The Wine That Stole My Heart
On a cold and dreary Saturday morning, a winter wind swept through the streets of Carlton as my partner and I started to pack up the wines we had collected throughout the week and all our belongings. It's a bittersweet moment when you know your vacation is at its end and you have to return to the real world. Your job, grocery shopping, bill paying, and chore doing is all waiting for you just beyond the veil of this beautiful vacation you've been on. It's a hard pill to swallow, so to ease our return to reality, I'd booked us one last tasting on the way home. It was more than an hour out of the way of any other winery we'd visited, which is why we weren't able to fit it into our itinerary earlier in the week. But, it was the one winery that inspired this visit, and even my desire to follow this career path: Broadley Vineyards.
Off the beaten path in the Southern Willamette Valley in Monroe, Oregon is the most darling little tasting room you've ever seen by the side of the road. A raging river passes along the back edge of the property, catching fall leaves from the banks and dragging them into the water. We hopped out of the car, and stretched: an hour's a bit of a drive for a tasting when all week we'd been popping back and forth no more than fifteen minutes from the next tasting at any given time. A tall man in his mid-forties with a wrist brace came out to greet us, a picture of the modern farmer. He introduced himself to us as Morgan Broadley, the owner of Broadley Vineyards.
More than a month before, while going through my wishlist of vineyards and wineries to visit, I knew I wanted to visit Broadley, but logistically it didn't make sense on any other day. So, I reached out to the general email available on their website and introduced myself. I explained I was from Reno, visiting the Willamette Valley and that I sold their label at my wine store. I audaciously asked if my partner and I could tour the vineyard or do a tasting with the winemaker. A few days later, I got a response that it was too late in the season to do a vineyard walk, but that Morgan would be more than happy to taste with us. It was incredible! I was so excited, and it felt like it'd be the perfect way to end our tour.
So, as a smiled up at Morgan on that windblown autumn day, I knew our trip was well worth the wait. He invited us inside, where he had three glasses all set up on a tall table by the glass wall separating the intimate tasting room from his barrel room. With its white walls and floors with modern farmhouse decor, windows overlooking the patio (closed for the season) and the river flowing below, this tasting room didn't scream opulence, but proudly announced it was a labor of love and good old-fashioned hard work. My partner and I felt at right at home as Morgan opened bottle after bottle, sharing his stories of how he became a winemaker, working in the Willamette Valley with other producers, and the real farming that grape growing necessitates. It was a wealth of knowledge perfectly paired with his beautiful wines.
Two years ago, right at the height of the pandemic, I wandered into this little mom-and-pop wine shop in Reno looking for the perfect gift for my new boyfriend. We'd only been dating for two months, long distance the whole time, and he was finally coming to visit Reno for the first time! The trip happened to coincide with his 21st birthday, and I wanted to buy him a nice bottle of wine to celebrate. His parents knew a lot about wine, and so did he, so I wanted to get him something he maybe hadn't tried, but I didn't know a lot about wine either…yet. Hopeful I could find somebody to recommend something good along those lines, I searched "wine store" into Google and scrolled straight past Total Wine to the next most popular shop. Intimidated, but not one to be scared off, I drove over there and walked in, immediately overwhelmed by the stacks and stacks of wine, the racks from floor to ceiling filled with bottles. A young woman, about my age, noticed my gawking gaze and asked if I needed help. Grateful for the relief, I gave her the brief: I wanted to buy a nice bottle of pinot noir around $40-50 as a birthday gift for my boyfriend. She admitted she didn't know much about wine, but, pulling a bottle off the shelf, said that she'd tried this bottle and that it generally fit that description. It had a white label with copper embellishments framing the edges. "Broadley Vineyard Jessica Pinot Noir 2019." I smiled thankfully behind my mask and said I'd take it. She wrapped it up for me in a nice bag and helped me pay for it before sending it on my way. Little was I to know that three months later, I'd be returning for my first day of work and becoming fast friends with Kortnie, the woman who helped me. When my now partner and I opened that bottle, we enjoyed it in oblivious bliss, simply savoring its earthy, fruity flavors and how well it paired with the dinner we made together to celebrate his birthday. It was that bottle of Broadley Pinot Noir that made me thirst for more: more wine knowledge, a career in the wine industry, and more moments worth celebrating with the love of my life over the edge of a glass.
Almost three years later, we sat together tasting that same wine from a different vintage with the man who made it, and I found myself so profoundly grateful he'd made that gorgeous wine named for his daughter. If he hadn't, I might not be here writing about this life changing pilgrimage to the Willamette Valley before going to work at that same family run restaurant and wine store, between studying French wine regions for my next certification. It's funny how so many moments in life hinge on one another, like links in a chain. I don’t know where life will continue to take me, but as long as I have moments like these to savor, I know everything will be okay. I’m sad to leave, but hopefully I’ll have time this year to return to this place that has changed me forever.
Resources
Broadley Vineyards
Located 265 S 5th St Monroe, OR 97456
Open Thurs-Sun 1 PM - 5 PM
No reservations required, walk-ins welcome
No outside food, food available for purchase