Fruits of their labor

Outside the Peach House at Harkness Edwards Vineyard, Peaches the cat scratches her claws on a tree. Peaches showed up on the farm six years ago and never left.

When a lightning strike in 2013 burned down the winery her parents had built, Nini Edwards found herself at the center of a heavy decision that would shape the future of the farm she loves. Then a recent college graduate, she jumped into the family business head-on.

“We were trying to decide what to do, if we were going to rebuild the winery or not,” Cathy Edwards, Nini’s mom, said. “For four years after we were kind of in limbo. And then Nini came home.”

In 1970, Cathy and her husband Harkness “Harkey” Edwards III bought a tobacco farm and raised their three daughters on the property. In 2000, they turned the farm into a vineyard. When they were farming tobacco, they didn’t get to see where their product was going, but with a vineyard, the Edwards family was able to see that the fruits of their labor were going back into their community.

Harkey looks off into the land he loves with teary eyes. “It is a privilege,” he said.

Harkey’s mother, Joyce, moved into a home on the property in the 1970s. Ahead of her time, she enjoyed flipping houses and was inspired by a peach-colored house she saw in Maine. Joyce knocked on the door of the house, and got the exact color palette they used.

Now, Joyce’s granddaughter, Nini, 38, has turned the Peach House into a vibrant wine-tasting space. Inside, the walls are covered with oil paintings by family members, rooms are filled with handcrafted merchandise and a cat named Peaches welcomes people to the vineyard.

The vineyard is busy, but many of the surrounding farms nearby have been bought by developers, and Nini said her parents get offers all the time. “I have to create a really powerful brand with Harkness Edwards Vineyards so we can continue on,” Nini said. “In a perfect world it would just be like this ’til the day I die, but unfortunately the world doesn’t work like that.”

Nini has been taking over more responsibilities from her parents, and it’s a challenge, but she finds joy in her work.

“We’re not gonna be doing this probably much longer, and we’ll have to turn the reins over to somebody. It’s gonna be her.” Cathy said, “Times are gonna change. And I’m okay with that.”