© David J. Del Grande/NJ Advance Media via AP
During the six-month revamp, the museum discovered almost three cases of Madeira wine from 1796 and about 42 demijohns from the 1820s.
Some of the original Madeira stock was shipped to the second generation who lived at Liberty Hall, in anticipation of John Adams' presidency. Although Liberty Hall President John Kean was well aware of the wine collection, he couldn't have imagined its historical significance.
"We knew there was a lot of liquor down here, but we had no idea as to the age of it," said Kean, first cousin to New Jersey's former governor. "I think the most exciting part of it was to find liquor, or Madeira in this case, that goes back so far. And then trying to trace why it was here and who owned it."
Liberty Hall is located at Kean University, which was founded in 1855 and is one of New Jersey's largest state colleges. The 150-acre campus enrolls about 13,000 students each year, and is best known for its teaching program.
Whether it's telling the story of the Civil War or an esteemed visit by President William Howard Taft in 1909, the goal of the renovation is to walk visitors through every era of American history, said Bill Schroh Jr., director of operations at Liberty Hall.
"And Madeira was just one piece of that whole story," he said.
The project began in October 2015, and included an overhaul of the museum's wine cellar, rebuilding the antique wine racks and cataloguing the historic find. Although the monetary value of Liberty Hall's Madeira cannot be made public, its the largest known collection in the United States and one of the most extensive in the world.
America's original 13 colonies imported about 95 percent of Madeiran wine produced on the autonomous islands of Portugal, according to historical accounts.
"We have about six different versions of Madeira that was [drunk] because Madeira was the drink of gentleman," said Schroh, referring to the wine's earliest epoch.
Most of Liberty Hall's Madeira was stored in the attic because unlike most wine, this particular vintage needs a warm temperature, Schroh said.
The museum was contacted by The Rare Wine Co., a premier wine merchant based in California, which tested the Madeira and further explained this spirit will rarely turn to vinegar. The stateside connoisseur reached out to Liberty Hall after the museum announced its discovery.
Liberty Hall decided to fill a decanter with a sampling from one of the original casks of Madeira. Kean had a small taste, and said those who like sweet sherry wines will enjoy this aged vin.
Madeira was the best wine to ship during the 18th century because it almost never spoiled, Shcroh said.
"So you could open some of these bottles, and it might be perfect," he added.
The museum, originally constructed in 1760, was built as a country getaway by the then prominent New York lawyer, William Livingston. Livingston would go on to serve in the First and Second Continental congresses, become New Jersey's first elected governor and sign the United States Constitution.
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