If energy flows where attention goes, Famelia is helping female winemakers step out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

Sommelier Amelia Birch, 36, opened her Enmore Road wine bar and bottleshop in mid 2023 to showcase the work of female winemakers and women-led wineries. “I hate the fact that I have to say woman winemaker – I never say man winemaker – yet unfortunately when I say winemaker people assume it’s a man, there’s so much bias that we don’t realise that we have,” Birch says. “I’m used to men arking up … they ask, ‘What if I want to drink wine by a man?’ You can go everywhere else.”

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One of the ways consumers can help women achieve parity in this male-dominated industry is by purchasing their products. “Buy the wine made by a woman, that’s $20 going into the pocket of a woman with no boy’s club to help her out. “That is valuable. If you implement it as a conscious choice, it starts a conversation and can lead to a groundswell,” Birch says. “It’s making different value choices. It’s like saying I won’t get a takeaway coffee if I don’t have my own cup. Each paper cup that goes into landfill is another cup. We have to start small, it feels overwhelming when we think about it as a greater cause.”

A 2024 Wine Australia survey revealed female winemakers and viticulturists make up only 16 and 21 per cent of the industry, respectively. Even more appallingly, Australian Tax Office data found they earn, on average, $14,000 and $18,000 less than their male counterparts.

“The women in the industry are so capable, so clever, so passionate, so creative that they make really exceptional wines,” Birch says. “Women often tend to have to work so much harder to do anything that their wine is potentially better. It’s a huge generalisation, but they’re not doing it in mass volumes. It’s a passion, their whole heart and soul goes into it and they don’t put out wine that’s bad.” The other side of Famelia is the educational element.

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It’s a place to talk about different wines and experiment with new varietals, without feeling intimidated. “We have a monthly rotating list of 12 wines by the glass and I purposely have wines on there that are unfamiliar, because there are so many varietals out there that we don’t get to explore very easily,” she says.

“When buying a bottle of wine, there’s risk involved. We put these different varietals on the list and do a wine flight of three half glasses of any of them for $36. It takes away the barriers of entry to wine; price and varietal. It’s so low risk that people are willing to just give it a go and try something they haven’t had before. What we see is this really incredible transformation in people, they learn about the wine, the winemaker, what the flavours are, they’re asked to think about how it feels in the palate and they have this whole tasting experience.”

Find Famelia at 55 Enmore Rd, Newtown