She, who wrote the book on the "Genesis of Winemaking" on the North Fork of Long Island, hops up to take her seat at the bar of the tasting room at Lenz and I sit down next to her with a clunk. This sprightly woman is the Eve of the Long Island wine industry. One of the crazies that came rambling out to the potato farms of the North Fork to grow of all things, grape vines. She has reminded me many times already that she was too young and too naïve to have known just how hard the whole damn thing was going to be more than thirty years ago. But with a dream of making wine and a youthful persistence that teeters between stupidity and fortitude, Louisa Thomas Hargrave and her husband Alex purchased a farm and proceeded to plant thousands upon thousands of grapes in the year of our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Seventy Three.

Winemaker Eric Fry

Louisa calls herself a pioneer and there are plenty of people who will agree with her, including myself, and the winemaker at Lenz, Eric Fry. In her book, Louisa tells of how she received a phone call from a neighbor asking her if she could help deliver a baby because "pioneers know how to deliver babies." Though she does explain that at first she considered herself more of a "poet than pioneer." (Want to know what happened with the baby? "Read the book," Louisa says.)

Perhaps it's the years of hard work or perhaps it's the years of drinking wine (or some combination of both) but Louisa Thomas Hargrave has the look and enthusiasm of her young self, especially when talking about the magic of the grape. Sure, it's only mid morning, but she is all ready to do some wine tasting, with both vim and vigor. She may have started out as another idealistic college graduate infused with the earthy spirit of the hippy culture prevalent in the early 1970s but in the last few decades Louisa has Long Island wine invade more and more of her blood to become somewhat of an icon and an authority.

I am prepared for the next tasting on my tour of Long Island wines but not prepared for Lenz winemaker, Eric Fry. Like some anthropomorphic boughs of grape vines (standing up and walking), this bigger than life man comes stalking into the room like a modern mythical incarnation of Treebeard. I swear they just dug him out of the soil and dusted him off just for this occasion. He is a giant of a man, with a wild beard and crazy smile all wrapped around a heart of gold and a cultured soul.

Louisa and Eric are old friends but they immediately bring me right into their circle of merriment and mirth. The first trick they pull on me is that Eric will not be telling me anything about the wines I will be drinking before I taste them.

"I notice a spiciness in the aroma," I say about the first wine. The reveal is that this is a Gewurztraminer, one of my new favorite white wines. I passed the test. I described the wine that I was drinking from a memory of the previous flavors I had tasted.

I feel confident and relax into my tasting mode. We swish, sip, and spit through a conversation about the Long island wine region.

"Long Island wines are more in the traditional, European style," Louisa tells me. "They have an energy and a freshness. They're not sweet and clunky."

"Sugar can be used to cover up flaws," Eric says. "A dry wine means it has no sugar."

There is a characteristic of the Gewurztraminer that is a little pucky, bitter. That is what Eric tells me is called "phenolic." Apparently Italian wines used to be hugely phenolic.

So what does phenolic have to do with the price of tea in China? Wine contains a complex mixture of organic compounds. (Phenolic compounds are molecules that can be derived from fruits and vegetables.) When wine is fermented, the phenolics in grapes make the organic compounds that give wine its special aromas and flavors and have some very powerful antioxidant effects.

So we start with a heart-healthy, Gewurztraminer. What's next? "A sparkling wine," Eric says. I call it Champagne but I am quickly corrected. "Champagne is only made in Champagne," he informs me. "More riddles?" I ask. Louisa gives me a sympathetic smile, reserved for stray cats and people who like their steak well-done.

Eric leads us on a field trip, of sorts. The wine tasting is put aside for a moment and we go to a secret passage, a door in the floor of the expansive tasting room. We duck down the stairs to the underground chamber—careful not to spill our glasses of bubbly—for a lesson in sparkling wine. While Louisa and I still sip, Eric explains.

Champagne is made in a region of the same name located in the northeastern part of France. Sparkling wine by designation is Champagne. I am reminded of the old Mathematics adage that says, "All Squares are Rhombuses but not all Rhombuses are Squares." Thus, "All Champagnes are sparkling wines but not all sparkling wines are Champagnes."

The sparkling wine made in Lenz is from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes, picked early to purposely retain a quality that is less fruity and not too phenolic. The wine is fermented first in a barrel. Then it is fermented a second time in a bottle through a process whereby yeast and sugar is added. The bottles are topped with a crimped metal caps like on a beer bottle.

