We’ll be hearing a lot about Thomas Jefferson this year, it being the country’s 250th birthday and all, and Jefferson of course had a rather large role in all of that.
But at least as important was Jefferson’s role in being sure the new country he helped to create had an appreciation for good wine. It is, he said, “a necessity of life for me.” That is right up there with “all men are created equal.”
Jefferson’s appreciation for wine blossomed during his tenure as Minister of France in the early 1780s. An avid note taker, Jefferson kept a record of his visits to a host of wine regions in Europe, developing a special fondness for Burgundy and Bordeaux. (One of his favorite wineries was Chateau Haut-Brion, proving he was no slouch.)
On his return to the U.S., Jefferson began applying what he learned in France to the grounds surrounding his home, Monticello. He had studied soil, climate and different grape varietals, noting how different regions produced distinct styles of wines. He eventually gave a parcel of his land to an Italian winemaker and thus fathered one of the first commercial wineries in the U.S.
Wine became a big part of Jefferson’s everyday life, first at Monticello and later at the White House. At home, he would regularly host dinner parties for 12-14 people, seated democratically at a round table, where after dinner, “the cloth being removed and wine set on the table,” conversations were had with friends, foes and Founding Fathers, undoubtedly helping to shape the formative years of the new country.
Monticello was also home to the nation’s first real wine cellar, and the wine was brought to the table by a dumbwaiter Jefferson developed; it went from his cellars underneath Monticello to the kitchen with a hand-drawn pulley system he designed.
During Jefferson’s eight-year tenure at the White House, he bought more than 20,000 bottles of wine (an impressive amount even by the standards set by your humble Winelines authors) but there the dinners took on a more formal, and more important role. It’s interesting to note that Jefferson’s first purchases of wine were often by the barrel, but when he learned the wine might have been tasted or tainted, he insisted that wine be shipped only in bottles. That, arguably, set the stage for the wine industry as we know it today.
In his later years, Jefferson continued studying, and appreciating, good wine. With his health failing, he wrote to a friend: “I double the doctor’s recommendation of a glass and a half of wine each day and even treble it with a friend.”
Of course, let’s all do what our doctors tell us. But let’s also raise a glass and a half in his honor.
Cheers!
-Submitted by Bill Good
(Image credit: Pixabay.com and Vinepair.com)