THE MANUFACTUKE OF WINE. 



It is still a disputed question whether or not it is 

 possible for good wine to be manufactured in the 

 United States. Daniel Webster, whose high intel- 

 lectuality did not detract from his fondness for the 

 pleasures of the table, declared that we could never 

 hope to make good wine on this continent, and that 

 it would always pay us better to raise corn, cotton, 

 etc., for export, and buy our wines and silks. On the 

 other hand, the following letters from President 

 Jeflerson to Mr. Adlum would seem to establish the 

 fact that, even at an early day, wine had been made 

 in this country of more than ordinary quality : 



KXTEA0T8 OF LKTTKK8 FROM MB. JEFFERSON, LATE PRESIDENT OF 

 THE UNITED 8TATE8. 



Dated October 1th, 18.09, 



*' While I lived in Washington, a member of Congress from 

 youT State (I do not recollect which) presented me with two 

 bottles of wine made by you, one of which, of Madeira color, 

 he said was entirely factitious; the other, a dark red wine, 

 made from a wild or native grape, called in Maryland a Fox 

 grape, but very different from what is called by that name in 

 Virginia. This was a very fine wine, and so exactly resemhlin-g 

 the red Burgundy of Chamberlin {one of the lest crops) that on 

 a fair comparison with that, of which I had very good on the 



281 



