Does conservation equal a restaurant being able to buy wines in kegs for their glass pours? You betcha! The ConsciousWineries are coming up with new ways to reduce, reuse and recycle in ways that may surprise you.

I remember visiting a producer in France’s Rhone Valley in the village of Gigondas.

A local drove up, backed his truck into the winery, filled up 3 large containers directly from barrel, paid some money and off he went.

Should we only buy locally? Big question! Think globally, act locally.

I like to learn from the French, but apply these lessons locally. And that’s why ConsciousWine is focusing on North America’s West Coast wines for now. That’s where we’re located. From here it’s easy to get to lots of wineries and see what they’re doing.

Bottle weight, closures, recycled materials, wine cases, and shippers are all part of this equation that everybody’s working on.