The wine re-ferments in the bottle as the yeast eats the sugar and creates carbon dioxide, which makes the bubbles. The dead yeast, called lees, becomes a cloudy consistency, looking like a lava lamp when it is turned over. For a few years the wine is left to ferment in the yeast as it gains in flavor and the sparkling quality of endless tiny bubbles, like a Don Ho record in constant rotation on the jukebox.

Louisa Thomas Hargrave

This sediment needs to be taken out by a very special process. The first operation is called "riddling" or as the French call it, "remuage," where the bottles are turned and shaken at a certain angle. The yeast settles into the neck of the bottle. The next step is called, "disgorging" or in French, "degorgement." The wine is brought down to a temperature of 26 degrees. The first inch of the neck freezes and is popped out when the wine is uncapped. In this "unecking" process the yeast sediment is removed but because it is cold enough most of the carbon dioxide is preserved in the wine.

The third step is "dosage." Sugar is added to the bottle and then topped off "up to the legally prescribed level," according to the Lenz website, "using champagne from one of the other open bottles." The bottle is corked, which is the final step. (Unless, or course you consider drinking it as the final step!)

"What is the appeal of sparkling wine?" I ask. "The reason I want to know is because the bubbles make sparkling wine such a different experience from drinking any other wine." (O.K. What I really said was, "Yeah! Bubbles!" But they got the point.)

Louisa is first to jump to answer my question, explaining that, for her at least it is the feeling of the little bubbles that makes it so fun. (Or "Yeah! Bubbles!" to the layman.) "So little sparkling wine delivers this clean without sweet," she says of the Lenz variety.

I see why Louisa likes this wine. It's dry, not too sweet or bitter. It's refined but also a little edgy. It's carefully planned with a long history and when done right can be extremely pleasant. The trick, I am told, about sparkling wine is the size of the bubbles, which should be delicate yet long lasting. They should piqué on the tongue not rumba.

We climb the cellar stairs from my bubble lesson to taste the Lenz Chardonnay. The Chardonnay is in an East Coast style, meaning it is not too sweet. This green apple and pear scented wine is made from an assemblage of different Chardonnay grapes at harvested at different times. This produces a Chardonnay that is not too high in alcohol, lower in oaken-ness but much lighter and fresher. Again, it's a Chardonnay for those who have sworn off Chardonnay's that are typical of the warmer, west coast products.

When he's not riddling or disgorging, Eric is tasting his wine. His claim to fame is that his t-shirts are stained with grapes and wine by the end of the day from his job. During the winter, Eric spends his days tasting wine from barrels to separate the oakier, therefore more buttery, Chardonnay that becomes the Gold Label from the more balanced, which then becomes the Old Vine label.

Only now have I been able to acquire the memory and taste that can distinguish the fruity (apple, pear, melon) form the oaky (buttery, or even meaty) taste in wine. In my mind and taste both are very good for a Chardonnay, but the sweet, high alcohol content of the Chardonnay I had previous is extremely distasteful to me now.

The first Lenz Red we taste is their 2001 Cab. This is a very meaty, steak cooking on the grill tasting wine. It retains the fruit flavor of pomegranate, which makes a nice balance against the toastiness and meatiness. To compare and contrast we try a little of the 2006 Cab that comes right from the barrel. It's cooler in temperature and a little too fruity. This, I am told by Eric, is not yet ready for consumption. It's only been in the barrel for a year and probably will not be available until at least 2011. (I make plans to come back and see how things turn out.)

The Old Vine Merlot (2001) is what we agree to be a stronger character. It's romantic in that it's a slow sipper. The way of making this wine results in an earthier, musty and almost mushroom flavor.

"It's a meditative wine," Louisa says. "You can keep going back to it because it's so intricate."

In contrast the 2006 Merlot has a fresh, too young and fruity flavor, like black cherry. This wine spends one year in the barrel and five years in the bottle before it's ready.

Red is always the end of the line for tasting so we extended the trip into lunch. Over an endless procession of excellently prepared samples of fish by a friend-chef of Louisa and Eric's we talk about wine and drink beer. (Yes, beer.)

What I have learned and what is so obvious considering the company I was with at the time is that Long Island has a thriving, very sophisticated and very storied wine industry. When I say that Louisa Thomas Hargrave wrote the book on the Long Island wine industry I am not being dramatic, I am being literary.

