30 Days of Thomas Jefferson on Wine – Final Thoughts

Day 1 – Thomas Jefferson, A Primer
Day 2 – The First Wine of Record, Claret
Day 3 – Jefferson and Madeira
Day 4 – Jefferson’s Favorite Wines Available Today
Day 5 – Monticello Pictorial
Day 6 – Monticello Vineyards
Day 7 – The Monticello Cellar
Day 8 – Thomas Jefferson—Orchardist and Cidermaker (Part 1)
Day 9 – Quotable Jefferson
Day 10 – The Curious Philip Mazzei
Day 11 – Jefferson Vineyards
Day 12 – What Would Jefferson Think?
Day 13 - Thomas Jefferson—Cidermaker and Scientist-Farmer (Part 2)
Day 14 – Jefferson in Paris - A Pictorial of his Travels
Day 15 – Jefferson in Paris - Pictorial
Day 16 - Jefferson’s Wine Travels Through France and Italy
Day 17 - Jefferson’s Memorandum Notes on Journey Through France and Italy
Day 18 - Monticello Wine Festival
Day 19 - Jefferson in France, Thoughts on Bordeaux
Day 20 - Jefferson’s Paris Wine Cellar
Day 21 - Jefferson in Burgundy – Random Notes
Day 22 - Germany and Champagne, Jefferson’s Route
Day 23 - Jefferson in Champagne
Day 24 – Jefferson, The Wine Consultant
Day 25 – President Jefferson and Wine, How Much Did Jefferson Spend On Wine?
Day 26 – President Jefferson, Wine Factoid
Day 27 - Wines Provided at Washington
Day 28 - Retirement, The Vintage Years
Day 29 – Jefferson and The Billionaire’s Vinegar

Day 30 – Final Thoughts, Jefferson’s Last Letter, The End

Today marks day 30, the final post in the ‘30 Days of Thomas Jefferson on Wine’ series.  I will end the series as I began it, by noting that I am not a Jefferson scholar, and this 30-day series could not possibly provide complete coverage of Jefferson’s full range of wine experiences.  I’ll leave the in-depth analysis and reporting to historians and authors who have spent years of their lives studying the remarkable life of our nations first oenophile.

My motivation for undertaking this endeavor of 30 Days of Jefferson on Wine is primarily for my own self-education. Personally, I learn more when I collect and organize my thoughts in written form, and the last 30 days represents my attempt to organize information I’ve gleaned over the last few months from reading a number of books on Thomas Jefferson.

Though this series was primarily a selfish endeavor, I truly hope that others following the series have found some (or all) of the posts educational.  I think most wine enthusiasts are aware of Jefferson’s strong interest in wine, but I hope that I shared a few Jeffersonian wine factoids that readers may not have otherwise learned.

Since June, I’ve read four books on the life, times and wine of Thomas Jefferson, along with hundreds of letters and notes in The Writings of Thomas Jefferson (via Google Books online).  With each book or letter, I found myself in a constant state of amazement at Jefferson’s range of curiosities and capacity for details.

Through out his life, Jefferson maintained meticulous cellar records, some of which I’ve shared as part of this series.  As part of the day 7 post I provided Jefferson’s last cellar list, made months before his death.

As an adjunct to Jefferson’s last cellar list – to ‘celebrate’ the final post in this series – below is the final letter Jefferson wrote.  It’s fitting that Jefferson’s last letter was about wine.  Written on June 25, 1826, three weeks before his death, Jefferson wrote to his agent Bernard Peyton directing him to pay 18 dollars for duties and shipping for his annual supply of wines from southern France.

It’s clear from this letter that Jefferson was restocking his cellar and had intentions of living much longer.

Though I consider this 30-day series a success from a personal standpoint, I leave this series unfinished, as I wasn’t able to cover the full range of topics I initially planned to:

• Jefferson’s renewed interest in his Monticello vineyards during his retirement
• Jefferson on beer
• Jefferson’s planned brewery at Monticello
• The Wine Company formed by Philip Mazzei that included partners Thomas Jefferson and George Washington
• More of Jefferson’s wine related letters
• More coverage of Jefferson’s influence on his fellow Founding Fathers

Since I have eight Jefferson on wine posts ‘in process,’ I will likely finish each of them over the course of the next couple of months and post them as time permits.

