Monticello Wine Company

Coordinates: 38°02′09″N 78°28′42″W / 38.0358°N 78.4782°W / 38.0358; -78.4782

Monticello Wine Company
Location	Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Founded	1873
Key people	Adolph Russow
Known for	Virginia Claret
Varietal	Norton (grape)

The Monticello Wine Company was a Charlottesville, Virginia cooperative founded in 1873 by local grape growers,^[1] located at the end of Wine Street, near Hedge Street.^[2] It was the largest winery in the South.^[3] It shut down with the onset of Prohibition in Virginia, which took effect on November 1, 1916.^[1][4]

The Monticello Wine Company building.

The success of Monticello Wine Company brought Charlottesville to declare itself "the Capital of the Wine Belt in Virginia."^[1] The company was best known for its Virginia Claret Wine, produced with Norton grapes—it "won a major international award in 1873 at the Vienna Exposition."^[5] It was located in what is now the Monticello American Viticultural Area.^[6]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Historical Highway Markers: Monticello Wine Company". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. 2008-11-30. http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/hiway_markers/marker.cfm?mid=4472. 
2. ^ K. Edward Lay (2000). The Architecture of Jefferson Country. University of Virginia Press. p. 244. ISBN 0813918855. "The Monticello Wine Company...was on a hill at the end of Wine Street near Hedge Street..." 
3. ^ K. Edward Lay (2000). The Architecture of Jefferson Country. University of Virginia Press. p. 244. ISBN 0813918855. "The Monticello Wine Company, the largest in the South at that time..." 
4. ^ Eaton, Lorraine (2008-11-30). "Virginia's Prohibition history". The Virginian-Pilot. http://hamptonroads.com/2008/11/virginias-prohibition-history. "On Halloween night 1916...the state joined 17 others that banned the sale of liquor." 
5. ^ Leahy, Richard (2008-11-30). "Virginia Wine: Nearly Four Centuries and Counting". http://www.richardleahy.com/blog/2008/02/19/virginiawine/. "In Charlottesville, the Monticello Wine Company, operating with grapes grown by co-op members, won a major international award in 1873 at the Vienna Exposition for a “Virginia claret” based on Norton." 
6. ^ "Code of Federal Regulations. Title 27: Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; Part 9 — American Viticultural Areas; Subpart C — Approved American Viticultural Areas; § 9.48 Monticello.". http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr;sid=bff700d0bbb2a632948b70fe7e91d7d4;rgn=div5;view=text;node=27%3A1.0.1.1.7;idno=27;cc=ecfr#27:1.0.1.1.7.3.41.28. Retrieved 2008-11-30. 

External links

• The Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society's history of Monticello Wine Company's role in winemaking in the region.