The Type Of Wine George Washington Enjoyed The Most

From William Taft's love of turtle soup to Benjamin Franklin bringing tofu to the States, the Founding Fathers had interesting dining habits. You might not think of George Washington as the ideal wingman, but, apparently, the man knew how to party. Just look at his bar tab from a night out during the Revolution: "54 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of Claret, and [seven] full bowls of punch" (via The Smithsonian). So which drink did Washington prefer the most? While Washington made his own whiskey, he had a propensity for a particular Portuguese wine: Madeira — which is currently making a major comeback in popularity.

Madeira comes from the Madeira Islands, a Portuguese archipelago off the northwestern coast of Morocco in the middle of the Atlantic. During Washington's time, the dry, fortified wine was popular, particularly among elites in Great Britain and its North American colonies.

Accounts throughout Washington's lifetime demonstrate the man's love for Madeira. He had 126 gallons delivered to his home in the spring of 1759. He ordered another shipment of the "rich[,] oily wine" four years later in 1763 (per George Washington's Mount Vernon). The deliveries kept on coming, including during his presidency.

Later in life, guests confirmed that Washington continued to enjoy the wine and served it to visitors at his home at Mount Vernon, Virginia. According to one guest, he "['loved] to chat after dinner with a glass of Madeira in his hand" (via George Washington's Mount Vernon).

Washington wasn't the only Founding Father who partook in a glass or two of Madeira. Thomas Jefferson also enjoyed the varietal. During his presidency, he toasted with the wine while celebrating the decision to make D.C. the country's capital and capitol in July 1792. Jefferson even tried to grow his own grapes for wine production on his Monticello estate — although infestation and black rot never saw the dream come to fruition during his lifetime.

Another Virginia native, James Madison, was a lifelong Madeira drinker. He added extra attention to his shipments by aging the casks for five or more years to add complexity. During his presidency from 1809 to 1817, he kept Madeira in stock at the White House, along with French wines like Bordeaux. On the day that British troops burned the capital during the War of 1812, Madison reportedly turned to a glass of Madeira. And who can blame him?

John Hancock liked Madeira, too. The statesman, known for his flamboyant signature on the Declaration of Independence, used to smuggle shipments of the stuff into Boston Harbor. That is until June 1768 when he got caught, and British customs confiscated his precious cargo ship, The Liberty.