legendary in the City of Light James M. Gabler, Passions: The Wines and Travels of Thomas Jefferson (Baltimore: Bacchus Press, 1995), 22.
“a savage of the mountains of America” Marie Kimball, Jefferson: The Scene of Europe (New York: Coward-McCann, 1950), 15.
a powdered wig and a topaz ring Hailman, Thomas Jefferson on Wine, 12, 213.
His mansion on the Champs-Élysées Gabler, Passions, 30–31.
a household staff that included a frotteur Howard C. Rice, Jr., Thomas Jefferson’s Paris (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976), 40.
Jefferson hosted frequent dinner parties William Howard Adams, The Paris Years of Thomas Jefferson (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997), 19.
Franklin, for one, kept a substantial cellar Hailman, Thomas Jefferson on Wine, 75.
“proof that God loves us” Ibid., 76.
he justified the trip Letter from TJ to James Madison, January 30, 1787, Papers XI, 92–97.
“your voyage is rather for your pleasure” Letter from Martha Jefferson to TJ, March 8, 1787, Papers XI, 203–4.
first part constructed Hailman, Thomas Jefferson on Wine, 38.
One story, passed down among Jefferson’s slaves “Once the Slave of Thomas Jefferson,” New York World, January 30, 1898.
first planted vines Hailman, Thomas Jefferson on Wine, 372.
encouraged an Italian immigrant Ibid., 47.
a single trunk Letter from TJ to Madame de Tott, April 5, 1787, Papers XI, 271.
Wanting to experience the real France Letter from TJ to Chastellux, April 4, 1787, Papers XI, 261–62.
he traveled incognito Letter from TJ to William Short, March 15, 1787, Papers XI, 214–16.
basked in the scattered ruins Letter from TJ to Madame de Tessé, March 20, 1787, Papers XI, 226–28.
talked his way into people’s homes Letter from TJ to Lafayette, April 11, 1787, Papers XI, 283–85.
closely studied…the techniques of wine making TJ, “Notes of a Tour into the Southern Parts of France, &c.,” Papers XI, 455–56.
compulsively inquisitive…spoke French well enough Ibid., 455–57.
luxuriated in the southern sun Letter from TJ to Willam Short, March 27, 1787, Papers XI, 246–48.
soaked his aching wrist ten times a day Letter from TJ to William Short, April 7, 1787, Papers XI, 280–81.
ate the tiny thrushes called ortolans TJ, “Notes of a Tour,” Papers XI, 454.
for nine days, Jefferson left the road Letter from TJ to William Short, May 21, 1787.
trees full of nightingales Letter from TJ to Martha Jefferson, May 21, 1787, Papers XI, 368–69.
loved traveling this way…wheelless atop the barge Letter from TJ to William Short, May 21, 1787, Papers XI, 371–73.
wouldn’t write a single letter to her E. M. Halliday, Understanding Thomas Jefferson (New York: Harper Perennial, 2001), 69.
corn, rye, and beans…nothing but grapevines TJ, “Notes of a Tour,” Papers XI, 454.
glass windows Letter from TJ to William Short, May 21, 1787, Papers XI, 371–73.
“those seaports with which we trade” Letter from TJ to William Carmichael, February 18, 1787, Papers XI, 164–65.
The place was booming Hugh Johnson, The Story of Wine—New Illustrated Edition (London: Mitchell Beazley, 2005), 138, 145; Arthur Young, Travels in France & Italy During the Years 1787, 1788 and 1789 (J.M. Dent & Sons/E.P. Dutton, 1915), 57–59.
checked into the Hôtel de Richelieu TJ, Papers, Second Series: Jefferson’s Memorandum Books (edited by Bear and Stanton), 668.
a portable copying press Letter from TJ to William Stephens Smith, January 15, 1787, Papers XI, 46.
had been released from debtor’s prison Jefferson’s Memorandum Books I, 668n.
“on acct. of…Marocco [sic] mission” Ibid.
bet him a bottle of Burgundy Letter from TJ to William Short, June 1, 1787, Papers XI, 395–96.
visited the ruins TJ, “Notes of a Tour,” Papers XI, 454–55.
day trip southwest to Château Haut-Brion Ibid., 457.
On his third night in the city Jefferson’s Memorandum Books I, 668.
The girls who danced and sang there Young, Travels in France, 57–58.
enjoyed meals…admired the procession of elms TJ, “Notes of a Tour,” Papers XI, 455.
The quay Young, Travels in France, 56–57.
cream-colored oxen TJ, “Notes of a Tour,” Papers XI, 454.
Increasingly the wine was going André L. Simon, Bottlescrew Days (Boston: Small Maynard & Company, 1927), 161.
recent reinvention of the cork and the glass bottle Johnson, Story of Wine, 104–6.
the development of cylindrical bottles Ibid., 164.
