About WINeFare

 
 

WINeFare is a wine tasting and community event in San Francisco. It was founded in 2018 by The Vinguard to amplify women's work in the natural wine movement.

Pouring Requirements

  • All farming must be at a minimum, practicing organic

  • Hand-harvested

  • Native fermentation

  • No subtractions such as sterile filtration, pasteurization, or reverse osmosis. Bentonite fining is permitted but must be indicated.

  • No additives save for SO2. We do not have a sulfur limit as we trust our winemakers to only add as much as is needed. However, all winemakers must provide accurate sulfur levels as transparency is crucial, and some attendees may have sulfur allergies.

  • Ensuring fair labor practices including providing a living wage, not penalizing workers for refusing to work in unsafe conditions, and ensuring that workers are medically treated without charge if they are injured on the job. This may require extra effort on winemakers’ and importers’ part, but among the things that make WINeFare different is our emphasis on workers’ rights and safety.

  • Efforts to empower, include, and amplify women, voices of color, LGBTQ+, differently-abled, neurally different, and multiple age groups in your work.

  • The company must be at least partially women-owned, and she must play an active role in its management.


What else makes us different?

Unlike most consumer tastings, we do not charge the wineries and importers table fee. They have many other expenses, including travel and wine samples, and we want to remove this barrier to admission. Also, women in the wine industry often do not have the financial resources of their male counterparts.

WINeFare provides wine industry professionals and consumers an opportunity to meet, learn about and inspire each other. It is so appreciated by all participants. Fourteen womxn were part of the first WINeFare in 2018, and most of them still come and pour. Everyone is welcome; in 2020, about one-third of the attendees were men, and there is always a terrific, collegial atmosphere. One thing that sets WINeFare apart is that because it is a women-run event, women are more respected than at most other wine tastings. They are listened to and not ignored by the winemakers or pushed out of the way by male attendees. There is absolutely no toleration of sexual harassment, assault, or abuse. It is incredibly empowering to all who attend.

“WINeFare is a groundbreaking event in the wine industry as a whole, let alone our own little pocket of natural wine. It is the only wine fair of its kind in the world, highlighting the women winemakers who make natural wines. Being a participant in this event since its inception is an honor. I have watched firsthand as the public's interest in natural wines, especially those made by women, has continued to grow every year. My company was founded around the same time that the first WINeFare took place, and I feel that my participation in this wine event and the success of my career thus far are intimately intertwined.” – Megan Bell, Margins Wine