Before wrapping up, I would like to thank several people who gave their time unselfishly for lengthy conversations.  A special thanks to Chad Zakaib of Jefferson Vineyards for giving up a Sunday morning to meet with me for a tour and history lesson on the land that formally belonged to Jefferson, and to Gabriele Rausse, winemaker at Monticello, who spent an entire afternoon with my wife and I touring the vineyards of Monticello.  I especially appreciate Gabriele’s patience with me as I deluged him with follow up questions via email.

I also appreciate the scholars and authors who have dedicated years of their lives studying the life of Thomas Jefferson.  Hat tip to Jim Gabler, author of Passions – The Wines and Travels of Thomas Jefferson, and to John Hailman, author of the epic ‘Thomas Jefferson on Wine‘ for their comprehensive coverage of Thomas Jefferson’s wine experiences. Both of their books kept me company many late nights through the summer months and proved invaluable references during this series.

I leave this series not only with a little more knowledge, but also with a renewed respect for a man that lived a ‘full’ life.  In addition to his many notable accomplishments – President, architect, revolutionary, statesmen, philosopher, inventor, and musician – I consider Jefferson The Great Enigma.

The end. Thank you.

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Questions, Comments, Complaints, Random Observations? Contact Me Here

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30 Days of Thomas Jefferson on Wine – Day 29

Day 1 – Thomas Jefferson, A Primer
Day 2 – The First Wine of Record, Claret
Day 3 – Jefferson and Madeira
Day 4 – Jefferson’s Favorite Wines Available Today
Day 5 – Monticello Pictorial
Day 6 – Monticello Vineyards
Day 7 – The Monticello Cellar
Day 8 – Thomas Jefferson—Orchardist and Cidermaker (Part 1)
Day 9 – Quotable Jefferson
Day 10 – The Curious Philip Mazzei
Day 11 – Jefferson Vineyards
Day 12 – What Would Jefferson Think?
Day 13 - Thomas Jefferson—Cidermaker and Scientist-Farmer (Part 2)
Day 14 – Jefferson in Paris - A Pictorial of his Travels
Day 15 – Jefferson in Paris - Pictorial
Day 16 - Jefferson’s Wine Travels Through France and Italy
Day 17 - Jefferson’s Memorandum Notes on Journey Through France and Italy
Day 18 - Monticello Wine Festival
Day 19 - Jefferson in France, Thoughts on Bordeaux
Day 20 - Jefferson’s Paris Wine Cellar
Day 21 - Jefferson in Burgundy – Random Notes
Day 22 - Germany and Champagne, Jefferson’s Route
Day 23 - Jefferson in Champagne
Day 24 – Jefferson, The Wine Consultant
Day 25 – President Jefferson and Wine, How Much Did Jefferson Spend On Wine?
Day 26 – President Jefferson, Wine Factoid
Day 27 - Wines Provided at Washington
Day 28 – Retirement, The Vintage Years

Day 29 – The Jefferson Controversy

Though Thomas Jefferson died in 1826, his legacy lives on in many ways – through the Declaration of Independence, that Revolution thing, the University of Virginia and via a few bottles of late 18th century wine that he allegedly left behind.  Leave it to Jefferson to find himself in the middle of a controversy over 150 years after his death. I should say, ‘yet another’ controversy over 150 years after his death.

At the center of the latest Jefferson controversy – a couple of super wealthy dudes, a wine magazine owning collegiate underachiever, an old guy, an intrepid author, a leading expert in old wines, and a dozen or so bottles of late 18th century wine that allegedly belonged to one Thomas Jefferson.

As most everyone even remotely familiar with the wine industry knows, this story is the subject of Benjamin Wallace’s fascinating and thorough book, The Billionaire’s Vinegar.  Wallace’s book provides a very interesting account of this particular controversy.

