderator, in uncorking Washington. It's interesting because the wine business can get to be a bit of an echo chamber, right? How many times do you have the same people coming in here asking for the same 10 wines because we all wanna play the greatest hits? So what does diversity bring to that problem? I think the more people, the more voices you have, it allows more of an accessibility to wine with diversity in people, you're getting diversity in tastes. Some people are looking for something celebratory, something, or something playful, which I think the more voices and people you have, then you're hitting all of those things. Well, you could be a sommelier in a lot of places, but you're a D.C. somm. Yes. And you're doing this at a Michelin-star restaurant, at a destination restaurant in rarefied air. Yeah. And you're dealing with a lot of the same people I cover here in the world of politics that we talk about on Bloomberg TV and radio. To what extent does that affect your approach, affect the list that you're writing? And what's it like to interface with these bold faces when they're off the job? I mean, I think all of us that live in D.C. know you can't escape what is around you. It infiltrates most things because it is your day-to-day. For us, I think it really reminds me, though, that whether people feel different ways about different things, whether it be politics, all these things, you have every opinion here in D.C. There is a respite and a common denominator, and that's food and beverage. And whether they care one way about something or the other, at the end of the day, they're people that we're taking care of. And I think our current climate, our always climate the last seven years really almost forces you to remember that, especially during weird times here. Yeah, so you're the answer to all this partisanship. We all eat and drink. I think we found the middle ground. Yeah. Let me ask you a step further, then. To what extent does massive political change, you've been here for seven years, resonate in the wine business and in the hospitality business? A good deal. I mean, I think you always, I've been here for several changes, and that kind of when that happens, obviously, again, talk about people being people, there's emotions, there's things like that. You see sales and clientele change. You see people, especially with wine, drinking more, drinking less. Everything kind of is in ebbs and flows. But again, at the end of the day, it's dinner and we're all doing it. Do Democrats and Republicans have different preferences when it comes to wine? Everybody has different preferences. No. So you're not gonna tell me the Republicans all order the big cabs and Democrats come and ask for a rose? No. I'll tell you, on the last time she was here, RBG drank Sancerre on her birthday, multiple bottles. And then before dessert, went home because she was tired. I bet that happens from time to time here. Jessica, thank you for having us in the cellar. Thank you for joining us. Here's to your success and here's to the hearth. Cheers.