Over the course of the past 15 years, Louisa Hargrave has written more than 350 columns for this news organization. For much of that time, her column has also been published in the Southampton Press. With this week’s issue, she makes her final contribution.
She and her former husband, Alex, were founders of the Long Island Wine region, opening Hargrave Vineyards in Cutchogue in 1973. She began writing her biweekly musings on wine and the industry she helped create here soon after her vineyard was sold in 1999. You can read her final column here.
Later this month, Lenn Thompson, who publishes the New York Cork Report and is a regular northforker.com contributor, will take over her spot.
Of course, having the former co-owner of the region’s first winery pen a column for our newspapers has always been a great honor for us — and not just because of what the name “Hargrave” symbolizes on the North Fork. Louisa’s columns have always been informative, revealing and written with a sophistication only someone with her level of expertise can possess.
Many of the Jamesport resident’s entries have taught us about wine from regions beyond the North Fork — and it’s because of her travels that she no longer plans to write her columns.
She will be missed.