In 1985, the wine Gods took a break from shining their light on the first growth vineyards of Bordeaux to bless (*sarcastic font*) wealthy German wine investor Hardy Rodenstock with a case or more of 18th century wines that allegedly belonged to Thomas Jefferson.  Rodenstock never revealed the source of these bottles – all Bordeaux including Chateaux Lafite, Margaux, Mouton, and Chateau d’Yquem.  (Editorial Note:  I’m pausing for an eye roll and deep, doubtful sigh.)

Rodenstock claimed that the bottles were found in an old cellar that was bricked up for protection during the French Revolution. Soon after the bottles were discovered in this secret, undisclosed location, questions began to arise as to their authenticity.  In an October 1985 article in The New York Times, wine journalist Howard Goldberg had questioned their origins saying researchers at Monticello had found NO support in Jefferson’s meticulous records that he had ever ordered, received, or referred to any Bordeaux of 1787, and had received 1784s only from Yquem and Margaux, although he had ordered 1784 Lafite but the owner had had no more available. Monticello researchers also found the initialing “Th.J.” abnormal since Jefferson habitually labeled his personal property with the old style initials “T.I,” and used a colon differently, situated between and above and below the “Th” and the “J” in his abbreviated signatures. (Hailman, 398)

The first bottle from this ‘amazing find’ – a 1787 Chateau Lafite, of course – went on the auction block at Christie’s on December 5, 1985 in London. Borrowing the description from John Hailman (398), ‘As reported in a dramatic story in The New Yorker in a column entitled ‘A Piece of History,’ an unnamed eyewitness of the historic events reported that a standing-room-only crowd attended the auction, recorded by a film crew worthy of the set of a major motion picture. The bottle itself stood on green felt in its own glass case. Seven active bidders, including Wine Spectator publisher Marvin Shanken, bid on the bottle. In the end, Christopher Forbes, son of the late publisher Malcolm Forbes and brother of former presidential candidate Steve Forbes, bough the bottle for what was then a record price of $156,450 (105,000 British pounds sterling). The bidding, which lasted just one minute and 39 seconds, far outdid the previous high price ever paid at auction for any bottle of wine from any source.‘

‘I wish Jefferson had drunk the damn bottle himself and saved me the expense.’ ~ Malcolm Forbes, when asked his opinion after the auction.

Forbes promptly put the bottle on display in the Forbes art gallery on Fifth Avenue in New York, and sadly the lights intended to showcase the wine caused the bottle to warm and the cork to shrink and fall in to the bottle.  What a shame – there’s no telling how long it took for someone to create that bottle.

In another edition of ‘Rich Guys Gone Wild,’ the second bottle – a ‘1784 Chateaux d’Yquem Th.J‘ – from the 18th century Jefferson stash discovered at that secret, undisclosed location, was auctioned by Christie’s in London for a modest $56,628.  The recipient of this bargain bottle was a Jordanian fellow bidding on behalf of Dodi al Fayed (the man who died in the tragic accident with Princess Diana).

In June 1987 another alleged Jefferson bottle from that same secret, undisclosed location was sold.  This time, a half-bottle alleged to be a 1784 Margaux sold for $30,000 to Wine Spectator publisher Marvin Shanken.  Sidebar: One of the more comical items I picked up from reading The Billionaire’s Vinegar – a little gem about Wine Spectator publisher, Marvin Shanken graduating last in his class at the University of Miami.  Shanken is ‘The’ poster child for possibility – proof that one does not need a formal education or looks to be successful.

Just when I think that the story of these alleged Jefferson bottles can’t get better, it does.   I’m fast-forwarding through many fascinating details here for the sake of attention spans, but the Readers Digest version is that famous wine merchant, William Sokolin, got his hands on one of the Jefferson bottles, a 1787 Chateau Margaux.  During a black tie dinner in 1989, Sokolin proceeded to ‘accidentally’ (‘*cynical font*’) bump the bottle against a metal-topped table, breaking a hole in the bottle, losing much of the juice.  Thankfully he had the bottle insured for $212,000.

In The Billionaire’s Vinegar, Wallace does a superb job of providing every detail of this particular episode of misfortune and a detailed account of each player involved.  In particular, Wallace provides a detailed account of the role played by Michael Broadbent – the world-renowned wine expert and former head of Christie’s wine department.  Broadbent was responsible for authenticating the alleged Jefferson bottles as well as the man behind the sale of the wines through Christie’s.  Wallace was not so kind in his depiction of Broadbent, and as one might expect, Broadbent didn’t much like the way he was portrayed in The Billionaire’s Vinegar.

