Jefferson Vineyards
May 14, 2023. By the time we arrived at Jefferson Vineyards, which adjoins Mr. Jefferson’s Charlottesville home at Monticello, the party was already in full swing. The singer sang “Margaritaville” in the afternoon sun to a packed house. Salt! Salt! Salt! Somehow we grabbed the last table and settled in. Jefferson Vineyards has some 22 acres under vine across four plots. The 12 acres of the Upper Vineyard is on land originally planted in 1774 by Thomas Jefferson’s expert, Philip Mazzi. Mazzi’s plantings eventually suffered the fate of Virginia vines over history: plant disease, rapacious pests, and war (Revolutionary Hessians, and both sides during the Civil War). The vineyard was re-established in 1981 by Gabriele Rausse and now grows Petit Verdot and Viognier. Back then it was called Simeon Vineyards after the little depot outside their gates at the sharp bend in the road. [More about Gabriele Rausse and his winery...