The Vineyard: The Pleasures and Perils of Creating an American Family Winery Hardcover – May 26, 2003

This is a marvel of a book. Louisa Hargrave has written the story of a young couple's dream of beginning a winery.I lived in Eastern Long island, New York at the time the Hargraves were first beginning their adventure in winemaking. The story is extraordinary - in its depth, description of the agonizing amount of work, care, challenges, disappointments, and thrills of making beautiful wines in Cutchogue, New York. In 1973, they were, to me, an attractive couple who were doing something I thought could not be possible in America beyond California wineries - and by a couple in their 20's as I was then...The Vineyard's story, as told by Louisa Hargrove shows two brilliant young people whose dream came to fruition through almost impossible odds. I used to think if one had the money, anyone could own a winery - how wrong I was, as this book proves. Determination, skills learned (Louisa can do any and did everything (scientific and domestic)) and the many obstacles overcome are awe-inspiring.There is much complexity, humor and, definitely, poignancy to the true tale Louisa tells. She has a breadth of knowledge to share and definitively imparts the thrill of raising a family, making unusual friends, besting scoffers, jealous "experts" and maddening government regulations to see hers and Alex's wines emerge as worthy as French wines - all on Eastern Long island!It saddened me to see the thirty-one years of togetherness and ultimate triumph end in their divorce. But - Louisa is a true survivor and it heartened me to know she and Alex are still connected. Theirs is a story as complex as their Cabernets and Pinot Noirs. Louisa Hargrave's story is one of love and true grit, beautifully realized.

This is the story of the first attempt at growing grapes for wine on the North Fork of NY. It gave a lot of insight as to the trials and hard work it takes. Sometimes the book got a little to rambling, but I also enjoyed the narrator's perspective as a voice from an earlier time a couple decades ago.

My parents chose to own and run a small vineyard. As a contemporary of the author, it is easy for me to empathize with the problems of building a vineyard from scratch. That may best explain why I picked up this book.The author and her husband are of a blue blood vintage. Family money allowed them to embark on this experiment, quite the dilettantes at the start. Hargrave and her tall husband had tried other ventures or career options, including an organ (and I don?t mean Wurlitzer) cookbook. My stomach is still turning at the thought. Nothing seemed to click. The two were peripatetic students, travelers, house sitters, Ivy leaguers, quasi trust fund babies, with colorful roots of their own. Louisa Thomas is the grand daughter of five-time Socialist candidate for president of the United States, Norman Thomas.One thing they learned from their stab at cooking organs was that the wine allowed the unpalatable food to go down a whole lot better. Inspired in part by this finding, along with a desire to forego hard liquor, husband and wife made a go of starting a vineyard on Long Island. Only this time the process was very serious, engaging and almost enslaving. They mastered the delicate, detailed process of acquiring the right vines, grafting, plucking, fermenting, storing and marketing the wine. They produced great wine; they earned (or at least somehow garnered) great publicity. They hired a lot of people with diverse, difficult and demanding backgrounds. Husband and wife divided the tasks as best they could, each to his or her apparent comparative advantage, she the hands on technician, he the business officer. Along the way, unintentionally it seems, they transformed themselves from soul mates to business partners.Raised on a ?grape farm? myself, where my family lived twenty years, her story is spot on ? the planting and pruning, dealing with fungus and pesticides, curbing the weeds, managing the harvest, living with weather that both killed and enhanced the crop ? and evoked long dormant memories and, in some cases, wounds. Grapes are much less romantic when they go into jelly, but also a whole lot easier, especially if you don?t make the final product yourself. The Hargraves immersed themselves in the task. They learned fast, worked hard, and seemed to prosper, even if at times it was by the skin of their grapes. My initial skepticism turned to admiration but, having lived some of their life, never envy.The saddest part of an otherwise noble accomplishment is the fact that the husband and wife efforts apparently killed their marriage. It is not very clear why. As the sole author, the wife is a bit coy on this. It may have been fruitful to read the husband?s side of the full story, not just the demise of a good, working partnership. This is a very human, humane story.

Alex and Louisa Hargrave went against conventional wisdom when they decided to plant vinifera grapes on Long Island. As you might expect, it was a bumpy adventure in horticultural history, complete with weeds, hurricanes and an incredible amount of work, bringing the couple to the brink of financial ruin. But by the time it was over, they'd proven that grapes could grow (even flourish) on Long Island - and the chronicle of their exploits is charming and lively.

The Vineyard takes you on a wonderful adventure that details the Hargraves' ups and downs not only in their business, but also the impact it has upon their personal life. Written with the touch of a wise sage, Louisa should continue to produce more books in my opinion.

Nice read. This book will be inspiring to those who are contemplating getting into the winery business, and will be interesting to those who just enjoy wine.