Growlers are no longer just for beer and this winery is leading the way

A local winery is being more sustainable while cutting costs and creating a community with refillable growlers.

Until recently, the beverage containers were only legally allowed to be filled with beer or cider, meaning wine producers could only use bottles, cans, and boxes to package wine.

“Wine means bottles, labels, [and] shipping, so if we’re able to do a refillable growler it means we cut down on all of those things,” Joanna Schlosser, co-founder and CEO of Niche Wine Company told Kelowna10. “That’s cutting down on our carbon footprint all around.”

James Schlosser, co-founder, and winemaker at Niche, added that wine labels come on a wax backing that can’t be recycled.

“There’s a lot of garbage associated with packaging wine,” he said.

The small-batch winery offers 500 ml and 1L growlers filled with wine and hope to attract regulars for refills to create connections with them and build a community atmosphere.

“Honestly, it’s always been a dream of James and I to have people here, enjoying the wine, coming back again and again,” Joanna said. “Our wine journey has been an adventure and it’s really something we want for everyone else that comes through these doors.”

To add to the adventure, the pair enjoys having people visit the farm to taste test wines at different stages while it’s being made, allowing people to always have new tasting experiences.

“They get to try wines as in various different forms as it’s going through the process in the place that it’s made is very important,” James explained.

“It’s really taking a page out of the beer book and applying it to wine, it’s supposed to be fun."

Not only is the use of growlers more sustainable and a good way to build community, but Joanna said it’s effective at cutting down costs since there’s no need for bottles, labels, or shipping.

“It’s saving us cost and process, and then we’re able to pass that on to the consumer,” she said.

Refills are available Tuesday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., and on the weekend from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.