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4 0 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | M a y - J u n e 2 016 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m adds, like bottles with unusual designs. She mentions bottles with unique bases, or patterns embedded in the glass that only become apparent once the contents are poured out. "They're cool, wonderful and they speak to craftsmanship," she says. More of her clients are opting for sustainably har- vested, FSC-certified paper for labels, too, a trend she first became aware of around 2012. The traditional metal foil stamping on labels is not as popular as it once was, she says. "Not only is the foil on the label and into the system potentially toxic, but there's a lot of waste at the printer. If you have a hot foil stamped border and parts of the brand name hot stamped, you have to use foil as big as the label, but only about 5% is transferred to the label and the rest goes into trash or recycling." Part of the trend is labels eschewing designs like the traditional chateaux, a trend she says is due, in part, to younger consumers who are "more open" to unconventional packaging. "They don't feel like they must have foil and traditional cues on the label itself," Sterling says. The younger consumers have high expectations that the products they purchase will be sustainable, agrees Verallia's Giovanni, and will push wine producers to adopt more environmental practices — slowly. "The wine industry has to be very conservative in adopting changes," he says. "Some people are taking more risks than others; its moving along, but slowly. There's a high risk moving to something new because consumers might not recognize the brand anymore." Danielle Beur teaux is a freelance writer based in Brooklyn, N.Y., who writes about drinks, business, investing and technology for national magazines and websites. Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com. Wilridge Winery's owner and winemaker, Paul Beveridge, was an environmental attor- ney before taking on winemak- ing full-time, so his adoption of green practices has a prec- edent. "We consider ourselves the greenest winery in Wash- ington state," he says. "What- ever we can do, we do it." Wilridge Winery, which is b a s e d S e a t t l e a n d Ya k i m a , began offering refillable bottles for a red blend, a white blend and a seasonal variety in 2010. Two formats are available: a 1.5 L magnum and a 20 L keg. There's an $8 deposit for the bottle and a $45 deposit for the keg; customers can return e i t h e r t o a p u r c h a s e p o i n t (along with closures). The winery sanitizes and refills the bottles, and is the first winery in Washington state t o h a v e s u c h a s y s t e m since Prohibition. T h e p r o g r a m i s a result of Beveridge put- ting his legal experi- ence to use and getting the state to agree to allow refillable bottles. But the liquor board only allows refills at the winery. For three years, Beveridge and his cohort have had a bill (SB 5213) awaiting a vote that would let retailers fill bottles as well. Beveridge points to convention and vested interests afraid of change blocking the bill. But customers love the program, he says. "They feel so proud of themselves for bringing it back. It's just like a milk bottle. Plus they come back to the retail location." It's also a cost sav- ings for the winery, he says, which is passed along to the customer. " T h e c u s t o m e r o n l y p a y s f o r t h e d e p o s i t once," he says. "It lets us compete with big- ger wineries that have a much bigger economy of scale." THE LEGAL WRANGLING OF REFILLABLES Carmel Road's label by Sterling Creativeworks is printed on FSC-certified paper and features sustainability as a key front label communication. [Photo by Pamela Reed]