episode 8: Bokisch Vineyards
LODI, CALIFORNIA
Liz and Markus Bokisch
aren’t just winery owners. They are pioneers in the wine industry, responsible for bringing new Spanish varietals to California. We fell in love with them immediately once we knew they lived out the dream of traveling Europe and the world in their VW bus.
Markus’s family immigrated to the United States in 1966 when he was just 2 years old, landing in California. His family was involved in agriculture in previous generations farming rice in the Ebro Delta of Spain. Their intention was just to stay for a short while before moving back to Spain, but they found the opportunity to reinvent themselves in their new home. It was very meaningful for his family to come back to their agricultural roots.
One year turned into two and so on until they made the choice to stay in California, under the condition that they would take time each year to spend with their family in Europe. From the age of six on, Markus and his brother were sent to live with his Grandma in Spain during the summers. His time abroad with his family was the inspiration behind Bokisch Vineyards, to create a link between California and Spain.
Markus attended college at University of California, Davis where he met his future wife, Liz, during their freshman year. She lovingly refers to Markus as, “a man without borders.” Being born in Germany, moving to California, and spending the summers in Spain, she explains that the world has always been open to him. There was no question in his mind about taking Spanish varieties and putting them into California soils to knit together the two worlds. The federal government, on the other hand, wasn’t as convinced at the beginning. Joking that some people refer to the Bokisch family as the “grandparents” of Spanish varietals in California, they like to consider themselves pioneers.
Back in 1986, Markus and his brother were driving through Poway, California when he spotted a 1967 VW bus for sale on the side of the road. He had always been enamored with the split window buses, so he couldn’t resist buying it. In 1991, he and Liz restored it and decided to drive to Europe. They started their cross country journey from California to New York where they freighted it to England, then to France, before driving it down to Spain. After working there for a year, they spent six months living and driving from wine region to wine region through Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Austria, and the Czech Republic.
Liz says it was quite the journey, to say the least. Even now, they still like to take their VW bus out for overnight getaways nearby. She fondly shares,
“When you get into that bus and you hear the hum of the engine and there is no air conditioning, and you put the windows down, and it’s just like life slows down a little bit. It’s just about the journey. You look out the window and you see things you haven’t seen because you’re always just zooming so fast.”
They giggled, crediting living together for a year and a half in a Volkswagen bus for why they get along so well.
The BACKROAD COWGIRLS
are so thankful for Markus, Liz, and our new #FancyLadyCowgirl friends for warmly welcoming us to the tasting room and their vineyard paella party where we enjoyed wine of all varieties, freshly cooked Spanish paella, and live Spanish music under the big oak tree surrounded by vines. We’re already counting down the days until we can return!
Photography by Shelby Caitlin Photography