This summer begins my third year living in Oregon and writing about its vibrant wine industry. There is so much to write about, but a couple of topics that are particularly important to me have resulted in follow-up articles this summer.

AHIVOY Graduation Day

I deeply admire the work being done by AHIVOY - a nonprofit that offers educational opportunities to the state’s vineyard stewards. Click HERE for the online version as published in the July 2024 issue of Oregon Wine Press.

Before wine lovers learned to pronounce “sommelier” (or to get by with “somm”), restaurants called the employee with the most wine knowledge the “wine steward.” “Stewardship” means to responsibly manage something entrusted to one’s care.

“Vineyard steward” is a term coined by AHIVOY (an acronym for Asociación Hispana de la Industria del Vino en Oregon y Comunidad / Hispanic Association of the Wine Industry in Oregon and the Community) in 2019 when they set forth to empower those who care for Oregon’s vineyards by offering them education and resources.

Employers across the state nominate and support their employees’ participation in AHIVOY’s 17-week curriculum during the winter “cellar season,” when activity in vineyards is slower. Meeting weekly, the cohort experiences the breadth of the Oregon wine industry, from a deeper understanding of viticulture and winemaking to an appreciation for the final product.

The late April weather cooperated as wellwishers and family members gathered at Adelsheim Vineyard near Newberg to celebrate the completion of this year’s course by 16 vineyard stewards. Guests enjoyed a delicious boxed lunch provided by Caballero’s Catering while sipping a selection of Adelsheim wine. Each graduate was presented with a certificate of completion and gifts of wine provided by A to Z Wineworks and Argyle Winery.

The fifth anniversary of AHIVOY brings the number of the program’s graduates to 63, according to co-founder Mario Lopez. Growing awareness of the non-profit organization’s success is evidenced by an expanding list of supporting organizations and foundations, including a workforce development grant of nearly $200,000 awarded last year by Oregon’s Economic Equity Investment Program.

Maria Uribe joined AHIVOY’s board this year and attended the graduation event for the first time. The Lake Oswego-based financial advisor was inspired by each vineyard steward's words and confidence as they received their recognition. “I was just so impressed,” she said. “They were so honest and authentic.” Grateful for the supportive presence of employers and winemakers at the event, Uribe reflected, “I didn’t get to where I am without the support of my supervisors and my team… someone needs to give you an opportunity.” As a new board member, she is poised to lend her expertise and energy as AHIVOY widens its circle of industry partners.

Attending this year’s course fulfilled a dream that graduate Mario Fandino held for several years. His previous employer was not open to his requests for time away to attend the classes, but things changed when he joined the team at Sweet Cheeks Winery. “These guys were so happy for me to attend,” he said. “They were so supportive to me. And that’s why I could finish the program.”

When asked which were his favorite topics, Fandino named the WSET (Wine and Spirits Education Trust) course in wine appreciation and the final week’s session on leadership. At 50, Fandino is grateful for the opportunity to continue learning and wants to encourage the next generation of vineyard stewards.

Revino Revs Up

Two young Oregon entrepreneurs created Revino - refillable wine bottles and the ecosystem to clean and refill them. The wine finally went into them this summer. Click HERE to read the version as published in the August issue of Oregon Wine Press.

After years of envisioning and designing a reusable wine bottle ecosystem, Revino’s refillable bottles of Oregon wine arrive on retail shelves this summer.

Revino is the nation’s only wine bottle specifically designed for reuse and is a first-of-its-kind, industry standard-setting product. After a bottle’s contents is consumed, the empty is returned to be cycled through a washing process and eventually refilled with wine and re-sold. Earlier this spring, 16 Oregon wineries had completed bottling runs, and an anticipated 60,000 cases will be bottled by the end of the bottling season. Designed to be refilled up to 50 times, reusing these 720,000 bottles just three times averts almost two million pounds of CO2 emissions and diverts 320 tons of material from landfills, according to Keenan O’Hern and Adam Rack, Revino’s co-founders.

The bottles are easy to spot while shopping. They sport a distinctive swoosh that is impressed into the bottle’s neck, and the word “refillable” is etched on the bottom.

Oregon wine producers deploying the bottles range in size from boutique to among the state’s largest.

Jess Pierce is General Manager at Walter Scott Wines, where three wines went into Revino glass this summer: La Combe Verte Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and Cuvée Ruth Pinot Noir. She is also using the bottles for her Riesling-only project, Pierce Wines. She traces her awareness of refillable glass bottles to time spent in Germany’s Mosel region, where she regularly exchanged empty mineral water bottles when purchasing full ones. Stateside interest was kindled by bottling wine in beer bottles at Coopers Hall in Portland, where Revino’s Adam Rack was employed. Jess feels that Revino fits well with Pierce Wine’s tiny production and local-only distribution. “Having glass and all my packaging be something that I could source from Oregon is a big deal for me.”

Among the first to fill Revino bottles last spring was Et Fille Wines in Newberg. “We were already using locally sourced eco-weight glass, so the implementation was quite simple,” said co-founder Jessica Mozeico. She credits the Willamette Valley Wineries Association with helping get the word out among vintners and assisting in the planning process thus far. Revino’s standardized Burgundy-style bottles were used for all Et Fille’s spring releases. “There were no logistical hurdles to bottling,” she reported.

Willamette Valley Vineyards filled over 1400 cases of reusable bottles with 2023 Whole Cluster Pinot Noir. In a press release, Founder and CEO Jim Bernau placed the effort alongside the winery’s longstanding sustainability commitments, including “the use of wind and solar power, natural cork stoppers and other low-impact and certified LIVE methods.” The bottles are destined for Willamette’s network of tasting rooms in Oregon and Southwest Washington. These locations will join Revino’s developing network of collection points where consumers may drop off their empties. Willamette’s existing delivery trucks will add collecting the empty bottles to their usual routine, allowing consolidation at the winery in Turner.

Packaging is by far the single largest contributor to a winery’s carbon footprint. This is due to the energy expended to produce and ship the glass to bottling locations. More energy is then used to transport the finished product to distributors and retailers. The industry is responding to the problem by adopting lighter-weight glass bottles and exploring alternative packaging like cans, tetrapaks and “bag-in-a-box.” Revino’s approach allows for the preeminence of glass as a wine container while reclaiming the practice of refillable beverage containers that once was active in the U.S. and is common overseas.

Since consumers will begin purchasing Oregon wine in Revino bottles this year, the expansion of the collection network and the opening of a washing facility are priorities in the short term. Further improvements to the removability of labels are being discussed with wineries and print companies.

As was done when designing the Burgundy-style bottle that is now in use, Revino is seeking industry input in developing a standardized Bordeaux-style bottle. The bottle’s shape, weight, and size must be compatible with bottling line machinery and durable enough to withstand washing and reuse. This shape is assumed to be useful in expanding Revino’s system into California and Washington. Bottles using screw-top closures are also coming soon.

The finished bottles that are available this fall result from years of planning and collaboration. But the Revino system’s success is now in wine lovers' hands. It is too soon to know how many of the bottles will be returned, completing the circular ecosystem that has been created. The company raises awareness by providing informational resources to be used in tasting rooms and online. “Revino goes beyond a mere business venture,” according to O’Hern. “This is a shared journey toward a more sustainable and thriving future.”

Et Fille Wine’s Mozeico emphasized, “We’re now focused on the consumer education piece of this, so our wines bottled in Revino will be returned to us, and we can put them back in the refillable ecosystem.”