WINeFare: Behind The Scenes

Founder

About WINeFare

The Vinguard started WINeFare in 2018 to give women in natural wine a platform for their work. This was over a year before #MeToo hit the wine industry. The pervasive toxic masculinity pervading the Bay Area natural wine atmosphere, including permissive sexual harassment and assault at wine tastings, created a need for a safe and inclusive wine fair. Founder Pamela Busch felt it was crucial to amplify the many contributions women made to natural wine as winemakers and importers. So, WINeFare was born with 14 women pouring.

This year, 77 women from five countries and five states are participating over two days, March 16 & 17. Since the first WINeFare, more women as well as BIPOC and LGBQT+ people have entered natural wine but there’s still a long way to go. Events run by men continued to attract women but WINeFare, an event run and featuring women gets little attention from men in the Bay Area natural wine community. While this is frustrating, it shows the need for WINeFare to loudly roar on.

WINeFare is not just a tasting. It’s an event with forums addressing belonging and equity, and a space where everyone is welcome. We do not pick and choose who gets to pour based on whether we like their wines. We have requirements and so long as the wines meet them, winemakers and importers are welcome to join.

We do not have a table fee because we want to make our event accessible as those who participate have expenses in the way of samples and transportation.

PAMELA BUSCH

Ramaytush, Ohlone, Muwekma land - San Francisco, CA

www.thevinguard.com, @the.vinguard, @winefaresf, @pamelouie

Pamela Busch is the founder of WINeFare and The Vinguard. A 34-year wine industry veteran, Pamela has been a trailblazer in many wine areas, having started one of the earliest wine bars in San Francisco (Hayes and Vine, 1994), the first restaurants to serve natural wine (CAV Wine Bar and Kitchen, 2005), written about natural wine (The San Francisco Examiner, 2005 - 2014), and opening a wine school (The Grapes of Path, 1998). They started writing and calling out the rampant sexism in the Bay Area natural wine scene in 2015 (hint, that did not go over well), and in response, founded WINeFare in 2018.

In 2021, Pamela and Liz Rubin started Somebody’s Sister, a monthly dyke/lesbian/non-binary/hella queer natural wine bar pop-up in the Bay Area. They’ve organized many wine events throughout their career, including Califermentation in 2015, the first natural wine fair in the United States.

Pamela studied history at The University of Pennsylvania in a different century and received their M.A. in Education with a concentration in Equity and Social Justice from San Francisco State in 2020. Their formal education taught them critical thinking and to always question that powers that be.

They answer to Pamela, Louie, Pamelouie, PSB, Mule, and Aunt Pammy - never Pam, and live in San Francisco with their partner and cat/son, Seamus.

We also want to thank:

  • Onyix Acosta

  • Jessica Bell

  • Megan Bell

  • Samantha Brown

  • Tara Gomez

  • Cristina Gonzales

  • Cami Haecker

  • Jaime Hiraishi

  • Elan Jayme

  • Emily Lombardo

Social Media

Caitlin Schriner

Caitlin is the Director of Wine Mouth- Singapore’s first wine retail space dedicated to natural wine. A former Bay Area resident, she now oversees Wine Mouth’s marketing and sourcing from Munich, Germany. She is also a freelance writer, amateur potter, and professional karaoke singer.

Volunteer Coordinator

Jessica Bell

Jessica is a wine enthusiast and California fan-girl. Born and raised in the greater Bay Area, Jessica has enjoyed the bounty of the state her whole life. Currently, she is an engineering manager for a public transportation company with dreams of breaking into the wine business. She loves her two cats, her partner, disco, vintage, and flowers.

Design

  • Jane Lopes

  • Christopher Renfro

  • Gina Schober

  • Caitlin Schriner

  • Barbara Tanis

  • Ashely Taranto

  • Justin Trabue

  • Julia Weber

  • Tamara Wheeler

  • Nic Winzey

BARBARA TANIS

tanis/design is a creative design and communications agency delivering effective brand identity — including print design, event graphics and digital design. For over two decades, tanis/design has proudly partnered with cultural institutions, fine art galleries, and fairs, artists and designers, culinary, and non-profit organizations that value collaboration and a trusted partner. We believe that the most successful relationships are truly collaborative and the best work is created together. Building meaningful working relationships with our clients creates powerful solutions. Prior to forming tanis/design, Barbara Tanis worked for numerous design firms in New York City, including Bright Design, Donovan and Green, and DDB Worldwide in Switzerland. Barbara is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. What We Do: Brand identity, print collateral, event design & collateral, E-Mail Marketing Campaigns & Newsletters, packaging, advertising, website design/development.

Website

Emily Lombardo

Emily is a freelance writer, content designer, and strategist based in New York. She first got into wine in 2020 and has since done marketing for the natural wine concierge service Squash Club DC and worked her first harvest at the Napa Valley Reserve in 2021. She is especially passionate about Georgian wine and hopes to visit there later this year.