Sustainability in the wine industry has long been on the mind of winemaker Josephine Perry. The founder of Margaret River label Dormilona, Perry says “it just kills me, the amount of glass that I use, the screw tops, the one-use labels that I put so much effort into and then they’re just in the bin.” Enter her new venture Fang Bone, that’s more than just a new wine label, but a full circle way of buying wine for both venues and consumers.
But what does full circle mean? “Fang Bone is a one litre recycled wine bottle that’s screen printed with the logo and has a QR code on the back that will take you to the website,” says Perry. Bottles are also sealed under biodegradable composite cork and the detail of varietal, vintage and maker are on paper and card swing tags.
Customers can scan the QR code and find out where they can buy Fang Bone directly (currently the likes of Old Bridge Cellars, Mane Liquor in Osborne Park, and the Dormilona cellar door) or see which venues are pouring, “which perhaps gives them a hint that the venue is working towards sustainability” says Perry.
Fang Bone is more than just a bottle. Shipped in wooden crates empties are returnable. “The bottles come back, we rinse them, we steam them, dry them, and then once we’ve got enough, we bottle off. That’s full circle.”
From a winemaker’s point of view there’s the sustainability element but also a cost reduction, “knocking out the cost of labels, cartons, dividers, sticky tape.” While Perry is currently bottling her own wine the vision is that Fang Bone benefits venues and other winemakers. Launching with Dormilona initially, Perry knows that there are venues that her low intervention wines don’t suit, but the concept does. Her next step is to work with other producers directly or by request of venues, widening the Fang Bone range.
“At the moment I’ve got a thousand bottles and I think we’ve filled about half of them. I want to call out to some bigger producers and, say, get a barrel of Vasse Felix Chardonnay. I don’t know if they’d let me do that, but that’s the idea” she says. “It’s adaptable to different venues, different food trends, different styles and that’s what I have said to everyone, that I really want this to be an open communication. You don’t think a wine is working, we’ll stop and find something else.” This level of customisation is geared up very much for venues to have house pours.
The industry reaction has been promising. On home turf Perry says that Karen Gough, the owner of Settlers Tavern and overseer of its legendary wine list, said “I get more wine, it’s recyclable, it ticks all my boxes.” City members club Lawson Flats are pouring the full range, as are South West Wine Shop in Busselton.
Cyndal Petty, the Head of Wine at Parker Group, owners of South West Wine Shop says, “when Jo reached out to chat about this new ‘refill system’ all I could think of was how I take a growler with me to every brewery, and why on this earth have we nothing similar in the wine sector. If anything, it might help my tired-consciousness that watches hospitality and retail, throw out bottle, after bottle, after bottle. A small step in the right direction, and the more people that get behind this, the larger the force.”
“Through the South West Wine Shop, I have seen a paradigm shift in the next generation of wine drinkers, leaning into a full picture awareness. A culture that takes health, environment and producer ethos before anything else. A simple idea, a hard execution, either way we will back it with grit, passion and a love for Dormilona, and Jo’s progressive thinking.”
Ultimately good ideas only succeed if people act, or rather spend. Perry is banking on not just the industry to jump on board. In some ways they could be the easy sell. Like Perry and Petty, they see the mountains of glass, paper and cardboard. So they get it. For over-the-counter consumers at bottle shops, it means paying a refundable bottle deposit of $10 and perhaps creating new retail habits. A small price for a part in the full circle revolution.