“fury of planting” Nicholas Faith, The Winemasters of Bordeaux (London: Prion, 1999), 29–32; Johnson, The Story of Wine, 140.
a specific hierarchy Simon, Bottlescrew Days, 157–58.
“of fine quality” Letter from TJ to Bondfield, January 24, 1786, Papers IX, 210–11.
two livres each Gabler, Passions, 132.
the quality pyramid…150,000 bottles annually TJ, “Notes of a Tour,” Papers XI, 454–56.
Pepys Faith, Winemasters, 17.
Locke Ibid., 24.
the London Gazette was announcing Ibid., 26.
The Duc de Richelieu Faith, Winemasters, 43–44; Cyril Ray, Lafite (New York: Stein & Day, 1969), 20–21.
By the time of Jefferson’s visit in 1787 “Notes of a Tour,” Papers XI, 456.
Falernian Johnson, The Story of Wine, 36.
Steinwein Ibid., 155.
finest available year TJ, “Notes of a Tour,” Papers, XI, 457.
“the best vintage…in nine years” Letter from TJ to Alexander Donald, February 15, 1788, Papers XII, 594–95.
252 bottles of 1784 Haut-Brion Letter to TJ from Feger, Gra-mont & Cie., June 2, 1787, and footnote, Papers XI, 396–97.
“I cannot deny myself the pleasure” Letter from TJ to Francis Eppes, May 26, 1787, Papers XI, 378–79.
personal taxonomy of wine “Jefferson’s Tasting Vocabulary,” R. de Treville Lawrence, III, ed., Jefferson and Wine (The Plains, Virginia: The Vinifera Wine Growers Association, 1989), 108–13.
resolved to make it his standard practice Letter from TJ to John Bondfield, December 18, 1787, Papers XII, 434.
“it is from them alone” Letter from TJ to Alexander Donald, September 17, 1787, Papers XII, 132–34.
Dutch merchants dosed claret Faith, Winemasters, 14.
the Bordeaux negociants Ibid., 67–71.
The Pardoner warned his listeners Rod Phillips, A Short History of Wine (New York: Ecco, 2000), 109.
“Trade morality has come to such a pass…” H. Warner Allen, The Romance of Wine (New York: Dover, 1971), 243.
“the Golden Age of Wine Faking” Ibid., 238–40.
“coloured to resemble claret” Faith, Winemasters, 69.
Paris officials analyzed Phillips, A Short History of Wine, 199.
spoke with a broker named Desgrands “Notes of a Tour,” Papers XI, 457.
“I would prefer to receive it directly” Letter from TJ to d’Yquem, December 18, 1787, Papers XII, 435; translation in Lawrence, Jefferson and Wine, 70–71.
On September 17, 1789, Jefferson hosted Gouverneur Morris, A Diary of the French Revolution, edited by Beatrix Cary Davenport (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1939), vol. 1, 219–23.
chilly out…a fire crackled Ibid., 221.
a spare, half-empty look Adams, The Paris Years of Thomas Jefferson, 21.
much of the contents had already been crated Ibid.
what he thought would be a six-month leave Ibid., 22.
guards be posted outside Rice, Thomas Jefferson’s Paris, 117.
his house had been robbed Ibid.
candlesticks Adams, The Paris Years of Thomas Jefferson, 291.
sat down to eat at four-thirty Morris, A Diary of the French Revolution, vol. 1, 219–23.
James Hemings had learned
French cooking Rice, Thomas Jefferson’s Paris, 40.
eighty-six packing cases Rice, Thomas Jefferson’s Paris, 122.
hampers full of various wines “List of Baggage Shipped by Jefferson from France,” Papers XV, 375–77.
two containers earmarked for John Jay and George Washington Letter from TJ to John Jay, September 17, 1789, Papers XV, 436–37.
Gouverneur Morris bet William Short George Green Shackelford, Jefferson’s Adoptive Son (Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 1993), 43.
majordomo was left to dismantle Letter from TJ to William Short, March 12, 1790, Papers XVI, 228–30.
Amid the growing chaos Letter from William Short to TJ, August 15, 1790, Papers XVII, 392–97.
One hundred twenty-five bottles of 1784 Haut-Brion Letter from John Bondfield to TJ, xber 6, 1788, Papers XIV, 336–37.
never arrived Letter from TJ to John Bondfield, May 17, 1788, Papers XIII, 171–72.
short one box of assorted wines Letter from TJ to James Brown, January 3, 1790, cited in Hailman, Thomas Jefferson on Wine, 202.
