Buttigieg 'wine cave' attendee offers reality check on event


One of the attendees at South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg's now-infamous "wine cave" fundraiser in Napa Valley, California, wants Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to know what really went down.
Bill Wehrle, a vice president of a health-care company in San Francisco, wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post about how the event was not full of billionaires drinking $900 dollars bottles of wine like in the image conjured up by Warren during last week's Democratic presidential debate.
Wehrle, who says he is neither a billionaire nor a millionaire, attended with his partner, a professor at a community college. Also in attendance, Wehrle said, were a dean from another local community college, a flight attendant, a local city councilwoman, and a college student. People asked Buttigieg questions about primary care for the uninsured, getting out of Afghanistan, and how he plans on combating hate speech. As for the wine? Wehrle said he looked up the price online — it wasn't paltry at $185 a bottle, but nothing close to the Warren-estimated $900 — and, from what he could see, the mayor didn't have a drop.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Wehrle did concede there were certainly wealthy people at the event, but he dismissed the idea that the evening was an attempt by billionaires to join together to pick the next president. Read the full op-ed at The Washington Post.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
What happened to Air India Flight 171?
Today's Big Question Preliminary report reveals 'fundamental reason' why jet crashed, but questions remain about whether it was 'deliberate, accidental or if a technical fault was responsible'
-
Why the world's busiest shipping routes are under threat
The Explainer Political tensions, mega ships and global warming offer new challenges – and opportunities
-
Bangkok: the new 'international capital of fine dining'
The Week Recommends Six Bangkok restaurants rank among the world's best
-
Trump set to hit Canada with 35% tariffs
Speed Read The president accused Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of failing to stop the cross-border flow of fentanyl
-
Mahmoud Khalil files $20M claim over ICE detention
Speed Read This is the 'first damages complaint' brought by an individual targeted by the Trump's administration's 'crackdown' on Gaza war protesters
-
Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariffs
Speed Read He accused Brazil's current president of leading a 'witch hunt' against far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partners
Speed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling