Dear Friends, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for all of you, my team, my family, and all the gifts I have in this life. My son and his cat have returned home for the rest of the year so our gang is all back together and it feels great.…
Continue reading Gifts for Good
Dear Friends, It was a great final week in Amity. It was exciting to talk with the production team about how smoothly the 2021 vintage went as well as how excited they are about the wines. I got to try a few too. The Rose and Pinot Blanc are stunning! We planned all of our…
Continue reading We Have Raised the Bar Again on Doing the Right Thing!
Dear Friends, What a fun and busy week. It rained a lot but we need it so no complaints! Rain brings beautiful “Jimbows” like the one above that we saw on Tuesday. (Photo credit to Christy!) Chef Norma crafted a delicious meal for our Harvest Dinner on Friday that delighted our guests. Beyond Brooks was…
Continue reading Charcuterie and Spice, Everything Nice!
“You ought not to grow garlic unless you are willing to let it make you as patient as it needs for its purposes” – Stanley Crawford, A Garlic Testament After the strenuous work of summer, the slower pace of fall announces itself with a sigh of relief from gardeners as we take a pause from…
Continue reading November in the Brooks Garden
Dear Friends, I arrived in the Willamette Valley late Tuesday night and woke up to this sky and vineyard covered in beautiful golden leaves. It has been a good first week. Harvest is past us and the focus now is on finishing the aromatic whites wines. We are all so eager to have Amycas and…
Continue reading Dirt Matters
Dear Friends, Happy Halloween! I have so many memories with the kids on this day. I still remind my daughter when she was two years old and dressed up as Snow White. She convinced me to dress up as Grumpy in the full Disney suit. She clearly had me (well, still does) wrapped around her finger!…
Continue reading Clones Matter and Last Call
Dear Friends, The rain has begun in Amity which is greatly welcomed since all the fruit in the door and after the dry winter, spring and summer seasons we had. This is a time of year where the production team looks towards rest and the hospitality team is gearing up for a busy holiday season…
Continue reading The Seasons Are Changing and so Are the Wines!
Dear Friends, Today is the last day of vacation. We have had a fabulous time as it was the first time we have gone away together since COVID. It didn’t quite replace the Brooks trip to Siciliy but it was so fun. Our highlight, for sure, was our four-hour sailboat trip in the San Francisco…
Continue reading Boats, Barrels and Bottles
Dear Friends, I am officially on vacation for the first time since COVID. With Sicily being postponed for 2 years in a row (mark your calendars for October 2022), we decided to still use the vacation days but stay a little closer to home. Our trip started in Long Beach to attend my son’s graduation.…
Continue reading Friends in “High” Places
“Conservation is a state of harmony between man and land.” -Aldo Leopold The season of fall is a time of reflection for me as the garden pulls inward preparing for winter and rest. As I work in the garden thoughts of our own relations to land come to mind with the realization of its increasingly…
Continue reading October in the Brooks Estate Garden
Dear Friends, I hope you have had an excellent week. Thank you to all for the birthday wishes. I spent the day eating out for lunch and dinner with my husband and daughter. During COVID, I cannot remember the last time I ate two meals out in one day. It was nice to spend that…
Continue reading Of Pressing Importance
Dear Friends, This was the biggest week to date for harvest in terms of how much fruit we received. All reports from the team are the fruit is pristine, flavors are concentrated, chemistry is in check and it is one of the smoothest harvests they can remember. This is all very exciting and there are…
Continue reading Picking Under the Stars and the Noir Not Pinot