Buy land, girl, buy land. You will never go hungry if you have land, advised Mimi LaFollette Summerskill's grandfather. So she and her husband John purchased a 30Ðacre farm just north of Princeton, New Jersey. After an initial try at cattle farming, the novice farmers decided to try their hands at wine making. Literally. In the spring of 1979, the family planted 2,000 Seyval Blanc seedlings. After months of research, soil testing, charting weather patterns, pruning, fertilizing, picking, pressing, filtering, bottling, and labeling, the LaFollette Vineyard and Winery was born.
Learning each and every step along the way, the Summerskills produced success. Today, people around the state enjoy the fruits of the Summerskill's labor.