Broadbent chose to settle his gripe like a man – he sued!  Broadbent filed the suit with the High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division, based on his objection to the way was portrayed in several passages of Wallace’s Billionaire’s Vinegar. The Broadbent – Random House (publisher of The Billionaire’s Vinegar) lawsuit was settled in late 2009.

In the spirit of ensuring attorneys continue to stay well fed, another player in this Jefferson drama jumped in with a lawsuit of his own. Collector William Koch – who purchased four of the alleged Jefferson bottles – is currently suing Hardy Rodenstock in US federal court for fraud.  Rodenstock, ever the elusive devil, has plain ‘ol refused to take part in the case.

Photo of the four bottles Koch purchased. Photo copyright of William Koch.

Did these bottles really belong to Thomas Jefferson?  I will never know the absolute truth.  Perhaps none of us will, however, I am going to defer judgment to the expertise of the Jefferson scholars at Monticello.  As Hailman notes, the most thorough and thoughtful study to date, Lucia Cinder Stanton of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation at Monticello totally doubts the authenticity of the bottles as Jeffersonian.  (Hailman, 402). Notes on Jefferson’s many wine orders reveal NO evidence of the bottles existence.  The end!

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Sources:
Thomas Jefferson on Wine, Hailman, John
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Questions, Comments, Complaints, Random Observations? Contact Me Here

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30 Days of Thomas Jefferson on Wine – Day 28

Day 1 – Thomas Jefferson, A Primer
Day 2 – The First Wine of Record, Claret
Day 3 – Jefferson and Madeira
Day 4 – Jefferson’s Favorite Wines Available Today
Day 5 – Monticello Pictorial
Day 6 – Monticello Vineyards
Day 7 – The Monticello Cellar
Day 8 – Thomas Jefferson—Orchardist and Cidermaker (Part 1)
Day 9 – Quotable Jefferson
Day 10 – The Curious Philip Mazzei
Day 11 – Jefferson Vineyards
Day 12 – What Would Jefferson Think?
Day 13 - Thomas Jefferson—Cidermaker and Scientist-Farmer (Part 2)
Day 14 – Jefferson in Paris - A Pictorial of his Travels
Day 15 – Jefferson in Paris - Pictorial
Day 16 - Jefferson’s Wine Travels Through France and Italy
Day 17 - Jefferson’s Memorandum Notes on Journey Through France and Italy
Day 18 - Monticello Wine Festival
Day 19 - Jefferson in France, Thoughts on Bordeaux
Day 20 - Jefferson’s Paris Wine Cellar
Day 21 - Jefferson in Burgundy – Random Notes
Day 22 - Germany and Champagne, Jefferson’s Route
Day 23 - Jefferson in Champagne
Day 24 – Jefferson, The Wine Consultant
Day 25 – President Jefferson and Wine, How Much Did Jefferson Spend On Wine?
Day 26 – President Jefferson, Wine Factoid
Day 27 – Wines Provided at Washington

Day 28 – Retirement, The Vintage Years

As with most posts in this series, one post cannot possibly provide adequate treatment of Jefferson’s wine experiences throughout his 17 year retirement at Monticello.  Today’s post will present a few highlights and encourage you to conduct deeper study of Thomas Jefferson on Wine.

Never did a prisoner, released from his chains, feel such relief as I shall on shaking off the shackles of power. Nature intended me for the tranquil pursuits of science, by rendering them my supreme delight. ~Th: Jefferson on leaving politics for the last time.

Although he was more than ready for retirement as the quote above clearly indicates, Jefferson did express concerns about being able to enjoy his retirement years because of his financial situation.  Jefferson’s financial condition improved when he sold the bulk of his personal library to Congress for $23,950 in order to reconstitute the Library of Congress that was burned to the ground by the British in 1812.  Much of this $23k was used to settle debts (some wine related) and to provide a cash infusion for expenses, including future wine expenditures.

