Grape Expectations: A Family's Vineyard Adventure in France
As Feely, a wine educator, explains in her keenly observed story of novice winemakers, it requires a Herculean level of commitment, labor, and possibly madness to maintain a vineyard. Feely and her husband, Sean, decided to realize their dream to produce organic wine and leave Dublin, so they bought a 30-acre vineyard an hour from Bordeaux. After dealing with levels of French bureaucracy, they quickly discovered that the owners left them with a mouse infestation, broken or rusting equipment, and the need for massive renovations. However, believing in their grapes and their decision, they got down to the hard work of harvesting. During a brutal heat wave, they had to prune and trim the vines to prevent fungus, remove weeds by hand, clean and sterilize their equipment, and deal with government inspectors. Fellow vineyard owners helped the couple finish the trimming, showing an unexpected openness to the newcomers. Despite the steep learning curve, profound struggles, and financial uncertainty, they quickly felt right at home, as Feely tells readers in this enthusiastic narrative (Oct.)