Domaine Serene unveils a wine bottle that weighs 30% less

Domaine Serene, a winery in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, said Wednesday that it is marking Sustainability Month by pointing to land conservation, lighter packaging and workplace investments that it says have become part of its long-term operating model.

The company, based in Dayton, said it preserves 65% of its roughly 1,000 acres in Oregon in their natural state, including forest, oak savannah and riparian areas. The winery said those preserved lands sequester more than 1,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year, which it compared with the annual emissions of about 350 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles.

The announcement comes as wineries across the West face growing pressure to address water use, packaging waste and wildfire risk while also responding to consumer and investor scrutiny over environmental claims. Domaine Serene said its work is tied to practices it has followed for decades rather than to a new campaign launched for October.

Grace and Ken Evenstad founded Domaine Serene in 1989 after identifying the Willamette Valley as a strong region for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The company said that view, shaped by comparisons to Burgundy, still informs its approach to winemaking and land management. Domaine Serene is part of the broader Evenstad Estates portfolio, which also includes properties in Burgundy, France.

In a statement, Chief Executive Officer and President Rusty Field said sustainability has long been central to the estate’s operations. He said the winery sees its role as caring for the land while supporting the people who will guide the business in the future.

The winery’s environmental work in the vineyard includes cover crops, reduced tilling, composting and sheep grazing, according to the company. It also said it has been restoring habitat by planting native species and removing invasive plants. To address wildfire threats, Domaine Serene said it has carried out ladder fuel removal, expanded natural firebreaks and maintained water reservoirs.

The company said its vineyards have held LIVE, Salmon-Safe and Bee Friendly certifications since 2013. It also said all seven of its vineyard estates in Oregon are LIVE certified.

One of the largest changes announced Wednesday involved packaging. Domaine Serene said it worked with glassmaker Saverglass to create a new Cépage Eco bottle that weighs 495 grams, or 30% less than its standard Cépage bottle. The winery said the redesign preserves the look of the bottle while cutting total glass use by about 250,000 pounds per vintage.

Michael Fay, the company’s vice president of winemaking and viticulture, said in a statement that the push for a lighter bottle began with a challenge from co-founder Grace Evenstad. Fay said the project required the company to rethink how it approaches packaging and the materials needed to support wine production.

Heavy wine bottles have drawn more scrutiny in recent years because they are often associated with higher emissions during manufacturing and shipping. Domaine Serene did not release a dollar figure for the new bottle program or specify how much transportation-related emissions might decline, but it described the lighter glass as a measurable reduction in material use.

The winery also framed sustainability as a broader labor and community issue. It said its work includes workplace safety, employee benefits and sustainability education. The company said it also supports regional nonprofits, contributes to philanthropy and invests in wine education and future industry talent.

Liz Lease-McCaffrey, chief revenue and marketing officer, said in a statement that stewardship at Domaine Serene includes care for employees, business partners and the surrounding community, not only vineyard and winery operations.

The company said winery-level certified LIVE practices help it track greenhouse gas emissions, water and energy use, materials, waste and employee safety. Chris Ramsey, director of wine operations and development, said the winery uses those measurements to identify where changes are needed and to guide daily operating decisions.

Domaine Serene did not provide a full emissions inventory or baseline figures for water and energy consumption in the announcement. It said, however, that the data collection is meant to support continued improvement rather than a one-time benchmark.

The company’s next steps include additional pollinator-friendly plantings, greater use of green energy, more efficient water use at the winery, further packaging standardization, reduced tilling and continued cover-crop trials. Those priorities reflect some of the main environmental pressures on vineyards in Oregon, where growers are dealing with shifting weather patterns, fire risk and the need to protect streams, soils and native habitat while maintaining wine production.

Domaine Serene said its sustainability strategy extends across the Evenstad Estates portfolio, which includes Château de la Crée, Domaine Evenstad and Maison Evenstad in Burgundy. In Oregon, the company welcomes visitors at its winery and Clubhouse as well as wine lounges in three locations, and it remains focused on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grown on its estate vineyards.