Despite the dire status of his personal finances, Jefferson, by all accounts had a happy retirement filled with friends, books, letters, family and of course wine.  His retirement wine cellar was well stocked, but without the great wines of Bordeaux, Champagne, and Burgundy that enjoyed in his more prosperous years as President.  Replacing the great French wines he enjoyed during his years as President, were names like ‘Roussillon, Rivesaltes, Limous, Bellet of Nice, Ledanon, and Paillerols.’ (Hailman, 321)

Given the consequences of the War of 1812, Jefferson wrote no letters to import wines from 1812 to 1815.  Instead, Jefferson turned his focus back to creating a wine industry in America.  As noted in previous posts, Jefferson was nearly 200 years ahead of his time.  Of interesting note, in 1813 Jefferson did try to obtain cork oak trees to plant at Monticello to make his own corks for bottling his wine. (Hailman, 324).  The cork trees met with the same fate as the vineyards at Monticello – nada.  It was during these ‘dark days’ of the war that Jefferson turned to apple cider and beer.

Never one to miss an opportunity to share his opinion (and expertise) on wine with fellow Statesmen, Jefferson provided detailed wine recommendations in 1817 to President James Monroe for his Presidential wine cellar.

Nearly two years after providing wine consulting to President Monroe, Jefferson took up a cause that was near and dear to him, saving money on taxes.   This included lobbying then Secretary of State, William Crawford, to advocate the reduction of duties on wine.  Jefferson wrote,

I think it a great error to consider a heavy tax on wines, as a tax on luxury. On the contrary it is a tax on the health of our citizens. It is a legislative declaration that none but the richest of them shall be permitted to drink wine, and in effect a condemnation of all the middling & lower conditions of society to the poison of whiskey… Whereas were the duties on the cheap wines proportioned to their first cost the whole middle class of this country could have the gratification of that milder stimulus…. I should therefore be for encouraging the use of wine by placing it among the articles of lightest duty.

Pardon my skepticism, but I do wonder if the primary drive behind Jefferson’s enthusiasm for lower duties was the fact that he no longer had a cushy, and sizeable Presidential annual salary of $25,000 and had to trade down on his wine consumption.

When he learned that Congress was considering a reduction on the duties on wine, Jefferson wrote to the French Ambassador,

I rejoice, as a moralist, at the prospect of a reduction of the duties on wine, by our national legislature.  It is an error to view a tax on that liquor as merely a tax on the rich. It is a prohibition of its use to the middling class of our citizens, and a condemnation of them to the poison of whiskey, which is desolating their houses. No nation is drunken where wine is cheap; and non sober, where the dearness of wine substitutes ardent spirits as the common beverage.

Old age did little to curb Jefferson’s enthusiasm for wine – according to Jim Gabler, Jefferson and his guests consumed 1,203 bottles of wine between January 1822 and February 1824.  By my math, Jefferson and his wine peeps consumed about 48 bottles of wine per month, or roughly 1 1/2 bottles per day, seven days a week for just over two years.  Interesting not so much because of the quantity of wine consumed, but because of the cost of 1,203 bottles of wine.  (226)

Though he remained very active during his retirement years at Monticello, he did note the affects age was having on his senses in a letter to Abigail Adams, ‘To see what we have seen, to taste the tasted, and at each return, less tasteful; o’er our palates to decant, another vintage.‘

As noted at the beginning of this post, I cannot possibly do justice to Jefferson’s 17 years of retirement in this one post. Instead I’ve tried to present, albeit in patchwork fashion, several of the more notable wine facts of Jefferson’s retirement that I had not already covered in previous posts.

One cannot discuss the subject of Jefferson’s retirement, no matter what the context, without mentioning his two most important achievements after leaving the Presidency in 1809.  The first being his reconciliation with old friend and fellow Revolutionary, John Adams.  Raise a glass to Benjamin Rush for bringing these two Founding Fathers back together.  Perhaps Jefferson’s most notable retirement accomplishment was the founding of the University of Virginia – one of the finest educational institutions in the United States.  The University of Virginia opened on March 7, 1825.

