Page 36 Stories of the Heartland • Sunday, April 19, 2026 hometownsource. com / heartland /
A New Vintage of Farming
A sign marks the entrance to Brookview Farm Winery at 6772 90th St., Milaca, where its heart-and-arrow design reflects the rural charm and welcoming spirit visitors find at the winery.
At Brookview Winery, agriculture grows in the vineyard, matures in the cellar and comes to life around the table.
BY JEFFREY HAGE STORIES OF THE HEARTLAND
BOGUS BROOK TOWNSHIP- The signs appear first. Wine. Hard cider. Brookview Farm Winery. They stand there against an old barn and silo, simple and clear, pointing the way up a driveway that feels more farm than destination. Before anyone ever steps inside for a tasting, Brookview is already telling visitors what it is. This is not some polished entertainment venue dropped into the countryside. It is a place that rises out of the land around it.
Brookview, tucked into the countryside east of Highway 169 between Princeton and Milaca, is more than a winery or cidery. At its core, it is a farm-based business, shaped by cold-climate grapes, locally and domestically sourced apples for cider, short seasons, unpredictable weather, patient craftsmanship and the kind of value-added production that helps define how farming is changing.
What stands at Brookview may be served by the glass, but it begins in the ground.
“ That is definitely the core of our business,” Arlyn said of the agricultural side of the operation.
That point is easy to miss if all a visitor sees is the tasting room. But for the Walls, the work starts long before a bottle is opened or a cider is poured. It starts in the vineyard, in the dirt and clay, in the pruning and waiting, in the gamble that comes with every season in Minnesota, and in the slow understanding that some crops do not give quick answers.
Brookview may serve wine and cider, but first it farms. A dream that started on dates Like a lot of good stories, this one began simply.