Page 40 Stories of the Heartland • Sunday, April 19, 2026 hometownsource. com / heartland /
That led the Walls into cider.
What began as an answer to customer habits became a major part of the business.
Cider is now far more than an extra option on the menu. It is one of the things that brings people back.
The apples do not come from Brookview’ s own land, but the Walls source them from local growers when possible and domestic growers more broadly. In that way, the cider side of the operation remains connected to agriculture, too, just through a wider network. It also widened Brookview’ s reach. Cider, Arlyn said, has continued to rise even while younger drinkers pull back from beer and, in many cases, wine. It is gluten-free. It fits a different set of tastes. At Brookview, it has built a following of its own.
That does not push wine aside. The vineyard remains central to what the Walls do and how they think about the place. But cider has become a natural extension of the same larger idea: take fruit, make something good from it and create a place where people can enjoy it where the work begins. More than a tasting room If the vineyard explains how Brookview works, the atmosphere explains why people return.
Katie describes the winery space as an extension of their home, because in many ways that is exactly what it is. Their work life and home life meet there. Guests are not walking into something corporate or overly curated. They are stepping into a place shaped by the people who live there and pour there and built it piece by piece. That gives Brookview a feel all its own. The Walls are not trying to become a wedding factory or a round-the-clock event venue. They bring in food trucks now and then. They host live music now and then. But that is not the center of the experience. What Brookview offers most is calm.“ The laid back, the relaxed, calm feel of our place” is what people respond to, Katie said. In a loud world, that matters. Arlyn sees another layer, too. Over time, he has watched regulars get to know one another. Couples who arrived separately begin recognizing each other. People pull tables together. Conversations start. Community grows a little at a time.
“ We’ ve seen a lot of that,” he said.“ People are making friends and establishing a network.” Katie has a phrase for it.“ The world gets a little smaller every weekend.”
That may be one of the most telling things about Brookview. In the process of making wine and cider, the Walls have also built a place where people linger, return and connect. Looking ahead Asked whether they would do it all over again, the answer comes fast. Yes. That is not because the work has been easy. It has not. It is physically demanding. It is slow. It is seasonal. It can be financially stressful and personally exhausting. A bad weather year can undo months of effort. A production mistake can cost real money. The busiest seasons tend to stack on top of one another. There is always another task waiting.
And yet, the Walls would absolutely do it all over again.
What began with one row of grapes has become something neither of them could fully see when they started.
Brookview shows how farming in Minnesota keeps changing. It can mean grapes instead of grain, cider alongside wine, and a business built not just on what is grown, but on what can be made from it. It can also mean that a farm becomes something else, too— a gathering place, a destination, a little pocket of quiet where the work of the land is still visible.
In 15 years, Arlyn imagines more mature vines, maybe more growth, maybe even the possibility that one or more of their sons could someday come back with skills of their own and decide there is a place for them in what has been built there. That is down the road. For now, there is pruning to do. There are vines to tend. There is cider to pour. There is another season coming.
And at the end of that driveway is a place built from the land first.
The glass comes later.
Brookview Winery & Cidery is located at 6772 90Th St., Milaca. Located east of Highway 169 between Milaca and Princeton in Bogus Brook Township, The winery is open Thursday-Sunday from 10 a. m. to 6 p. m. Reach the winery by phone at 320-267-6279 or online at brookviewwinery. com