Refreshing recycling

The owners of Davenlore Winery in Prosser, Washington understand one of the basic truths of wine – it’s all about making friends. Gordon Taylor and his wife Joan Davenport both have a background in agriculturally related sciences (she is a soil researcher at Washington State University, he is a process engineer with a background in fruit juice production), and they bottle some lovely wines at their winery in the hills overlooking Prosser. Like all small producers, they face the challenge of moving those wines into the consumers’ hands. You can do this a couple of different ways – through a tasting room, for example, or at wine festivals. Restaurant sales account for a lot of Davenlore’s distribution. Look for their wines at local restaurants like Tuscany Italian Bistro and Picazo 7Seventeen.

Davenlore staff happily sells

Recovery Red in reusable

bottles at area farmers markets.

But one of the best ways to drink Davenlore Wines is from the refillable bottles Gordon sells at local farmer’s markets. Yep, refillable. From May through October, you can find him at the markets in Prosser and nearby Richland, where he sells a full array of Davenlore wines, including Recovery Red, a value-priced blend sold in reusable bottles. The first bottle costs around $20. Take it home, drink it, clean the bottle, then return to the farmers market the next week to trade the empty bottle for a new one, for about half the price. You can also replace it at Davenlore’s tasting room.  The blend is also available in a traditional bottle for $15.

There are a lot of fun things about this kind of marketing. The recyclable bottles are interesting – different, without the questionable aura surrounding boxed wines, for example. And of course, they are eco-friendly. But mostly it’s a kick to chat with Gordon. Getting to know your winemaker in a down-to-earth setting like a farmers market is just plain nice.

Taylor's big red wines carry discernible oak balancing the fruit flavors. He and Davenport tend a tiny vineyard at their property, but they source most of their fruit from the Horse Heaven Hills, including the Alder Ridge, Zephyr Canyon and Double Canyon vineyards, where Taylor finds the hefty tannins and structure he loves, along with good fruit integration. But he’s equally as excited about his dry Riesling, a German-style wine with no residual sugars.

Recovery Red is the only wine Davenlore sells in the reusable bottles, but their list includes a wide array of varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, Durif (also known as Petite Syrah, a variety not related to Syrah) and Riesling, along with a Syrah port and another blend called Red Tale.