The Monticello Wine Company was a

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen C ...

cooperative founded in 1873 by local grape growers, led by a German, Oscar Reierson. Its four-story winery had a capacity of 200,000 gallons, and was located at the end of Wine Street, near Hedge Street. It was the largest winery in the South. It shut down with the onset of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...

in Virginia, which took effect on November 1, 1916. The success of Monticello Wine Company brought Charlottesville to declare itself "the Capital of the Wine Belt in Virginia." 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." It was located in what is now the Monticello American Viticultural Area.

References

External links

The Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society's history of Monticello Wine Company's role in winemaking in the region.
Charlottesville, Virginia Wineries in Virginia Albemarle County, Virginia 1873 establishments in Virginia {{Virginia-stub