by Dyane Hendricks

Evelyn Reyes-Umana and her husband Victor Reyes-Umana, at their Pacifica home, proudly displaying some of their wines. Photo: Dyane Hendricks.

The 2009 winner of the Women-Owned Businesses Award is not quite sure why she is. A winner, that is.

Evelyn Reyes-Umana said that she was surprised when she was nominated for the prize, and then shocked when the Women’s Initative for Self-Employment announced last year that she was a winner. The nomination process is anonymous and when she received a call asking her to write an essay, she was honored but too busy handling family  issues, running the Bogeda Del Sur Winery in Murphys that she co-owns with her husband and operates by herself, and volunteering for women’s shelters. So when she learned that she had actually won the award, she was flabbergasted.

But even a cursory look at this Renaissance woman — mother of two, wife, winemaker and volunteer who is passionate about women’s issues — clearly demonstrates a winner.

At the age of 10, she immigrated with her mother to San Francisco from war-torn El Salvador. With no English-speaking skills, but armed with needle and thread, the seamstress created a business for herself, all the while helping other single mothers and teaching her daughter to do the same. Her mother-in-law, also from El Salvador, had her own business and was committed to women’s concerns as well.

The opening of the Bogeda Del Sur Winery is the fulfillment of her husband’s dream but the beginning of her nightmare, she said with a laugh. “He wanted to retire in the wine business,” she said. For several years the Pacifica couple traveled to Spain, Chile and, of course, Northern California, visiting wineries. Victor Reyes-Umana told his wife that he wanted to open a winery. “I would joke and tell him that he’s Don Quixote,” she said. “And I’m not even Dulcinea. I’m really Sancho Panza!”

Each year the Camesi wines are named after different women with part of the proceeds going to women’s shelters. Photos courtesy of the Bodega Del Sur Winery.

When a winery became available for sale in Murphys, a community  located in Sierra foothills, he told her what a wonderful opportunity they had. But with the economic downturn, thoughts of Victor retiring were put aside. He continues working in Silicon Valley while Evelyn splits her time between Murphys and her beloved community of Pacifica, where she and Victor moved 30 years ago, just after they married.

Reyes-Umana said she does everything at the winery including managing the tasting room, marketing, and overseeing the vineyard. But she manages to continue with her passion of community service, and she is also a mom to her 13-year-old son, Luis. Using Skype, webcams and, of course, the telephone, she remains in touch with Luis daily, asking how his day went, helping with homework and just being a mom. Her eldest son, Victor, 21, is a student at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She returns home on the weekends, or her husband and son trek to the Sierra Foothills if the winery is having a particularly busy weekend.

“People wonder where the heck is Murphys,” Reyes-Umana said. “But the Pacifica community has been wonderful.”

She holds events in Pacifica as well as the entire Bay Area to help non-profit organizations and service groups, as well as to promote the winery. “As far as I’m concerned, my office is in Pacifica and I bring my wine to Pacifica,” she said.

Her commitment has won her a loyal fan base among Pacifica residents. Many take the 2 ½-hour drive to explore Murphys and enjoy the award-winning wine to be found in the Bogeda Del Sur Winery tasting room.

Reyes-Umana is committed to serving the Sierra Foothills community as well. The winery also donates $2 from the sale of the winery’s Carmesi wines to benefit the San Joaquin and Calaveras women’s shelters. Each year the Carmesi wine is dedicated to a different woman.

As a true Renaissance woman, Reyes-Umana designed the label for the Bogeda Del Sur winery. The woman with a luxuriant coiffe represented is her late friend Denise, who was mad when she lost her hair to chemotherapy. “Denise” is the feminine name of Dionysus, the god of wine. “Now she will always have her beautiful hair and she always watches over my wine,” Reyes-Umana said. For the back of the label, she designed Don Quixote on his horse, getting ready to tilt at windmills.

The Bodega Del Sur Winery is located in Murphys at the base of the Sierra Foothill.

Bodega Del Sur Winery tasting room.