Marco and Ann Borghese. (Credit: Jane Starwood file photo)
Marco Borghese might have been a prince in his native Italy, but those who knew him here remembered him as a man with an approachability that belied his noble roots.
“He never needed the spotlight,” his son Fernando told a crowd of mourners at Our Lady Of Ostrabrama Church in Cutchogue. “He was always more concerned about everybody else around him.”
Read more from the service on northforker.com
Marco and Ann Marie Borghese purchased their Cutchogue vineyard in 1999. (Credit: Jane Starwood, file)
The untimely and tragic deaths of Ann Marie and Marco Borghese have me thinking about the passage of time, particularly insofar as the North Fork’s grape-growing/wine industry is concerned. To the best of my knowledge, the Borgheses were the first second-generation owners/winemakers/industry boosters to pass from the scene, which is an indicator, after a fashion, of just how long this industry has been around hereabouts. Their recent deaths have also caused me to reflect on the list of others who passed before them, which, again, is a reflection that a lot of years have gone by since Louisa and Alex Hargrave planted their first grapes here in the early 1970s. But first, a word about the Borgheses. (more…)
Marco and Ann Marie Borghese purchased their Cutchogue vineyard in 1999. (Credit: Jane Starwood, file)
The tragic loss of Ann Marie and Marco Borghese has all of us who knew them reeling. My heart weeps for their family. (more…)
In October 1999, Alex and Louisa Hargrave greeted Marco and Ann Marie Borghese upon the sale of their vineyard with this heartfelt greeting. The message remains poignant today. (Credit: Judy Ahrens, file)
Several years back we sent a young reporter to Castello di Borghese Vineyard & Winery to interview owners Marco and Ann Marie Borghese for a profile.
When she returned, she couldn’t stop talking about how nice they were.
“Marco is the sweetest, nicest man I’ve ever met,” she said.
Those words have been repeated many times this week as members of the East End community mourned both Marco, who was killed Monday in an automobile accident on Route 25A in Wading River, and Ann Marie, who died a week earlier following a battle with cancer.