My Side Of The River: Tales from a Marlborough Vineyard by Ted Reynolds

At the age of 60, Ted Reynolds moved to Marlborough, 'dreaming of a happy old age tending a few vines, treading a couple of barrels of grapes and letting the sunny hours swim by' while he grew rich from producing the finest pinot noir in the world. He bought 20 hectares of the Awatere Valley, with mountain views, a river boundary and the kind of stony, silty soil that is ideal for grapes. There he planted a vineyard, built a rammed-earth house, and set about enjoying his new life. In a charming series of anecdotes, told with eloquence and humour, this book describes the delights of rural life - the beauty of the landscape, the thrill of the first harvest, the warmth of the local community - but also of the battles - with the river that threatens the lower terrace, with the birds that compete for the grapes, and with the inevitable bureaucracy.

Paperback, 1995, 160pages, good condition, name on cover back blacked