When President Obama took over the White House last month, the wine world was abuzz with, well, the buzzword of his administration: hope. Story after story declared him to be the savior, the messiah, of wine. He would rescue the White House from its teetotaling predecessor and bring the cellar back to its glory.

My two cents? Obama has bigger things to worry about. But 200 years ago, when the country was a lot smaller and depressions, world wars, and recessions were unimagined events of the future, Thomas Jefferson did not. After touring Europe, Jefferson returned home convinced that our county could produce wines on par with Europe's best. He imported vine cuttings form some of the best vineyards in Europe and planted them at his Virginia estate, Monticello.

Jefferson actually put wine on par with national issues, saying, "By making this wine vine known to the public, I have rendered my country as great a service as if I had enabled it to pay back the national debt."

More Wine of the Week after the jump.

Alas, Jefferson toiled in vain. Weather conditions and disease made it impossible for the European vines to survive, though he worked them for twenty years.

Today Virginia has a thriving wine industry, one Jefferson probably would have cried tears of joy over had he foreseen the future. With nearly 140 wineries, the state is fifth in the nation for wine production. Wine writers around the country are beginning to discover the region.

I had a chance to try the sparkling rose from Kluge ($28), a winery just miles from Monticello near Charlottesville. Kluge's sparkling wines are made European-style from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, just as Jefferson would have liked.

Honestly? I loved it. The wine had pretty strawberry aromas and berry flavors, with a sweet and tart middle that made me think of eating a juicy piece of candy with a burst of liquid in the middle. But what really made
the wine so good was the sweet taste of success, how Patricia Kluge and all these other Virginia winemakers have completed Thomas Jefferson's quest, and so elegantly.