Alameda has a new wine bar, and it comes with a mission: to highlight the products of women winemakers, brewers and proprietors.
Mo’s Wine Bar aims to bring something new to the Alameda community, says owner and Alameda native Maura Passanisi. While plenty of restaurants in town have nice wine lists, few remain open past 9:30 or 10 p.m., she notes. This wine bar stays open until midnight.
“I am really happy and excited to open a bar like this here,” she says. “I wanted a place like this for me.”
Passanisi has worked in the wine industry for the past decade — including at High Treason and Ungrafted in San Francisco, Wine on Piedmont in Oakland and at the now-closed Alameda Wine Co. — and a few years ago, when she was at a local natural wine festival, noticed how women were underrepresented. So she cofounded a new festival, Della Donna, aimed at highlighting the work of female winemakers.
The road to opening her own wine bar hasn’t been easy, though, especially getting a loan as a first-time business owner and a single woman. “No one wanted to lend me money,” she says.
Mo’s Wine Bar in Alameda, which is set to hold a grand opening on Dec. 16, has a cozy interior in a space that’s been home to a bar since 1937. (Courtesy Sonia Yruel)
From there, the permitting process took about a year. “Probably one of the easiest things was construction,” she says.
The space, which has been a bar since 1937, including a stint as the Pop Inn, now highlights drinks made by women winemakers, brewers or owners from all over the world.
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Passanisi says she’s particularly excited to offer sake made by by female tojis in Japan (look for the Niizawa Brewery “Atago no Matsu,” $13/glass), alongside wines made by women in Yakima, Washington (Cote Bonneville “Train Station” Cabernet Sauvignon, $15/glass), New Zealand (Jules Taylor Gruner Veltliner 2023, $12/glass) and South Africa (Kloof St. Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2022, $13/glass). There are wines from California and Oregon, as well as France, Italy, Spain and Slovenia. The beer selection hails primarily from California brewers, including North Coast Brewing Co., Alameda’s Almanac Beer Co. and Two Broads Ciderworks, based in San Luis Obispo. And many beers and wines hail from Bay Area makers who are women, LGBTQ+ and people of color.
Currently, Mo’s serves cheese platters ($9-$10) and light snacks, but when the kitchen is fully open, expect to see New American-style small plates such as steak tartare, deviled eggs, charcuterie, ceviche and seasonal soups.
Details: Open 4 p.m. to midnight Wednesday-Friday and noon to midnight on weekends at 1515 Park St. in Alameda; moswinebar.com.
