Former Boeing mechanic pursues his passion for winemaking

By Kristina Shevory
Seattle Times staff reporter

Lance Baer jokes that his salary and benefits have decreased every time he's switched jobs over the past four years.

But he wouldn't have it any other way. Since he's entered the wine industry, the 36-year-old says he is happy and looks forward to work — even though it often means moving wine barrels, cutting trees and battling power failures during big rainstorms at his 6.25-acre winery estate in northern Woodinville.

"It's continuously been a riches-to-rags story with me. But you know what? I'm happy here," said Baer, gesturing at the 800-square-foot garage he converted into a winery in April.

Now the winemaker and owner at Baer Winery, Baer left his structural mechanic job at Boeing 4-1/2 years ago to join a profession he discovered through volunteering.

A self-described wine and food fanatic, Baer tried a new wine every night over dinner. He'd been buying wine under $10 until a wine-store clerk suggested he try a wine made by a boutique winery in Woodinville.

He did, and thought it was so good, he went back the next day and bought the remaining bottles. The wine was D2, a Bordeaux blend made by DeLille Cellars priced at around $20.

Baer quickly contacted the winery, got on its mailing list and was soon volunteering for harvest and bottling. From his first day at the winery, he knew he had to work in wine.

He used up all three weeks of his vacation and sick time volunteering at the winery. But even that wasn't enough.

When the job as part-time assistant winemaker came up at DeLille, Baer got it even though he was still working at Boeing. He worked mornings at the winery and then left to clock in at Boeing. That schedule lasted six months, until Baer was burned out.

  "I had to make a decision, DeLille needed a full-time winemaker, and it was a choice between really good benefits or something I really loved to do. I chose DeLille," Baer recalled.

It's a decision he hasn't regretted.

"When my father asked me why I was leaving a good job at Boeing to make wine, I told him, 'I gotta do it, it makes me happy,' " he said.

Going at it alone

While at DeLille, he started making his own wine on the side. But from the start, he refused any assistance in sourcing grapes or barrels.

This was a project he wanted to be his own.

"If I put my name on it, I want it to be all my work. I made sure not to use the same barrels and vineyards as DeLille, because if my wine's not unique, why do it?" he said. "I don't want to be an also-ran, I want to be unique."

Baer needn't worry. He and his girlfriend, Jamie Loso, the 24-year-old niece of Matthews Cellars' owner and winemaker, are "control freaks" and use grapes from "as far away from Red Mountain as possible." Red Mountain is an increasingly popular source in Eastern Washington where many state winemakers get their grapes.

Instead, the couple use grapes from Chandler Reach in the Yakima Valley and Alder Ridge in the Columbia Valley, and plan to try other vineyards, such as Stillwater Creek and Boushay Vineyards, in upcoming vintages.

Focusing on the perfect blend

Baer will have even more time to experiment with grape sources now.

After six months juggling Baer wines and his position at DeLille, he left the DeLille winery in September so he could "push quality higher and up production."

In April, Baer released 200 cases of his first vintage of Ursa, a 2000 blend of 38 percent merlot, 32 percent cabernet franc and 30 percent cabernet sauvignon.

Priced at $26, the wine spends 18 months in the barrel and one year in the bottle before release.

For his 2001 vintage, he's increased merlot to 39 percent, cabernet franc to 35 percent and ratcheted down cabernet sauvignon to 26 percent.

Case count will increase to 377 next year, and by 2005, the winemaker plans to release an as-yet-unnamed wine of 90 to 100 percent cabernet sauvignon.

Within 10 years, Baer hopes to make 2,500 to 3,000 cases of wine and replace his winery with a larger facility that will be open for tastings by appointment.

But for now, Baer and Loso, who acts as his office manager, are focusing on bettering his wine.

"I don't know when the weekends come and go because I'm always working," said Baer, standing next to 30 barrels on a concrete pad that were waiting to be moved inside his winery.

"But I know this will one day pay off."

Kristina Shevory: 206-464-2039 or kshevory@seattletimes.com