The earliest recorded attempts at winemaking in the area occurred in the 1770s, when Thomas Jefferson provided financial support to Italian winemaker, Philip Mazzei, who made a small quantity of wine from the native grapes, but without much success. Jefferson gave Mazzei significant acreage less than 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Monticello for the purpose of growing grapes. The area was planted in 1774. In 1776, with the advent of the Revolutionary war, Jefferson and George Washington dispatched Mazzei back to Italy to solicit war funding from the Duke of Tuscany.[8] As was the practice at that time, Mazzei rented his home, in this instance to the Hessian cavalry officer Friedrich Adolf Riedesel, a prisoner of war who had been captured at Saratoga and was imprisoned in the Charlottesville barracks. Riedesel moved his entire staff up to Mazzei's home and turned their horses out to pasture in the infant vineyards. The vineyards were destroyed.[9]
The geographical features of gaps in the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east causes “rivers of cold air” to flow through corridors that converge east of the Monticello AVA. It is manifested by the tendency of the cool air to sink along the surrounding topography and drain to the surface of the valley floors. This atmospheric phenomenon draws warmer air closer to the ground and reduces the incidence of frost damage. As a result, the climate is favorable to viticulture in Monticello AVA where temperatures are 4 to 5 °F (−16 to −15 °C) warmer than the surrounding areas. The warmer weather produces a longer growing season and protection from vine-freeze which can be fatal to ripening grapes. The season is a minimum of 190-200 day average in the AVA compared to areas further east and south that average 150 days and less.[4] To maximize vine protection, vignerons selected sites with sunny, south-easterly exposure at 800 feet (244 m) and above between the mountain slopes.[10]
^"§ 9.48 Monticello"(Title 27: Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; Part 9 — American Viticultural Areas; Subpart C — Approved American Viticultural Areas). Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR). January 23, 1984. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
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