Tomorrow, Day 29 – Jefferson and the Billionaire’s Vinegar
Day 30 – Final Thoughts, Jefferson’s Last Letter, The End

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Sources:
Thomas Jefferson on Wine, Hailman, John
Passions – The Wine and Travels of Thomas Jefferson, James Gable

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Questions, Comments, Complaints, Random Observations? Contact Me Here

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30 Days of Thomas Jefferson on Wine – Day 27

Day 1 – Thomas Jefferson, A Primer
Day 2 – The First Wine of Record, Claret
Day 3 – Jefferson and Madeira
Day 4 – Jefferson’s Favorite Wines Available Today
Day 5 – Monticello Pictorial
Day 6 – Monticello Vineyards
Day 7 – The Monticello Cellar
Day 8 – Thomas Jefferson—Orchardist and Cidermaker (Part 1)
Day 9 – Quotable Jefferson
Day 10 – The Curious Philip Mazzei
Day 11 – Jefferson Vineyards
Day 12 – What Would Jefferson Think?
Day 13 - Thomas Jefferson—Cidermaker and Scientist-Farmer (Part 2)
Day 14 – Jefferson in Paris - A Pictorial of his Travels
Day 15 – Jefferson in Paris - Pictorial
Day 16 - Jefferson’s Wine Travels Through France and Italy
Day 17 - Jefferson’s Memorandum Notes on Journey Through France and Italy
Day 18 - Monticello Wine Festival
Day 19 - Jefferson in France, Thoughts on Bordeaux
Day 20 - Jefferson’s Paris Wine Cellar
Day 21 - Jefferson in Burgundy – Random Notes
Day 22 - Germany and Champagne, Jefferson’s Route
Day 23 - Jefferson in Champagne
Day 24 – Jefferson, The Wine Consultant
Day 25 – President Jefferson and Wine, How Much Did Jefferson Spend On Wine?
Day 26 – President Jefferson, Wine Factoid

Day 27 – Wines Provided at Washington

‘Immediately after entering the President’s House, Jefferson began an extraordinary series of dinner parties at which wine drinking and talk of wine were major features. Like his contemporary, the devious French minister Talleyrand and his ‘Champagne diplomacy,’ Jefferson tried to warm his guests with fine wines, then used the convivial atmosphere to create better political and diplomatic relations, both with foreign powers and his own domestic friends and foes.’ ~ Hailman, 258

As the ‘30 days of Thomas Jefferson on Wine‘ series is quickly winding down, today’s post will be the final piece on wine in the Jefferson Presidency.  Sadly, today’s post, coupled with the preceding two, barely touches on Jefferson’s wine experiences during his time as President.  I could spend the next year covering the wines Jefferson shared with his guests at the President’s House in the years 1801 to 1809 – amazing times, company, and letters capturing the details of the dinner conversations.

When Jefferson was elected President, he had wine vaults constructed below the east colonnade to store his considerable wine collection.  This area is no longer used for the purpose of storing wine. One could easily argue that the stature of wine in the White House has deteriorated since the age of Jefferson, as there is no ‘official’ White House wine cellar today (but there is a ‘collection’ of about 500 bottles of wine there).

Like most of his letters and notes, Jefferson’s writings on wine during his Presidency make for fascinating reading. If nothing else, I hope these tidbits of Jefferson wine information serve as motivation for a few folks to pick up Hailman’s ‘Thomas Jefferson on Wine’ or check out the Monticello wiki to read about wine in the President’s House (now call The White House).

One of the more diverse wine years during Jefferson’s Presidency was 1803.  Wine Provided at Washington, 1803:

As further proof that no detail was beyond his observation, not only did Jefferson record the wines purchased along with amount paid, he also noted how the wine was packed, shipped, any breakage, how it was shipped and by whom, cost of freight and duties along with the name of the tax collector.

By the end of his Presidency, Jefferson was more than ready to leave the world of politics behind him and retire to ‘his home’ – Monticello.  Before leaving office, Jefferson had shipped most of his remaining wine to Monticello to enjoy during his retirement years, leaving the White House cellar nearly empty.

Day 28 – Wine and Jefferson’s Retirement Years

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Sources:
Thomas Jefferson on Wine, Hailman, John

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Questions, Comments, Complaints, Random Observations? Contact Me Here

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