Elizabeth Warren slammed Pete Buttigieg for attending a fundraiser with billionaires in a Napa Valley 'wine cave' - here's what a wine cave actually is

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Elizabeth Warren slammed Pete Buttigieg for attending a fundraiser with billionaires in a Napa Valley 'wine cave' - here's what a wine cave actually is
Wine Cave - Jarvis Estate

(Carol M. Highsmith/Buyenlarge/Getty Images)

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One of the wine cellars, or caves, at Jarvis Estate in the mountains above Napa Valley, California.

Democrats are debating wine caves.

At the Democratic Presidential Debate on Thursday night, Elizabeth Warren launched an attack on Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana. "Billionaires in wine caves should not pick the next president of the United States," she said.

Warren was referring to the billionaire owners of Hall Rutherford winery in Napa Valley, where Buttigieg attended a private fundraiser with donors last weekend. The dinner reception took place in the winery's underground wine cave, which features a chandelier made from 1,500 Swarovski crystals. Guests enjoyed glasses of $900 Cabernet, the AP reported.

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Since the debate, #WineCave has gained traction on Twitter.

So, what exactly is a wine cave?

A wine cave is basically a cellar.

"It is generally accepted that the perfect conditions for storing wine long-term are those found in an underground cave: around 55°F (13°C) and between 70 and 90 percent relative humidity," New Orleans-based sommelier Dan Davis told Eater.

Wine caves are nothing new. In the days before centralized air, caves shielded wine from its worst enemies: heat, vibration, and sunlight. The earliest known winery dates back 6,100 years and was discovered in an Armenian cave.

Today, most wine caves are manmade and vary greatly in their design. Some resemble actual caves, and others not so much. "The word 'cave' is sometimes thrown around as marketing to describe fancy brick-lined cellars that are distinctly un-cavernlike," Slate's Jordan Weissmann points out.

Beyond being ideal places to store wine, modern wine caves are an opportunity rake in tourist dollars. Dotto Estate Winery, for example, offers a 90-minute "cave experiences" that include six to eight barrel tastings for $75.

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Napa wineries in particular go the extra mile when it comes to making caves desirable destinations for guided walks and tastings: Dotto modeled one of its wine caves after a Venetian palace; Stag's Leap Wine Cellars is home to one of only 50 Foucault pendulums in the world; and Jarvis Estate's cave features an underground waterfall.

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