William Cobbet 1818

William Cobbet’s 1818 trip down the Ohio River produce one of the highest praises for the wine of Switzerland County. He went on to Louisville without stopping in Jefferson County.

A year's residence, in the United States of America. Treating of the face of the country, the climate, the soil, the products, the mode of cultivating the land, the prices of land, of labour, of food, of raiment; of the expenses of house-keeping, and of the usual manner of living; of the manners and customs of the people; and of the institutions of the country, civil, political, and religious... By William Cobbet. 1828. First edition. New York, 1818.

June 16th.--Left Cincinnati for Louisville with seven other persons, in a skiff about 20 feet long and 5 feet wide.

492. June 17th.--Stopped at Vevay, a very neat and beautiful place, about 70 miles above the falls of the Ohio. Our visit here was principally to see the mode used, as well as what progress was made, in the cultivation of the vine, and I had a double curiosity, never having as yet seen a vineyard. These vineyards are cultivated entirely by a small settlement of Swiss, of about a dozen families, who have been here about ten years. They first settled on the Kentucky river, but did not succeed there. They plant the vines in rows, attached to stakes like espaliers, and they plough between with a one-horse plough.

The grapes, which are of the sorts of Claret and Madeira, look very fine and luxuriant, and will be ripe in about the middle of September. The soil and climate both appear to be quite congenial to the growth of the vine: the former rich and the latter warm. The north west wind, when it blows, is very cold, but the south, south east, and south west winds, which are always warm, are prevalent. The heat, in the middle of the summer, I understand, is very great, being generally above 85 degrees, and sometimes above 100 degrees.

Each of these families has a farm as well as a vineyard, so that they supply themselves with almost every necessary and have their wine all clear profit. Their produce will this year be probably not less than 5000 gallons; we bought 2 gallons of it at a dollar each, as good as I would wish to drink. Thus it is that the tyrants of Europe create vineyards in this new country!