The biggest wine drinker” in spirit and practice: President Thomas Jefferson 🍇

Here’s why he wins that title:

Our third President and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, drank almost exclusively wine, and even grew his own grapes at Monticello, his famous home in Virginia.

• Obsessive-level wine lover. Jefferson didn’t just drink wine, he studied it. He kept detailed notes on grape varieties, regions, vintages, and producers.

• European immersion. While serving as U.S. minister to France (1785–1789), he toured French, Italian, and German wine regions and built relationships with top producers.

• Massive consumption (for the era). Estimates suggest he drank one to two bottles a day, often diluted with water, which was common at the time.

• Personal cellar goals. He tried (unsuccessfully) to establish American viticulture and stocked Monticello with thousands of bottles despite it contributing heavily to his lifelong debt.

• Wine evangelist. Jefferson believed wine was healthier than spirits and saw it as part of a refined, republican culture.

Other presidents drank alcohol, of course Washington made whiskey, and many enjoyed wine casually, but no one else comes close in terms of volume, knowledge, passion, and historical paper trail.