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Child labor laws never applied to Susie Bynum. At three years of age, Susie’s tender child’s feet were busy at work stomping grapes in the family garage for some of the very first vintages of Davis Bynum wine.
I remember one year when I had a cut on my foot and my father prohibited me from stomping, she reminisced. I still don’t think I’ve forgiven him for that. Susie is a third generation Bynum in California’s wine industry. Grandfather Lindley was a wine judge and wrote one of the very first books on pairing food with California wines. In the early sixties, father Davis gave up his day job as a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle to become a full-time winemaker, and the entire family including Susie all got into the act.
As a kid, I’d ride with Dad up to Napa Valley and pick grapes during harvest at my grandfather’s vineyard, behind what is now Whitehall Lane Winery, said Susie. Our family friends were August Sebastiani and Louis Martini and our neighbor in Berkeley was Narsai David, one of the Bay Area’s most famous chefs. Wine and food have been a part of my life literally since the day I was born.
An accomplished cook in her own right, Susie has been associated with Davis Bynum Winery in one capacity or another except for a 14-year hiatus when she lived in Chicago and Clinton, NJ. While in New Jersey, she owned a very successful restaurant that featured Southwest cuisine combined with a traditional Mexican tacqueria.
For the past four years, Susie has been general manager of Davis Bynum Winery, which was the very first winery established on Westside Road in Healdsburg. | 