It’s nearly 100 degrees outside as I drive into a mountainous part of Yucaipa that I’ve never been through before. The elevation takes a mere five degrees off the swelter but brings with it a lovely breeze and some out-of-place rainclouds. As I turn onto a block of beautiful, sprawling estates in a tucked away residential area, I notice how at odds the lushness of the landscaping appears to be with this soaring heat in our ever-drying Southern California climate. And, to my surprise, I spot small vineyards (the source of much of this lushness) in a few yards. Having found the place I was looking for, I walk up the driveway past an especially striking collection of grapevines to talk to the owner of a company making vineyards so much more than a stepping stone to wine.

As a Southern California native, when I imagine vineyards and wineries, I think of Temecula Valley, with its miles-long stretch of expansive vineyards and large-scale wine operations. The rest of the world imagines Napa Valley or France, I’m sure–all the more vast in their vintner traditions and production of wine. I don’t imagine Yucaipa, but Wildlife Vineyard is aiming to change that, and has positioned itself at the helm of the ship in this untapped area ripe for production. But this family-run business wants to distinguish itself from the macro-operations in Temecula and Sonoma–they want to remain small, very high quality, and very community centered.

As I speak with president, Stephanie Myers, for the better part of an hour, it’s no surprise to me that Wildlife Vineyard is aiming to do more than grow grapes and make wine. A community-centered mindset comes easily to Stephanie, the matriarch of a family-run operation. Every goal she has for the company centers around two things–creating a legacy for her family and providing for the community in which they live. She is humble and gracious as we talk, and she tells me stories about her family and the integral role each member plays within the business. She is as passionate about her sons’ massive contributions of time, expertise, and community collaboration as she is the company’s product, and I feel connected to her in a way I think many mothers would.

Wildlife Vineyard was born of Stephanie’s childhood love of grapes and a desire to transform an eyesore of a ravine on their property into an eco-conscious and aesthetically pleasing green space. She painted an idyllic picture of her fondest childhood memories–her and her grandfather on a swing under a packed grape arbor in Pittsburgh. And as I look out over her property, I see the resemblance and can feel the joy this reimagined space was created with. While the vineyard may have been borne in part out of nostalgia, it’s been thriving because of Stephanie’s business management savvy and her forward-thinking mindset.

Stephanie saw the possibility for her entire family to be involved in an environmentally sustainable, fully in-house wine operation, and put the wheels in motion. Her youngest son is poised to head marketing, and her oldest son, Landon, is the company’s Vice-President of Operations and head vintner. Because of the education Landon is receiving, he is one of the few people in the area that can be involved in every step of the production process from beginning to end–setting up the infrastructure, purchasing, planting and harvesting the grapes, and making the wine and jellies.

At about 460 vines, Wildlife Vineyard is considered a “backyard” or “microvineyard”– any operation under 1000 vines and ostensibly non-commercial falls into this category–but because its infrastructure was designed with such innovation and precision, and the vines tended with an incredible amount of care, production has exceeded their expectations. So, too, has the neighborhood’s love of the vineyard’s lush aesthetic. Interest in their vineyard has grown so substantially, in fact, that they’ve begun expanding their business model to include vineyard installation for other clients. Thanks to Stephanie’s vision, even if wine-making isn’t of interest to her neighbors, her community now has access to vineyards as a form of eco-friendly landscaping as well. “It was something fun that grew,” Stephanie says with an excited smile. And now, “it’s taken off.”

Stephanie and Landon take me for a walk through the vines to show me the varietals and explain the infrastructure responsible for their successful fourth season. They grow chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and barbera in impressively dense clusters. I even get to taste table grapes, much to my excitement. As I marvel, yet again, at the lushness of these vines, Landon tells me about the California drought-tolerant root stalks, energy efficient low-water drip system, and their use of integrating companion plants, like roses, into the landscape as a form of natural rodent and pest control. As their name suggests, they want their operation to preserve nature and wildlife, not destroy it, so all of their means of pest control are non-invasive and safe for the area’s native species.

If I’m honest, this kind of “landscaping” still seemed, at first glance, a bit lavish to me. I couldn’t square what seemed like a necessarily water-intensive operation with the constant statewide pleas to conserve. “Having this size vineyard is actually cheaper than watering the grass,” Landon tells me, sincerely surprising me. That’s not only because of their low-drip irrigation system, but because “we turn off our water first rain of November and we don’t turn it back on until the last rain of April,” he continues. That means these plants go five and a half months with no city or state-distributed water. That alone is an incredible feat of conservation. What’s more, these vines provide a natural fire barrier in an area wrought with more and more drought-induced fire. For some of their clients, the sole purpose of installing a vineyard is for its use as a vegetative fire break. It’s clear to me that conservation and sustainability was very important to Stephanie in building this business, and many in the community will and have already reaped the benefits of its success.

As my tour takes us to the processing and bottling area of Stephanie’s property, she and Landon tell me that Wildlife Vineyard is spearheading a move for Yucaipa’s certification from the American Vintner’s Association. Such certification will soon open the area up to small and large-scale wine operations and perhaps bring with it the kind of tourism that Temecula Valley enjoys. It’s clear that Wildlife Vineyard is sitting at the precipice of something very exciting. But what’s perhaps more exciting for Stephanie is the fact that she’s a building a business around her family’s interests, utilizing their talents, and engaging her community, all while honoring sustainability and conserving depleting resources. In the way matriarchs always will, she is indeed leaving a legacy for her family, but she’s also paving an exciting path into the future.

Krystle has been a featured writer for Life & Thyme & Veritas Creative Agency.