Startup Revino's bid to make reusable bottles a big thing in Oregon wine has a long way to go, but it took a meaningful step forward this week: Willamette Valley Vineyards (Nasdaq: WVVI), one of the state's largest wineries, began selling its 2023 Whole Cluster Pinot Noir in the bottles.
The Turner-based winery said it bottled 1,452 cases of its leading product in the Revino receptacle that is meant to be returned, cleaned and refilled.
That's a small portion of Whole Cluster production — last year, Willamette Valley sold 60,000 cases of the wine toward total 2023 sales of 191,000 cases. But out of some 65 wineries that have embraced the Revino bottle, the 17,000-plus bottle run represents the biggest single SKU to go the refillable route, Revino CEO Keenan O'Hern told the Business Journal.
In a written statement, Willamette Valley CEO Jim Bernau called it "of a scale that it can make a sizable impact and have a fair chance at succeeding and changing the way we, and other Oregon producers, do business."
The bottles are manufactured for Revino by O-I Glass at plants in Kalama, Washington, and Tracy, California. Many wineries are moving toward lighter bottles to reduce their carbon footprint. The Revino fills the bill on that count while offering the possibility of significantly greater carbon reductions with each reuse, Bernau said.
The initial Revino production run was 60,000 cases. O'Hern said the company believes it will get all those bottles into circulation this year and expects to double sales next year. Oregon wineries sold 5.7 million cases in 2022 according to an annual self-reported compilation.
Tasting room returns
Willamette Valley will offer the Revino-bottled wine at its growing network of tasting rooms in the region. It will accept the empties — and empties from other Revino-bottled wines — at those same tasting rooms. The winery is offering 10 cents for each bottle and a free tasting with return of six bottles.
Bottles can also be returned at dozens of other participating wineries and other locations.
Revino's washing operation isn't set up yet but the company hopes to have it in place later this year. The company is progressing on a $750,000 raise that will help it pay for equipment that it has on deposit, O'Hern said.
