We sell a lot of wine by the glass. Every nite, for years, when we take the empty wine bottles out to the recycling, we’d be struck what a waste the bottles are. It would be way better if we could buy wine in kegs, like we do with beer, and cut down on all the bottling and labeling costs along with the waste of glass and cork. This idea became a minor project for us.

Now, after quite a lot of asking around, Tolosa Winery in the Edna Valley (outside San Luis Obispo), has come through in a big way. Last month, when they were bottling their Estate Pinot Noir — their high-end, flagship wine — they filled 3 of our stainless steel beer casks as well. We brought the wine down from the Central Coast — rescuing the casks from the wreckage of the transporting Buick and shepherding the them to our cooler with the teamwork of many people in Southern California — where it waited until our cask wine system was complete.

Lee, Michael and Steph finished up the hardware yesterday and we now how have cask Tolosa Estate Pinot Noir by the glass!

Because of the money saved in not bottling — and the toll in Buicks notwithstanding — we are able to offer this wine at a really affordable price. It would probably be around $15/glass (and it is fine value at that price, a great tasting wine) if we bought it by the bottle, but buying in bulk we are able to sell it at $9/glass.

One thing, though, I forgot to buy carafes! Once we do, we can sell carafes too. Until then, we’ll have it by the glass only.

A little bit about Tolosa and this wine, it is all grapes grown on their property in the Edna Valley, and for this wine they select their best barrels. Here’s an article by winemaker Larry Brooks on Tolosa’s blog about the process.

Tolosa’s property is on Highway 227 in the Edna Valley, practically across the street from NZ Ranch, home of some of our pastured pork and also where Spanish Oaks Ranches cattle grazes.

Spanish Oaks beef is on our market menu right now. Even though pinot noir with beef is a non-traditional pairing, this valley’s climate is really appropriate to both and there is a long tradition of eating pastured beef in the area. So it seems like a natural match!