Wines Offered on Tap in Refillable Flip Top Bottles
A new sustainable way to enjoy and consume wine.
Acheson Wine Company opens in Sacramento this month with a goal to “deliver great wine at a great price in a sustainable reusable bottle” according to winemaker Steve Burch and partner Brian Scott. Consumers will own their bottles, and only pay for the wine they consume. Excess packaging, including corks, foils and labels are eliminated and will avoid the landfill. No inefficient bottle recycling.
All Acheson wines will be produced in kegs, then sold “on tap” out of their quaint tasting room at 1629 19th Street in Sacramento. Five wines will be offered in reusable flip top one Liter bottles which can be returned and refilled. Acheson, which has offered a California Cabernet Sauvignon since 2013, will no longer produce wines in traditional bottles. The small space is designed to serve the neighborhood, but is expected to attract consumers interested in sustainability and “wonderfully flavorful wines at affordable prices” the partners say. Pricing will range from $14 for Sauvignon Blanc to $24 for Cabernet Sauvignon. The 1 Liter, refillable, flip top bottle is slightly larger, essentially holding one more glass of wine than a traditional 750ml bottle of wine.
With four decades of combined relationships with top growers statewide, Acheson is able to source exceptional fruit for their wines. Future plans include celebrating great winemakers who happen to be great friends by featuring their wines on tap in the Acheson Tasting Room.
Acheson Wine Company is “all in” on this innovative concept, offering consumers “high quality, winery direct wines in a completely sustainable process”, says Burch. “Our carbon footprint will be close to zero, and we’ve eliminated waste in our wine deliveries,” he adds.
The Acheson Back Story
Acheson Wine Company was officially launched with the release of the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon, but the story goes back to 1996 when two friends met at Enotria Café and Wine Bar on Del Paso Blvd in Sacramento. One (the manager) took the path of sales and marketing which led him to becoming a leading trade marketing and sales executive in the New York wine business. The other (the bartender) finished his degree in Viticulture from UC Davis and embarked on a winemaking career. Over the next 19 years, these friends kept in touch. Visiting each other when the occasion arose, drinking many bottles of wine and always talking about doing something together.
This something happened in 2014 when the sales guy, sitting in the Manhattan office of a large restaurant group, lost out on a lucrative deal to sell Chardonnay by the glass at all of their restaurants for the second year in a row. Not to let the opportunity for a sale pass him by, He asked the very powerful buyer what else he could shoot for. “Not unless you have a Cabernet in your book that you can get down to $7/bottle.” He didn’t.
“How about I make it for you?”
A phone call to the old bartender, now a successful winemaker, led to the formation of Acheson Wine Company, but the dreaming for something different had just begun.
From this meeting, multiple private label contracts came about as well as their own wine: Acheson Cabernet Sauvignon. Acheson Wine Company began as a traditional winery concept with its first vintage of 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon in screw cap bottles sold in California, New York, Pennsylvania, London and Singapore.
