Vintners, friends mourn deaths of Ann Marie and Marco Borghese

As the North Fork community mourns Marco Borghese, 70, and his wife Ann Marie, they celebrate the memory of two beloved locals who poured their hearts and dreams into their business, the first winery in the area — creating a legacy.

On Monday, Borghese died in a horrific head-on crash on Route 25A in Wading River.

Riverhead Police said Marco Borghese, 70, was heading eastbound on Route 25A when he failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway, causing his 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee to enter the westbound land of travel. His Jeep struck a westbound 2007 International Harvester delivery truck driven by Stanley Paczkowski, 60, of Ridge.

In a tragic twist of fate, a staffer at the Borghese Vineyard confirmed Tuesday that Ann Marie Borghese, his wife, had died recently at age 56 after battling cancer.

Their deaths shocked the North Fork, where the wine industry and community members alike were left reeling from the loss.

“The Long Island wine region is profoundly saddened by the passing of two of our very dear colleagues over the past week,” Steve Bate, executive director of the Long Island Wine Council said Tuesday in a prepared statement. “Just days after hearing that Ann Marie Borghese quietly lost her courageous battle with cancer, we learned of the sudden loss of her husband, Marco Borghese, in a tragic car accident.”

The couple, Bate said, joined the local wine region after purchasing Long Island’s founding vineyard from Alex and Louisa Hargrave in 1999. “They quickly established themselves as vital members of our industry and the community,” Bate said.

Only four years after moving to the North Fork, Borghese was elected president of the LIWC, Bate said. “With his European charm and relaxed elegance, he was instrumental in leading the organization through some difficult, transitional times. Recognizing his important role on behalf of both Long Island and the broader New York State wine industry, the New York Wine and Grape Foundation awarded Marco its highest honor in 2005.”
The Foundation’s “Unity Award” was established in 1990, Bate said, “to recognize individuals who have volunteered their time, shown exceptional leadership, and achieved recognized results in building industry cooperation and unity.”

Ann Marie Borghese, Bate said, “was equally indispensable to the region. Vivacious and intelligent, she actively contributed to industry marketing strategies and activities while tirelessly promoting the family’s wines and the North Fork across the New York metropolitan area. She graciously devoted significant time, expertise and resources to many local community organizations and causes.”

According to a New York Times article in 2009, Ann Marie Borghese was devoted to four-footed friends, founding the Cutchogue Canine Classic to celebrate the joys of rescue dogs.

A devout Francophile, she described herself as “princess-by-marriage, not temperament”; according to the article, she wasn’t afraid to wash her own dishes or work hands-on in the business, transporting cases of wine.

“The Long Island Wine Council and its members will greatly miss our good friends Ann Marie and Marco,” Bate said, adding that members sent condolences to the couple’s grown children, Allegra and Giovanni, as well as Fernando, Borghese’s son from a first marriage, and the entire Borghese family.

Bate added that his first memories on the North Fork included the Borgheses. “Marco was president of the council when I was hired. I recall that he hosted a small get-together at his winery for me to meet Ann Marie and other members. They were simply wonderful people: genuine and elegant, witty and fun.”

Southold resident Kim Haeg said she went to high school and was close friends with the couple’s son Giovanni. Remembering the Borgheses, she said, “They were very kind people. Giovanni was very close with his parents. The winery was very important to them. He will miss them dearly.”

James Silver, former general manager of he Peconic Bay Winery, who is now living in California, said he was saddened to hear of the couple’s deaths. “We shared a common background, being from Philadelphia,” he said. “They were absolutely lovely, hard-working, and elegant folks and I’m glad to have known them.”

Cutchogue resident Dawn Bennett said her children had gone to school with Allegra and Giovanni. “This is a sad time,” she said.

According to an early press release about the winery, Marco and Ann Marie Borghese first visited the Long Island on Thanksgiving weekend, 1998 and it was “love at first sight. For Marco, the sweeping, bucolic farmlands, green fields and agriculturally diverse nature of the North Fork recalled the Tuscany of his youth, where for centuries his noble family had farmed and made wine.”

The couple met in Philadelphia, where Borghese, a native of Italy and a Tuscany prince, established an office in 1969 for his international import/export business after graduating from the University of Rome. He met the love of his life, Ann Marie, who had graduated the University of Delaware, where she’d studied French, marketing and jewelry design.

The couple married in 1985. Ann Marie established a jewelry salon and became active in charities, the release stated.

When they learned that the winery belonging to Alex and Louisa Hargrave was for sale, they packed their bags and headed to the North Fork, pioneers who blazed a trail and setting the standard for the industry to follow when they purchased the winery in 1999.

In the Times article, Ann Marie Borghese said their focus was on quality. “We’re not a yahoo party vineyard,” she stated in the piece.

Instead, their emphasis was on hand craftsmanship and utilizing classic agricultural techniques, the release said. “Marco is committed to advancing the wines of Castello di Borghese beyond where the previous owners left off,” the release read.

Ann Marie Borghese played a key role in marketing the winery and also established the Borghese Gallery, where artwork was displayed; Borghese also initiated a series of classical concerts and Italian operas; all performed live at Castello di Borghese.

In addition, Ann Marie Borghese also chaired the Long Island Wine Council’s special events committee and was a supporter of Chamber of Commerce events.

After Monday’s tragic accident, Borghese was transported by Wading River Fire Department to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, where he was pronounced dead.

Paczkowski and his passenger, Vito Racanelli, 26, were not seriously hurt.

Police are investigating the cause of the crash. The N.Y. State Police Collision Reconstruction unit responded as well as the N.Y. State Motor Vehcile Carrier unit to assist with the investigation.

Details of the funeral have not yet been finalized. For additional information, contact the DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Homes at 631-298-4016.