About Resilient Wine
The wine industry and its consumers are at a crossroads. Conventional winemaking is full of chemicals, irresponsible and deceptive, destroying our planet and sacrificing our people. But few consumers have any idea. On the flip side, natural winemaking’s root in wellness means it’s also ambiguous, reductionist, prone to greenwashing and promotes an exclusivity culture. Yet many consumers have bought into the marketing hype.
We need a new approach. And a new catchphrase. Enter: Resilient Wine. Wine drinkers today want to feel joy and connection when drinking, and they’re looking for a less polarizing, more inclusive, truly sustainable, conscientious and progressive alternative to both “natural” and “conventional” wine. In this moment, as skepticism in and backlash toward the natural wine movement grows, and as a renunciation of the shortcomings and problems of conventional wines continue to increase, a new, relevant and considered perspective on the future of wine is necessary.
In particular, as climate change and human resource challenges continue to force the wine industry to adapt and innovate, new considerations and approaches must be addressed. Further, as the industry navigates post-Pandemic financial, logistical, and supply chain realities while simultaneously catching on and catching up to necessary diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, a hard look at holistic sustainability and what it would take the wine industry to “do well by doing good” is desperately in need.
Stevie Stacionis is a celebrated sommelier, writer, educator and wine retailer whose businesses have focused on promoting and advocating for wines that are responsibly made and that holistically consider all of the nuanced decisions and implications of winemaking—from viticulture to cellar work, supplies and logistics to human resources, financial responsibility to social impact. While Stevie has advocated for most of the sustainability-minded practices the natural wine movement supported, she’s also known for speaking out about its inherent definitional challenges and problematic exclusivity.
Through her shops, restaurant, and the non-profit organization she founded, Stevie has worked with, learned from, and sold wines from the most forward-thinking, sustainable, diverse and equity-minded producers. Plus, she has an intimate understanding of the systemic inequality, the confounding climate challenges, the slim margins and almost-impossible financial parameters that dictate how the wine world actually functions. She approaches her subject matter with nuance, bipartisanship, and earnest, and she is uniquely and perfectly poised to launch this next phase of the wine world’s conversation, encouraging a greater global awareness of both responsible wine buying for the consumer and responsible production for the wine industry—and ideally industries beyond.
About Stevie Stacionis
Stevie began her professional life at age 15, working her way through almost every front-of-house restaurant position and eventually paying her way through a magna cum laude diploma at the University of Southern California by waitressing. Soon after, she applied for a writing internship that segued into the best job a poor graduate could ever possibly get: getting paid to eat, drink, travel, and write about it for a luxury lifestyle magazine. In addition to her editorial work, Stevie went on to become a Certified Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers and to manage various wine retail, hospitality and educational brands’ communications and content. Her food and beverage writing would ultimately be published by Modern Luxury, Wine & Spirits magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, SevenFifty Daily, Food & Wine, Serious Drinks and more.
In 2014, Stevie and her partner, Josiah Baldivino, opened their first business, a wine retail shop and bar in Oakland, California, self-professed to be dedicated to “making wine less douchey.” Bay Grape went on to win national acclaim for its progressive approach to wine retail, its diverse and sustainability-forward selection, and its inclusivity initiatives. It also garnered numerous awards and press including multiple “best wine shop” designations from publications such as VinePair, Sunset magazine, the New York Times, San Francisco magazine, East Bay Express, Wine & Spirits magazine, Wine Enthusiast and Saveur. Stevie and Josiah were named Wine Enthusiast’s Top 40 Under 40 as well as the publication’s New Wine Evangelists, and after opening the second location of Bay Grape in Napa, California, in 2021, the shop won the Napa Rise Leadership Award for Sustainability.
Stevie and Josiah also opened their restaurant, MAMA Oakland, in 2019, and successfully pivoted and pawed their way through the Pandemic by reimagining what sustainable hospitality could look like and by redesigning a more resilient model. Today, MAMA offers a $36 three-course Italian prix fixe dinner service with a progressive wine list featuring California and Italian producers who work with sustainability top-of-mind. It has been praised by publications such as Eater, the San Francisco Chronicle, East Bay Express, and it has received the Michelin Bib Gourmand award three years running.
In 2018, Stevie founded the Bâtonnage Forum, an organization dedicated to “stirring up the conversation” around women in wine. Bâtonnage promotes equity for women in the wine industry through an annual forum, ongoing content and community events, and a three-tier mentorship program, and it collaborates with other diversity organizations in the wine industry to address intersectionality. Stevie currently sits on the Board for the Bâtonnage Forum to advise on content, aid in fundraising and mentorship, and guide the organization and industry toward continued improvement in the diversity, equity and inclusion space.
Through her content creation, events and education work within her businesses and non-profit, and through her ongoing writing and speaking outside of those organizations, Stevie has gleaned a reputation for being one of the wine industry’s most progressive thought-leaders in the sustainability and DEI spaces. She has a particular knack for thoughtful debate, for a graceful consideration of both sides of an argument, and for putting forth her opinions with conviction, poise and humaneness. Want to work together? Yup, she helps brands by crafting really great copy, including internal manifestos, external mission statements, company taglines, founder’s stories, website copy, mailing list emails, back label copy and product descriptions. Stevie also offers strategic consulting on building resiliency within wine and hospitality organizations.
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