A Daily Necessity

Thomas Jefferson wrote extensively about wine for over sixty years. His writings are the authoritative text on many aspects of 18th Century viticulture.

He called wine a "necessary of life." His wine interests went far beyond just drinking wine. He was interested in its viticulture, making notes on German and Italian grape growing and examining "the details relative to the most celebrated wines of France." He planted vineyards at Monticello and experimented with grape growing in his Paris garden on the Champs-Elysees. He encouraged Philip Mazzei, John Adlum and others in their vineyard efforts and accurately predicted that America would, some day, make wines as good as those of France. He was a wine adviser to Presidents Washington, Madison and Monroe.

He was so passionate about fine wine - about about maintaining a proper level of etiquette at the White House, that all but six lines of his lengthy congratulatory letter to James Monroe on his election to the presidency dealt with those wines most suitable for public entertaining.

To read the letter in it's entirety click here.