On a cold and rainy afternoon, Iโm winding my way northwest along the sinuous highway 128 inย northern California, direction Mendocino, overlooking lush green fields and woody scrub on my way to meet with Lisa Bauer, owner ofย Yamakiri Wines and Sin Eater ciders. Our rendezvous is at theย Yorkville Market, a low slung red building in, not surprisingly, Yorkville, California. While not officially a tasting room, the wine bar serves many of the Yamakiri wines and Sin Eater ciders by the glass.
I find Bauer busy in the kitchen instead of behind the bar, preparing the monthly First Friday Dinnerโa community dinner for approximately 60. It soon becomes clear that having many ironsย in the fire runs deep in Bauerโs DNA, as does community.
Bauer studied philosophy at Ohioโs Oberlin College before heeding the call of the Californian coast.
โI was aย garagisteย for 20 years,โ says Bauer, explaining her long connection to brewing and fermentation. As a hobbyist winemaker and brewer, Bauerโs path was roundabout. โItโs very circuitous, but I got into it through herbs,โ she says, adding that a series of health problems when she was younger got her deeply into herbs, their study, and use. โAnd then I kind of got more interested in fermentation. And that kind of lead me to beer, and that kind of lead me to wine.โ
Her professional career took a most intriguingly different route from her personal interests. Before retiring, Bauer had spent the best part of her life in waste management, with the last 20 years as the Campus Recycling and Refuse Manager at the University of California, Berkeley. When she found an abandoned vineyard that she was motivated to revive, her former career became a link. โI am looking at this abandoned vineyard, and itโs kind of another form of recycling, right?โ she says as she pours the first of her white wines, a Sauvignon Blanc from the Mendocino Ridge AVA. This AVAโalso known rather poetically as Islands in the Skyโis the only non-contiguous AVA in the United States, unique in that it is defined solely by elevation.
After initially buying land in the Yorkville Highlands nine years ago, Bauer only moved here permanently three years ago, and thus began the story of Yamakiri. To help transition from dilettante to professional, Bauer enlisted the help of seasoned winemaker Alex Crangle, who when heโs not working for Bauer, is assistant winemaker atย Baloย (less than a mile up the road from Yamakiriโs rented crush pad in Philo) andย Angel Camp Vineyard. โWe do a lot of collaboration, but I would never take credit for it,โ Bauer says. โHe is the one that actually makes good wine.โ
While Bauer may not consider herself a professional winemaker, her knowledge and understanding is vast. The name Yamakiri is Japanese for โfoggy mountain.โ Bauer asserts the influence of the late Japanese farming icon Masanobu Fukuoka on Yamakiri, and his cultishly influential book,ย The One-Straw Revolution, which she first read in college.
โHe would look at my Sauvignon Blanc vineyard and be like โOh, I got it.โ I mow, sometimes, and prune, and thatโs it. No water, no fungicides, pesticides, herbicides, anything,โ Bauer says. โI donโt till, I donโt do anything, because Iโm completely dry-farmed. Iโm not breaking the crust of the soil, because I donโt want to lose the moisture. Thatโs very Fukuoka.โ
Farming in an unconventional way can come at a cost, but Bauer is committed to producing affordable and authentic wines. โI donโt insist on certified organic or biodynamic,โ Bauer says. โBecause if I didโฆit would cost me four to five dollars [more per] bottle.โ Increasing the prices by that much isnโt realistic for Bauerโs business model, which is less concerned about certification than cultivating a relationship with the people who drink her wine.
But Bauer doesnโt just make wine. Under the Sin Eater label she also produces cider, like the 2017 Traditional, using quince from her garden as well as a dazzling and rambunctious dry-hopped (Amarillo and Citra) version, a perry, and an Albariรฑo blend.
Another take on Fukuokaโs holistic principles and sustainability is the way Bauer thinks about her wine after itโs made. โI really wanted to do just keg wine,โ she says, acknowledging that doing so ran the risk of misperception. โUnfortunately, in this country, kegs mean garbage wine,โ she says. But with an indomitable spirit, Bauer continues to sell her wine locally and to the Bay Area in kegs.
Bauer works in a male-dominated industry, and one that often skews young. But her wisdom and experience give her a particularly unique perspective when it comes to issues of sexism, and she is a force to be reckoned with.ย
โI donโt get catcalled,โ Bauer quips. โIf you think theyโre sexist in the wine industry, you have no ideaโฆtheyโre all pea-brained garbage men,โ she says, referencing her time in the waste sector. But Bauer has not allowed this to temper her resolve. โItโs not age, itโs my attitude. Do I look like I suffer fools?โ She says. โIโm incredibly fortunate. I donโt need this for a living. Iโm retired. This is fun. So when it ceases being fun, I will excoriate somebody before I put up with that.โ
Bauer is open and honest about the realities of her industry. Referencing a recentย article in the LA Times about the majority of grape pickers in California, Bauer says, โThis is such a perception industry, I donโt see a lot of honesty, and a lot of candor.โ
Unfortunately, this holds the industry back, she says. โThereโs a huge disparity between workers and owners. Huge, massiveโฆ Itโs the money and not money, and it falls very much, unfortunately, along racial lines. Iโd love to see more writing on that. Itโs time, weโre a mature enough industry. Donโt you think itโs time to start?โ
While many winemakers have a long-term plan, Bauer is a little more spontaneous.
โYouโre asking something that I donโt do, which is have a very distinct five-year game plan,โ she says. โI have threatened to distill!โ
But after mulling over the question for a bit, Bauer adds that sheโs gearing up to plant Arneis and Nebbiolo.
โThatโs where weโre headed, climate wise,โ she says. โIโm planting for 10 years in the future.โ Then she reverses herself. โI donโt have any long-term plans. The point is to have fun.โย And somehow this irreverent and lighthearted attitude seems perfectly in keeping with challenging the status quo so dear to Fukuoka.
All photos by the author unless otherwise noted.
