On the day before Thanksgiving, it’s time to get our study on!

i know, his cheeks look all flushed from wine, right?

Back in the day, Europeans thought that the New World would be a perfect place to make wine. It was not. Colonists tried to make wine out of native grapes like Concord, Catawba and Delaware which are from a different kind of vine – only problem is that these grapes make effing vile wine.

Finally, someone had some sense. That someone was Thomas Jefferson. Everyone thinks his biggest accomplishment was writing the Declaration of Independence. WRONG! He was like, “Ew, this American stuff is shit, we gotta get the good grapes here.” [Verbatim quote, trust.]

So in true Jefferson style, he was all Movin’ On Up the grapevine when he became U.S. Minister to France in 1785. He became a huge fan of Bordeaux wines, called for better grape cultivation in the states and advised George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, and James Monroe on vintages.

Thanks, Tommy Boy! You get an extra helping of stuffing!