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About Us
We are a family-run "Harvest Your Own" vineyard enabling the winemaker to personally select and harvast high-quality, fresh fruit from the vine. Our vineyard is located in the picturesque New Hampshire seacoast region. Situated in Dover, NH, just minutes from Portsmouth, just an hour north of Boston, and less than an hour south of Portland, Maine with easy access from I-95.
Marechal Foch
Hickory Hill Farm was established by William (Bill) W. and Ruth A. Hunt in 1968 having purchased the property from the previous owners.
Bill and Ruth moved their herd of 50+ Black Angus cattle from their previous farm in Berwick, Maine and managed the farm while working full time. They looked beyond the cattle to grow their business by selling baled hay, beef and pork.
In the early 1970's, Bill and Ruth learned of an opportunity to supply the new White Mountain Winery near Belmont, NH and planted an acre of Marechal Foche vines. However the regulatory environment in the state of New Hampshire for wineries was undeveloped at the time and the winery struggled. Bill and Ruth eventually returned their vineyard to pasture.
Today the New Hampshire regulatory environment has matured and is supportive of a growinng winery industry in the state. New Hampshire vineyards and wineries produce an array of fine vintages
Their son, Greg Hunt returned to Dover in the late 1980's and built a home on the site of the former vineyard where he found Marechal Foche vines still growing among the grass, stoney ledge and wildflowers. Greg used these old vines as the basis for a pilot vineyard to test new varieties and growing techniques, as well as home-made wines from those grapes.
Over the years, Greg and Donna have travelled extensively throughout wine growing regions of the world including the United States, Canada, Western and Eastern Europe. At home, they have also made friends with other home wine-makers who are frustrated with the lack of fresh, local, vine-ripened fruit for their next creations.
Itasca, July 2021
In 2019 Greg and Donna decided to establish a commercial, Harvast-Your-Own vineyard. They selected an initial collection of varieties to appeal to the home winemaker, whether they are crafting a wine for personal enjoyment or a competitive arena.
This first vineyard block was planted in the spring of 2021, with a second block and additional varieties planned for 2023.
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Itasca, May 22, 2022