Her second (yes, second) book about Long Island Wine is called, "The Vineyard." It's a memoir of Louisa's pioneering effort to create an industry against all odds. In the early Seventies, Louisa and her then husband, Alex, scoured the West Coast for an appropriate place to start a vineyard. What they end up with was a 1680's era potato farm in Cutchogue, Long Island. With her newly adopted cat, Iota, in tow, Louisa joined her husband Alex for the first of many years of wine growing, creating an entire industry in the process. She looked around the sad little shack that made their home, and the newly planted vines and despite the enormous effort before them the Hargraves displayed a gigantic will and determination generally reserved for the very young and very hardheaded. The estate vineyard they made, Hargrave Vineyard, lasted for many years, producing the highest quality of wine in the area.

Her story, recounted in the book, "The Vineyard" is a lesson, one that we all need to learn in order to preserve what little truly modern history we have here locally. Everyday the talk is about high taxes, high energy, suburban sprawl and "brain drain." But Long Island has a prosperous and successful part that too few people are aware of or support. There was a time when young people once came out to Long Island to carve a new life for themselves with lots of blood, sweat and tears. Should we let all that hard work go to waste under another subdivision, mega store or row of strip malls. Louisa is very passionate about supporting, preserving and promoting the Long Island region.

Today, Louisa is the Director of the Stony Brook University Center for Wine, Food and Culture. The Center "strives to support the economic and cultural viability of regional wine and food producers through dynamic and relevant educational activities that are open to industry professionals and the general public," according to the description on its website.

"(Louisa is) one of the crazies who came out here and said, 'We're going to make wine dammit!'" Eric said of our companion.

Eric Fry is a Hoosier. He left Indiana and through a very familiar path, went through Napa Valley to end up on the East Coast and eventually at Lenz in 1989. He considers himself part of the "second generation" of Long Island wine makers. After the pioneers like the Hargraves, Eric came in as a true wine expert to help take the region to the next level.

Eric says he came to Long Island to "do my thing." He found the West Coast was too limiting on his creative drive to produce a high quality wine. It was hard to buck the established trend of California wines so he found a home on Long Island, where a guy who practically sleeps between the rows of the grape vines and hasn't shaved at least since he arrived on the North Fork, can make his own way. Sure the trails were already blazed by the pioneers but now those same pioneers needed to draw on a talent pool, and, without the opportunity to produce multiple thousands of cases of native grape wine, they damn well better get some quality in there. The effect that the region has had on Eric and the affect Eric has had on the region is evident in his wine.

The Lenz vineyard follows the Estate model. The idea is that they don't buy or sell their grapes. This may result in a lower crop, but a higher integrity.

Perhaps it was the fish, or the wine, or maybe it was the beer, but conversation at lunch turned from one subject to another and not all of it is about wine. Some of it was very revealing of the types of lives we all lead and the philosophies of how to continue to lead those lives. At one point we sucked in a couple from another table into our conversation. But that is probably better left for another type of story.

The Lenz Winery & Vineyard was founded in 1978; the winery has some of the most mature vineyards in the region. They are located on Route 25/Main Road, Peconic, New York 11958. Call the Lenz Tasting Room at 800-974-9899 or 631-734-6010 for information and Group Reservations.

Louisa Thomas Hargrave is the author of "The Vineyard, A Memoir." You can find the book online at most major retailers. She is also the Director of Stony Brook University's Center for Wine, Food, and Culture. The Center was founded in 2004 for the purpose of bringing together people and ideas that convey and sustain cultural connections to food and wine.

This year the Center is holding a very exciting Eight-Week Wine Expertise Certificate Course. This eight-session course is intended for those who wish to expand their expertise in wine from an elementary to an intermediate level. Dates: September 25 to November 13, 2007. Time: Eight Tuesday evenings from 7:00–9:00 p.m. Location: Stony Brook Southampton, Southampton, New York. Instructors: Louisa Thomas Hargrave directs, with guest professionals Cliff Batuello, and Christopher Miller. How to Register: Advance registration and payment are required. Go to www.stonybrook.edu/winecenter for more information. Course Requirements: Attendees must be over 21 years of age. Questions? Please call Ginny Clancy, Program Coordinator at (631) 632-9404.