From Lodi to Lambrusco, wine bar serves sustainability, diversity in a glass
The first thing I noticed before going into Alma Wine Bar & Shop on my initial visit was the painting of Scoopy, The Bee’s Disney-drawn mascot, in the window of the space next door. I took this as a good omen.
The bar is airy and inviting. Afternoon sun floods through the windows, filtered by gauzy curtains. Behind the bar, owner Melissa Sanchez holds court.
Sanchez started out as an attorney in the cannabis industry, but after a friend’s birthday weekend touring Napa wineries, she began to focus her interest on wine.
“It was really that trip that made me ask a lot of questions, like why did I like this wine more than the other, why was this experience better? So I just kind of became an obsession,” she said
Sanchez went down the rabbit hole, acquiring wine books, and then attending Napa Valley Wine Academy to get certifications through the Wine and Spirits Education Trust. Later, even though she still had her law practice, she decided it would be a fun idea to work at a winery on the weekends. She started working at Matthiasson in Napa.
“They’re really well known for sustainable agriculture, and they have all these cool grapes that we don’t get a lot in Napa, as they have like Vermentino, Schioppettino, Montepulciano, all of these really cool Italian grapes. It got me thinking, I’m loving this so much, how can I get other people to enjoy it as much as I do?” she said.
Sanchez opened the Richmond Grove wine bar just before Thanksgiving in 2024. From the outset, she wanted her selections to stand apart. She prioritizes small, independent producers, wineries with sustainable farming practices and winemakers that are women, people of color or LGBT.
“I want to show that there’s all kinds of people who are in the wine industry, and that should be reflective of the guests as well, because I want everybody to feel comfortable and welcome. Wine is for everybody,” she said.
One wine she highlights is La Lucha, a sparkling Chardonnay from Seis Soles Wine Co. in Lodi. Produced by Gabriela Fernandez and Cynthia Cisneros, it’s crisp, with notes of citrus and green apple. They also occasionally make a canned sparkling Albariño-Chardonnay blend, a perfect summer refresher.
She also carries West Sacramento-based Haarmeyer Wine Cellars, a family-owned winery helmed by Craig Haarmeyer – who happens to also be Sanchez’s boyfriend. While Haarmeyer is famous for making local Chenin Blanc a wine industry darling, Sanchez instead pours his Blau-Blau Blaufrankisch, an Austrian red varietal, and his Victor Weisser Gemischter Satz. This field blend is made from 52 distinct German and Austrian varietals grown on a single vineyard.
Among the sparkling wines, Sanchez stocks Cantina della Volta “Brutrosso” lambrusco, distributed by local importer Giuseppe LoCascio of Lucidity Wine Merchants. A sparkling red wine, lambrusco suffered a bad reputation in the 70s and 80s due to the production of sickly sweet, carbonated versions, often called the Coca-Cola of wines. But true lambrusco, made in the Italian province of Emilia-Romagna is dry, bracing and delicately effervescent. It’s excellent with charcuterie and cheeses.
Sanchez recently launched a happy hour with $8 wines and spritzes, including a yuzu sake spritz. While not a restaurant, Alma does offer a terse menu of tapas and snacks to enjoy with your wine.
