Jefferson Vineyards History, located near Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home.

Jefferson Vineyards winery, built in 1986

Our History

Mr. Thomas Jefferson, founder of the American wine industry, invested in Mazzei’s company.

The story of Jefferson Vineyards, and the modern Virginia wine industry, begins in 1773 with a meeting at Mr. Filippo Mazzei, Italian industrialist and winemaker who first planted vineyards on our property in 1774 Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello between Mr. Jefferson and Italian winemaker and industrialist Fillipo Mazzei, who planned to produce wines, oils and silks for sale in the Colonies. The idea intrigued Jefferson, famous for his love of the wines of Bordeaux,

and he invested in Mazzei’s company. Jefferson’s influence attracted other investors, including George Washington, George Mason and Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of the Virginia Colony.

Mazzei started with 400 acres of land adjoining Monticello on which he would plant vineyards and build his home, Colle. After surveying the property, Mazzei declared, much to Jefferson’s delight, “I do not believe that nature is so favorable to growing vines in any country as this." While overseeing the construction of his home, Mazzei stayed with Jefferson at Monticello, and so began their life-long relationship.

With the construction of Colle underway, Mazzei began planting in the early Spring of 1774, marking the beginning of the commercial wine industry in the Colonies, and what would become – some 200 years later -- Jefferson Vineyards.

The Revolutionary War ended Mazzei’s efforts to make wine, when our country's founding fathers sent him back to Italy to solicit war funds from the Duke of Tuscany. While away, Mazzei rented Colle to an imprisoned Hessian Calvalry General captured at Saratoga and housed in the Charlottesville barracks. The general’s horses made quick work of the vineyards, which then fell to ruin, and all – for a time -- was lost.

In 1981, the owners of Mazzei’s old property decided to resurrect the vineyards. Under the guidance of farm manager and winemaker Gabrielle Rausse, they replanted the vineyards Mazzei had first established in 1774. And thus was the modern-day Jefferson Vineyards established, truly fulfilling Jefferson and Mazzei’s vision conceived some 200 years earlier.

Today, Jefferson Vineyards produces award-winning wines from 20 acres of vineyards, all within sight of both Colle and Monticello.

Andy Reagan

Winemaker & Vineyard Manager

Photo Credit : www.saveasart.com

As a native of the Commonwealth, Andy's ultimate desire is to champion the wines of Virginia at the national and international levels. His quiet confidence is the result of many years of dedication and learning in wineries and vineyards throughout the East coast..

Starting at age 18 in upstate New York's Benmarl Vineyards, Andy worked the vineyards under the tutelage of his sister, who was head winemaker. After three summers, he was hired as a cellar hand, and in 1999, was named head winemaker. Stints at a number of Virginia wineries followed, most notably as head winemaker at Chrysalis Vineyards in northern Virginia, where he produced top flight Chardonnay, Viognier and Petit Verdot in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 vintages.

Andy's wines are marked by their balance and freshness, with the whites showing bracing acidity and purity, and the reds that rare combination of deep, saturated flavor and delicate elegance so rarely found outside the realm of finest old world estates.

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