16 Dec Did You Figure out Thomas Jefferson Loved Wine?
As Americans, we might well never forget Thomas Jefferson for the famous words that he written when he created the Declaration of Independence. While that document was vital then, and still stands as an amazing historical text and piece of America’s history, it doesn’t tell us much about the man who crafted it. (Maybe the only thing we learn about him specifically while reading the document is that he was a wonderful writer.).
But Jefferson was a “renaissance man,” if ever there was one. He was a man who was passionate about knowing– about different cultures, horticulture, architecture, and ideas, among other things.
He helped our nation in several capacities, including as an ambassador to France, the first Secretary of State to President George Washington, and Vice President to John Adams before he was elected into office to act as the nation’s third president. He also served as the governor of Virginia from 1779-1781.
One of the important things his presidency is popular for is the Louisiana Purchase, when the United States bought a huge chunk of land from France. Consequently, Jefferson had Lewis and Clark examine this new territory and record their findings and observations.
He got married to a woman by the name of Martha Wayles Skelton, and the couple had children together, though only two of them lived to be adults.
He was heavily involved with the buildup of the University of Virginia, and it’s one of the few things that he had marked on his epitaph, which reads: “Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and father of The University of Virginia.”.
He created his famous home, Monticello, a beautiful estate with gardens and tasteful architectural facets that display his ingenuity for design.
But.
Among all of these other points about his life, many of us may not learn that Jefferson was known and respected for his knowledge of all things wine.
Like most of his fellow Americans, he liked sweeter wines in his younger years. Having said that, the time that he spent in France transformed his palate preferences forever afterward.
From the personal records that he kept, we know that he purchased lots of wine and that he kept a varied collection in his wine cellar. And, remarkably, his assessments of different wines match contemporary ratings of fine wines as well, verifying his expertise, knowledge and skill.
Jefferson is even quoted as saying, “Good wine is a necessity of life for me.” And while we aren’t contemporaries of Jefferson’s time, much of us might share that same belief. And hey, if that happens to be you, you’d probably love joining us for one of our wine tours. If walking through beautiful vineyards, becoming familiarized with numerous varietals, and tasting vintages all sounds like your type of a fun times, call us today!
(These sources provided information for this article, and offer additional interesting reading: http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/thomas-jefferson.
http://wine.about.com/od/historyandculture/a/How-Americas-First-Wine-Connoisseur-Shaped-Americas-Wine-Affections-Today_2.htm.).