The second time around, a book can offer a new range of insights. I recently revisited two books that I’d originally picked up for what they could teach me about wine. When I re-read them, they led me back to time spent with some of the men and women I admire most — Hawaii’s farmers.

>> “Adventures on the Wine Route” by Kermit Lynch (North Point Press, 1990): This is like reading a diary, outlining Lynch’s “aha” moments as he explored various nooks and crannies of France’s wine countryside. I love his stories of meeting small, artisan producers and tasting wines with them. Many of their vineyards had been in their families for generations, so his encounters were very much about people, heritage and culture.

They reminded me of so many of my own trips to various wine regions throughout the world, where I, too, looked for small, family-owned wineries.

Even more stirring, though, were memories of walking local farms with iconic farmers such as Dean Okimoto in Waimanalo, Graf Shintaku and his son Terry in Hauula, David Sumida in Aiea, Kurt and Pam Hirabara in Waimea, and, most recently, Beach to Farm in Waialua. As it is for the winemakers, farming is more than just business for all of them.

As Terry Shintaku once told my son, farming is a hard life. You get up in the morning when it is still dark, and when you get home it is dark again — 365 days a year. No days off. It is a way of life.

>> “American Rhone” by Patrick J. Comiskey (University of California Press, 2016): Rhone refers to a category of grape varieties commonly found in France’s Rhone Valley and includes varieties such as syrah, grenache, mourvedre and carignan. Comiskey goes into great detail about how these varieties took hold in the U.S. It’s been an arduous journey compared with chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir, which were more easily established and more readily accepted by the wine-consuming masses.

This account brought to mind those farmers who helped change the game locally, such as Kats Higa with Manoa lettuce, Frankie Sekiya with all kinds of fruits, Richard Ha with tomatoes and bananas, and Duane Harens with Old Tree Kona Estate coffee.

It occurs to me, in these difficult times, that we as consumers need to rekindle efforts to buy what is farmed locally. And on the industry front, why should a guest from New York or Europe, paying $350 or more a night for a hotel room, be served Mexican-grown melons or Colombian coffee?

TO BRING this discussion back to wine, I must mention Maui Winery owner/operator Paula Hegele, who has been persevering with grit and boundless determination for more than 40 years, despite the seemingly insurmountable challenges of growing grapes in a tropical climate.

At several of the restaurants where I previously worked, we served Hegele’s Lokelani Brut Rosé by the glass. Our thought was to support the local winery, but I must add that this sparkling pink wine is tasty, uplifting and wonderfully refreshing.

Although the Maui vineyard produces seven grape varieties, the pinot noir and chardonnay used in the Lokelani rosé are actually grown in California. But the wine develops its character over 18 months on Maui, while sitting on its own sediment, and it is bottled there as well.

Ann Taketa, general manger at Vino Italian Tapas & Wine Bar, and server Jewels Ross were so impressed by their visit to the winery that they insisted on serving this pink Maui bubbly, as it was the right thing to do.

I was reminded of this and re-inspired every time I saw a glass served.

Chuck Furuya is a master sommelier and co-host of the weekly podcast “Chuck Furuya Uncorked.” Follow his blog at chuckfuruya.com.