Last night was President Barack Obama’s first State Dinner and amid the pomp and circumstance the most pressing question for Wine Country – naturally — is what were the dignitaries sipping.

Included in the sip list was Modus Operandi, 2008 Napa Valley, Calif. Sauvignon Blanc, produced by local vintner Jason Moore.  Moore said he got a call last Thursday from the White House requesting six cases of the wine and for him not to mention it to anyone until after the event.

“When I got the call I had to ask a couple of times who was calling,” Moore said. “I did a double take. I felt myself wondering if it was real. I was pacing around …”

Moore said the first thing he did was call his mother because he felt it was a validation for the “wild ride” he was on. He was 26 years old when he left Dallas for Wine Country to pursue his dream of making wine. In 2002 he began making wine in a garage and now makes wine at a warehouse winery in Napa. Today Moore is happy he is a risk taker, a waiter turned vintner.

Modus Operandi is Latin for the method of operation or the way in which one does something. So what’s Moore’s MO? “Winemaking begins in the mind,” he said. “Here the winemaker decides what style of wine is designed and then works backwards, mapping out a plan of action, which leads directly to the vineyard.”

Other wines served at the White House State Dinner include:

Brooks “Ara” 2006 Willamette Valley, Ore. Riesling

Beckman Vineyards, 2007 Santa Ynez, Calif. Grenache

Thibaut Janisson Brut Sparkling Chardonny