Jim Feuerstein and Jane Gennarelli asked me to write a monthly (give or take) column about wine for LNF Weekly. Talking about wine is my passion, so I quickly said yes.
In this first column, I want to do two things. I want to introduce myself, and I want to talk a bit about the rather ‘retro’ method for delivering wine that my husband, John, and I have pioneered here in the neighborhood. It has it’s roots in history, but it’s very modern in its concern for the environment.
Jen Beckmann works on the grape harvest at Perissos Vineyards in Burnet, Texas. (Photo provided by Re:Rooted and used with permission.)
The core concept of Re:Rooted is Re:Use.
One of the aspects of the service industry that always weighed heavily on my heart is the amount of waste we leave in our wake. Single-use products are on the rise, and genuinely-effective recycling is on the decline.
It’s estimated that 80% of recyclable glass ends up in a landfill. Eighty percent!
What good does it do to put wine or beer or anything else in a recyclable glass container if that glass is going to end up in a landfill?
A MODERN (YET TRADITIONAL) WAY OF DELIVERING WINE
So John and I decided to serve wine the old-fashioned way. It used to be, in Europe, that every family in the village had their own wine bottles, and, when they needed wine, they’d take one of those bottles to the center of the village and get it refilled.
While we do also sell wine in bottles, Re:Rooted is centered around a wine tap system. We have ten wines and two hard ciders, all locally made, on tap.
At the bar, pouring wine from tap to glass eliminates the need for single use glass bottles. We kept track for our first four months of operation, and we poured the equivalent of 982 bottles of wine directly from the tap into a glass, preventing the equivalent amount of bottle-and-packaging waste from winding up in a landfill.
That’s nearly one thousand bottles saved from the landfill.
And, just like in those European villages in the old days, we offer bottles you can take home and then bring back for a refill. These are 750ml glass wine ‘growlers’ much like a traditional beer growler. To encourage their return, we offer guests a discount on their next purchase. We then sanitize the returned bottle and put it back into use.
In our first four months of operation, we determined that every bottle we put into circulation is used 2.5 times.
So Lavaca and King William and Hemisfair have become our own little village.
I look forward to meeting with you regularly here in LNF Weekly, to talk about wines. And to meet you now and then at Re:Rooted to do the same thing.
WHO I AM
I can introduce myself with many monikers: Owner, Sommelier, the 441st Certified Wine Educator in the world, wine ninja or any combination of oenophile inspired nonsense.
But my preference and true passion is still ‘Storyteller’.
On any given day, I’m ecstatic to pour you a glass of wine and wax poetic about the mishaps of a self-proclaimed ‘city girl’ finding her way in the rural life of the Texas wine industry. I can’t promise that you’ll be entertained by every story, but I will guarantee that you will leave slightly more knowledgeable about wine than when I found you.
So pour yourself a glass and let’s get started.
I’m frequently asked how I ended up in this industry, and while that’s a story to be told over a glass of Cabernet, the story is simple. This Sommelier left the bright lights of Chicago in 2009 to follow a boy in the military and found that the Texas Hill Country was making wines that could rival any of their international counterparts. A love story was born…both for the boy (you’ll often find him behind the bar) and for the wines.
After twelve years of working with boutique Texas wineries, the boy and I decided to bring our passion for the great wines of Texas to San Antonio, and we opened Re:Rooted 210 wine bar in February of this year.
------
Re:Rooted wines are crafted from 100% Texas grown fruit. Re:Rooted offers a monthly subscription wine club in which members can refill their complimentary metal insulated growler with wine from the tap system. Additionally, members receive a 15% discount on all wines available by the glass, growler, bottle program and beyond.
Jennifer Beckmann and her husband John own the Re:Rooted 210 Urban Winery in Hemisfair
It’s estimated that 80% of recyclable glass ends up in a landfill. Eighty percent!
I look forward to meeting with you regularly here in LNF Weekly, to talk about wines.
You might also like...