OENOPHILE THOMAS JEFFERSON WRITES A LETTER TO A VINTER: “THIS WAS A VERY FINE WINE, & SO EXACTLY RESEMBLING THE RED BURGANDY OF CHAMBERTIN…I THINK IT WOULD BE WELL TO PUSH THE CULTURE OF THAT GRAPE, WITHOUT LOSING OUR TIME & EFFORTS IN SEARCH OF FOREIGN VINES, WHICH IT WILL TAKE CENTURIES TO ADAPT TO OUR SOIL & CLIMATE…SEND ME SOME CUTTINGS OF THAT VINE.  THEY SHOULD BE TAKEN OFF IN FEBRUARY, WHICH 5 BUDS TO EACH CUTTING…”

THOMAS JEFFERSON (1743-1826).  Jefferson was the Third President.

ALS. 1pg. Monticello. October 7, 1809.  An autograph letter signed “Th: Jefferson” to Major John Adlum of Georgetown.  The former President, recently retired from the Executive Mansion, wrote about one of his favorite subjects, wine: “While I lived in Washington, a member of Congress from your state (I do not recollect which) presented me with two bottles of wine made by you, one of which, of Madeira colour, he said was entirely factitious, the other, a dark red wine was made from a wild or native grape, called in Maryland the Fox grape, but very different from what is called by that name in Virginia.  This was a very fine wine, & so exactly resembling the red Burgandy of Chambertin (one of the best crops) that on fair comparison with that, of which I had very good on the same table imported by myself from the place where made, the company could not distinguish the one from the other.  I think it would be well to push the culture of that grape, without losing our time & efforts in search of foreign vines, which it will take centuries to adapt to our soil & climate.  The object of the present letter is so far to trespass on your kindness, & your disposition to promote a culture so useful, as to request you, at the proper season to send me some cuttings of that vine.  They should be taken off in February, which 5 buds to each cutting, and if sone up first in strong linen & then covered with paper & addressed to me at Monticello near Milton, and committed to the post, they will come safely & so speedily as to render their success probable.  Praying your pardon to a brother-amateur in these things, I beg leave to tender you my salutations & assurances of respect.  Th:Jefferson”.  Per the Library of Congress website description about this letter: “John Adlum (1758–1836), surveyor and viticulturist, was a native of York, Pennsylvania, a Revolutionary War veteran, an associate judge in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, 1795–98, and a major in the United States Army, 1799–1800. In 1805 he settled at Wilton, a farm near Havre de Grace, Maryland, and developed a reputation as an authority on grapes and wine making. Adlum eventually established a farm and nursery in Georgetown. Best known for his propagation of the Catawba grape, he also actively sought government patronage for his vineyard and for experimental agriculture, and he published A Memoir on the Cultivation of the Vine in America, and the Best Mode of Making Wine…and Adlum on Making Wine…Adlum’s correspondence with TJ began with this letter and touched primarily on wine and grape cultivation…”.  This letter sold at Sotheby’s Copley sale in 2010 for $35,000.  The letter has dark ink and some old tape on the verso.