The Vineyard: The Pleasures and Perils of Creating an American Family Winery

by Louisa Hargrave

Traces the efforts of Harvard graduates Louisa and Alex Hargrave to establish Long Island's first vinyard, describing their search along the coasts of the United States, their purchase of a potato farm, their struggles with natural elements, and their experiences of raising a family.

Genres: Autobiography, Wine, Nonfiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published May 26, 2003

Reviews

[Peter Corrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of the first winery on the North Fork of Long Island, Hargrave Vineyard, started by the author and her husband 50 years ago (1973, the year I graduated HS). While not exactly blazing the Oregon Trail it is a tale of 'pioneers' and the hard work of carving out a new life against what seemed to be tough odds. For a variety of reasons it was not generally believed by many wine experts that 'vinifera' grapes could be grown successfully in the climate and soil of Long Island. I had hoped there would be more about the exact nature of those factors and although there is some discussion on it there is a lot more about the mundane challenges of a start-up and farm life and the challenges of a young family in general. Still it is a nostalgic tale of a young couple arriving in an area that was then mainly potato farms with descendants of Polish immigrants and the old-line English families. The young Hargarve family settled in the North Fork hamlet of Cutchogue (also the site of the Old House--https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Hou... in 1699). It is a fine memoir and uplifting story but also a sometimes sad tale as life dealt its cards.

Their pioneering success helped to transform the North Fork of Long Island from a small farming region into a huge tourist destination and it is now a place of great wealth like many of the beautiful corners of the world. That is not all a good thing sadly. Today there are like 30 wineries on the North Fork and it has its own American Viticultural Area--North Fork of Long Island AVA. Tourists flood the area on summer and fall weekends for wine tours and tasting and real estate is crazy expensive. However, I was able to visit the winery that was Hargrave (now Borghese) on my annual trip to NY and sample wine from some of the 1973 vines, although I was a little skeptical of that claim since many of the original vines had to be pulled according to the book. Not really important, but we enjoyed a nice bottle of 2019 (an excellent year according to the waiter) oak-fermented Chardonnay on the very 'terroir' where this little adventure all started.

[Scott Pruden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for research for a book that I'm working on, and the thing that struck me most was the self-indulgence of this couple as they embarked on what - to anyone else - would involve years of planning and saving and/or seeking investors before planting the first vine.

It's safe to say that when folks of my generation (born in 1968 and thereafter) think about what pisses us off about the Baby Boomers, much of what this couple did as young adults comes to mind.
For them, both Harvard grads and the children of well-off families (his involving generations of Socialist politics, hers coming out of the New York publishing industry), it seemed like they began this huge effort on a lark. I alternately laughed out loud and rolled my eyes at their Ivy League pretensions and the fact that neither had every held a paying job of any kind before deciding they wanted to be winemakers.

Their one foray into publishing prior to this book - an ill conceived cookbook riding on a poorly thought out diet fad - also made for some hearty laughs that I don't think the author intended. It was also a little hard to feel sympathetic for them when they faced the challenges of raising kids while working the vineyard - then promptly decided to ship them off to boarding school.

Once I got past my initial annoyance with the early-1970s rich kid ethos (they lived and initially financed the winery thanks to a generous trust fund from the husband's grandmother), it was interesting seeing all that went into starting this operation from the ground up, especially since the couple dove into winemaking with zero practical knowledge - only "book learning."

Author Louisa Hargrave makes much of their pioneer beginnings - the constant references to "Little House on the Prairie" as a metaphor for an operation set on Long Island in the 20th century gets a little tedious - but they were indeed pioneers in the early East Coast wine industry.

Aside from the above and Hargrave's occasional earth-mother tangents, it's an interesting look at one couple's adventure in a tiny and unforgiving industry, both from the entrepreneurial and personal perspectives.

[Jennifer Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written—almost novelistic in its pacing and voice. There is a sense that not everything has been fully “squeezed out,” leaving intentional gaps that invite the reader to sit with questions rather than answers. Certain moments may provoke frustration or even anger in a modern reader, but that tension feels deliberate. As the narrative unfolds, those provocations reveal themselves as part of a larger exploration of misplaced expectations and eventual revelation.

[Serge Pierro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having an interest in all things wine, I found this book to be interesting on many levels. First of all, growing up on Long Island and be familiar with the wine industry to some degree allowed me to not get to hung up on that aspect of the book. I currently live right along the North Fork of Long Island and I'm quite familiar with all the wineries having passed them and/or participated in tastings there. The book takes you through the history of the vineyards from potato fields to a thriving wine industry. It is interesting to read, what it was like being on the front lines of an emerging industry, during a time of its infancy.

[Claire]

Started out pretty promising but just couldn't finish. Found myself a bit agravated with the author.