3. TOMB RAIDER
Michael Broadbent vividly recounted the story of his first big auction in “The Anatomy of a Sale,” in Christie’s Wine Companion, edited by Patrick Matthews (Topsfield, Massachusetts: Salem House Publishers, 1987), 121–31. Four key sources on the development of the Bordeaux wine trade, and of English claret drinking, were Nicholas Faith’s Winemasters; Hugh Johnson’s Story of Wine; Edmund Penning-Rowsell’s book The Wines of Bordeaux (London: Penguin, 1989) and his article “The First Growths of Bordeaux,” published in the 1987 Christie’s Wine Companion. A useful article on the history of Christie’s and wine auctions was JMB’s “A Brief History of Wine Auctions,” VWGJ, Fall 1986.
seventy gallons to an acre Robert M. Parker, Jr., The World’s Greatest Wine Estates (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005), 132, 214.
just one glass of Yquem Richard Olney, Yquem (Boston: David R. Godine, 1986), 35.
20,000 gold francs Ibid., 46.
Gladstone, himself a claret man Asa Briggs, Haut-Brion (London: Faber and Faber, 1994), 92.
Haut-Brion had only four hogsheads Letter from John Bondfield to TJ, xber 6, 1788, Papers XIV, 336–37.
“it admits of a doubt” Christopher Fielden, Is This the Wine You Ordered, Sir? (London: Christopher Helm, 1989), 124–25.
Disraeli Ray, Lafite, 65.
That first season “A Brief History of Wine Auctions,” VWGJ, Fall 1986.
By 1978 the numbers “The Wine Auction Market,” Christie’s Wine Review (1980), 12.
Before Christie’s Rosebery sale…launched its own wine department Loftus, Anatomy of the Wine Trade, 145–46.
the price of old wines “The wine auction market—1966–1971,” Christie’s Wine Review (1972), 25.
“certainly the largest quantity of any one vintage” “Wine,” Art & Auction, February 1986.
“upwards of 100 loads of Good Hay” “Out-of-Town and Overseas Sales,” Christie’s Wine Review (1980), 35.
“sexy demi-mondaine” JMB, Vintage Wine (New York: Harcourt, 2002), 33.
“middle-aged lady” Ibid., 58.
“the strenuous efforts of our competitors” “Introduction,” Christie’s Wine Review (1979).
“pure propaganda” Loftus, Anatomy of the Wine Trade, 148.
“not a very healthy step” “Changing Times,” Decanter, 1984.
“of infinitely better quality” “Premium Policy,” Decanter, August 1984.
“essentially a piece of ephemera” “Premium Fallacies,” Decanter, 1984 or 1985.
“Sepulchral hollow laughter” “The Last Laugh,” Decanter, August 1986.
“The lack of enthusiasm shows” “In Britain It’s All Business,” WS, May 31, 1988.
Sotheby’s was the quality auctioneer Ibid.
“the largest quantity [of cases of port]” “Port Prices Show Gains,” Decanter, 1984.
A magnum of 1864 Lafite “Time in a Bottle,” Connoisseur, February 1992.
American demand was the chief reason “Wine,” Financial Times, August 17, 1985.
Before leaving France in 1789, Jefferson shipped Letter from TJ to John Jay, September 17, 1789, Papers XV, 436–7.
As secretary of state, Jefferson Letter from TJ to Joseph Fenwick, September 6, 1790, Papers XVII, 493–94.
Jefferson’s congratulatory letter Letter from TJ to James Monroe, April 8, 1817, Library of Congress collection.
“No nation is drunken” Letter from TJ to J. G. Hyde de Neuville, December 13, 1818, Library of Congress collection.
who regarded Jefferson as a fop John Hailman, Thomas Jefferson on Wine (University Press of Mississippi, 2006), 213.
“We could…make as great a variety of wines” Letter from TJ to Lasteyrie, July 15, 1808, Library of Congress collection.
Jefferson claimed, patriotically Letter from TJ to John Adlum, October 7, 1809, Papers, Retirement Series I, 586–57.
America’s first “exquisite wine, produced in quantity” Letter from TJ to William Johnson, May 10, 1817, Library of Congress collection.
“There was, as usual, the dissertation upon wines” David McCullough, John Adams (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001), 587.
three to four and a half glasses of wine Letter from TJ to Vine Utley, March 21, 1819, Library of Congress collection.
His sizable library included “The Wine Books in Jefferson’s Library,” Wayward Tendrils Quarterly 11, no. 2 (April 2001).
“wine from long habit has become” Letter from TJ to Fernandez Oliviera, December 16, 1815, Library of Congress collection.
By the turn of the twentieth century Peter Meltzer, “America Collects,” Christie’s Wine Companion (1987).
the 1959 vintage Kathleen Bourke, “Rise of the American Connoisseur,” Christie’s Wine Review, 1976.
