The Monticello Wine Company was a Charlottesville, Virginia cooperative founded in 1873 by local grape growers,[1] led by a German, Oscar Reierson.[2] Its four-story winery had a capacity of 200,000 gallons, and was located at the end of Wine Street, near Hedge Street.[3] It was the largest winery in the South.[4] It shut down with the onset of Prohibition in Virginia, which took effect on November 1, 1916.[1][5]
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."[6] It was located in what is now the Monticello American Viticultural Area.[7]
^K. Edward Lay (2000). The Architecture of Jefferson Country. University of Virginia Press. p. 244. ISBN0-8139-1885-5. The Monticello Wine Company...was on a hill at the end of Wine Street near Hedge Street...
^K. Edward Lay (2000). The Architecture of Jefferson Country. University of Virginia Press. p. 244. ISBN0-8139-1885-5. The Monticello Wine Company, the largest in the South at that time...
^Eaton, Lorraine. "Virginia's Prohibition history". The Virginian-Pilot. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2008-11-30. On Halloween night 1916...the state joined 17 others that banned the sale of liquor.
^Leahy, Richard (2008-02-19). "Virginia Wine: Nearly Four Centuries and Counting". Archived from the original on 2008-06-14. Retrieved 2008-11-30. 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.
