Stories

Drink Better this Valentine’s Day

Give the gift of sustainable wine and chocolate or a trip to Croatia with Brooks.

New in 2022

Dear Friends, I hope this finds you all healthy and safe! I had a lot of travel time this week between driving to California and flying to Denver. I thought I would share with you what has been on my mind. Happy Sunday! THE EVER SHIFTING HORIZON In the past few years (hard to believe…

A beautiful pink sky over Mt Hood as lit by the setting sun at Brooks Wine.

Two Ways to Say I Love You!

Dear Friends, I hope this finds you all healthy and safe. It has been a busy couple of weeks in Oregon! Short but sweet! After wet, wet days and a power outage last week, it has been dry with some sunshine this week. The winter sunrises and sunsets have been beautiful! I was able to…

The French Connection

Dear Friends, Good morning from Amity, Oregon. The sun is out this morning for the first time since I arrived on Tuesday. It is a beautiful morning and hopefully a sign of the week to come. I just love it when the valley below us is socked in with fog and the mountains are out.…

Happy New Year to You!

Dear Friends, I hope you had a joyous and restful holiday season and that you, your friends, and your family are healthy. A shout out to the front-line workers who have spent their holidays caring for others battling the virus. And to all of those affected by the fires in Colorado, my thoughts are with…

January in the Brooks Garden

“Something essential happens in a vegetable garden. It’s a place where if you can’t say ‘I love you’ out loud, you can say it in seeds. And the land will reciprocate in beans.” -Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants Hope is in a seed. As we…

The Most Popular Gifts and Last Day for Ground Shipping!

Dear Friends, It is nice to be home after two weeks of travel especially knowing I am home through Christmas. The weather around the country has been intense. My thoughts go out to everyone who was impacted by the recent tornados. The northwest has had a lot of rain and wind. It is currently moving…

December in the Brooks Garden

“To live in this worldYou must be ableTo do three things:To love what is mortalTo hold itAgainst your bones knowing your own life depends on itAnd, when the time comes to let it goTo let it go.” -Rupi Kaur, The Sun and Her Flowers As these cool and foggy days settle into the garden I…

Sparkly and Bright

Dear Friends, I hope you all had a great week. Mine was a bit stressful trying to find a place for my kids to live when they move to Denver at the first of the year. A huge shout out to our Colorado Wine Club members who sent me great resources! It made a big…

Gifts for Good

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.…

We Have Raised the Bar Again on Doing the Right Thing!

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…

Charcuterie and Spice, Everything Nice!

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…

November in the Brooks Garden

“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…

Picture-perfect sunrises and sunsets are easy to find throughout Willamette Valley like this view at Brooks Wine in Amity.

Dirt Matters

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…

Clones Matter and Last Call

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!…

The Seasons Are Changing and so Are the Wines!

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…

Boats, Barrels and Bottles

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…

Friends in “High” Places

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.…