The debut Heublein auction JMB, “Heublein and the US Wine Auction Scene,” Christie’s Wine Companion, edited by Pamela Vandyke Price (Devon, England: Webb & Bower, 1989).
$31,000…$38,000 “‘It Doesn’t Make Sense,’” WS, January 1986.
110 degrees Fahrenheit JMB, “Heublein and the US Wine Auction Scene,” Christie’s Wine Companion, 1989.
as of 1980 a national poll “23% of wine consumed in U.S. ‘on the rocks,’” WS, May 1–15, 1980.
10,000 bottles in his cellar “Taking Wine Off the Pedestal,” Food & Wine, April 1985.
30,000-bottle wine collection “Wine,” NYT, June 13, 1982.
65,000 bottles “What Motivates a Super Collector?”, WS, October 31, 1991.
Australian study of wine judges’ teeth R. Georgiou, “A review of the dental effects of regular wine tasting,” Wine Industry Journal 12 (1991), 294–95.
“I feel a genuine sadness” “A Glass Half-Full,” The Underground Wine Journal 19, no. 7.
as early as 1973 Edmund Penning-Rowsell, “Growth of the Wine Auction Market,” Christie’s Wine Review, 1977.
an “extraordinary recrudescence” Ibid.
Berry Brothers had unearthed “Heitz Sale Slows Pace,” WS, August 31, 1990.
Ten Broeck Mansion “30,000 rare bottles go on the block,” WS, April 15, 1978; “Heublein promises the rare,” WS, May 1–15,1980.
Some bottles at the 1980 Heublein auction “Wine from the sea bed—is it drinkable?”, Decanter, date unknown; “Heublein promises the rare,” WS, May 1–15, 1980.
4. MONSIEUR YQUEM
“took a look at the cellar” “Jefferson’s Paris Wines: Comparing the Questions with the Facts,” VWGJ, Spring 1986.
a hundred bottles “Man with a nose for a rarity,” The Times (London), December 15, 1990.
“Not since lunch” “Worst Wine Moments,” Decanter, January 1991.
“America’s first wine expert” Decanter, August 1984.
Rodenstock himself had written a long article “Château d’Yquem: Die Geschichte des Berühmtesten Weissweines der Welt,” Alles über Wein, no. 3, 1983.
“had n
o meaning to me at first” “400,000 Mark—beim teursten Wein der Welthört die Freundschaft auf…,” MAZ, February 28, 1991; “Jefferson’s Paris Wines: Comparing the Questions with the Facts,” VWGJ, Spring 1986.
“This suite of events” Richard Olney, Yquem (Boston: David R. Godine, 1986), 152.
“dark in color” “Jefferson’s Paris Wines Found in 1985,” R. de Treville Lawrence, III, ed., Jefferson and Wine (The Plains, Virginia: The Vinifera Wine Growers Association, 1989).
“tremendous long finish” “Jefferson’s Paris Wines Found,” VWGJ, Fall 1985.
“historic event” Ibid.
“I have sealed all the bottles” Ibid.
“Questions will no doubt arise” Ibid.
“the entire act of making love occurs” “Mann, da ist im Gaumen die Hölle los,” Der Spiegel, no. 7, 1988.
“a deep, luminous old gold colour” “Record Prices,” Decanter, February 1987.
Christie’s had never sold “Oldest Bordeaux, Yes…”, NYT, October 30, 1985.
5. PROVENANCE
Göring…placed an order Don and Petie Kladstrup, Wine and War (New York: Broadway Books, 2001), 68.
outright fabrication of wines Edward Penning-Rowsell, The Wines of Bordeaux (London: Penguin, 1989), 116.
Louis A. Feliciano was arrested “Counterfeit Wine,” Vintage Magazine, October 1982.
“appears to be original” Christie’s Sale Memorandum 314.
“the wine had an excellent constitution” Christie’s Finest and Rarest Wines auction catalog, December 5, 1985.
Jefferson and Wine Vinifera Wine Growers Association, 1976.
“It’s wine” “A Tasting of Lafites,” in Frank J. Prial, Decantations (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2001), 254–57.
“a meaty little wine, faded but fascinating” JMB, The Great Vintage Wine Book (New York: Knopf, 1981), 35.
“crystallized violets and clean bandages” JMB, New Great Vintage Wine Book, 18.
“incredibly awful creosote, tarry smell” Ibid., 15.
“Tasting old wine is like making love to an old lady” JMB, Vintage Wine, 22.
in response to an inquiry by Broadbent “The Jefferson Bottles,” The New Yorker, September 3 & 10, 2007.
more than 10,000 plundered bottles Kladstrup, Wine and War, 203.
the only time he felt intimate Albert Speer, Inside the Third Reich (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997), 427.
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