How can you get rid of a wine bottle?
Lowell Jooste, of LJ Crafted Wines, is searching for that answer.
Using his patented technology to serve his wines in refillable growlers, Lowell Jooste has saved over 154,000 single-use glass wine bottles from the landfill — and is changing the way San Diegans drink wine.
In the interview below, we explore topics such as the importance of team culture, building sustainability and environmental resilience into the wine industry, and the challenges of opening and operating a business.
I’m chiefly interested in the concept of resilience — personal, communal, and societal. What does the concept of resilience mean to you and LJ Crafted Wines?
I think just being focused on our concept, ensuring that it works, and having a good helping of determination. My wife Anne is the same way when it comes to the business. At the same time, we’ve had fantastic staff and a fantastic team, and they’ve all become part of it!
Putting a great team behind it all is so important. In the beginning of the business, we were just constantly fixing problems — and now, with our team and their experience, we’re able to look ahead and get ahead of issues.
So the team, the culture, and your experience helps you stay resilient?
I believe so. You can take out insurance and whatnot, but that doesn’t really give your resilience. If something goes wrong, you need to have faith in your product and your team.
Good point. So, let’s get into your product!
San Diego is primarily known for our craft beer scene, not necessarily our wine. How has your wine been received, not just in San Diego, but in the overall scene? Do you feel that there is there any competition with the beer scene?
I’d say that we have a bit of a different demographic to a brewery. The people who come to us come to enjoy their wine in a chilled-out atmosphere. It’s very different to a brewery where you have televisions going, sports on, and things like that. Our demographic is actually probably primarily a female demographic, whereas in the beer industry it’s more male.
I think the wine has been very well received! We’ve been fortunate to be able to get very good grapes up in Napa Valley, and we’ve had very good quality control.
Honestly, I see beer as another form of beverage. I don’t really see it as direct competition. We do offer some beer for customers who prefer it, but we go through very little beer.
You have deep experience in the wine scene. Can you talk about the move from owning and working a vineyard to owning and working an urban winery?
I’d say it’s very different! Previously we were growing the grapes, making the wine, and then afterwards packaging it, selling it locally, and also walking the streets of the entire world trying to sell it. Whereas now, we are really just selling to a community in a small radius. It’s definitely a big change.
For myself, the biggest change is that I am no longer managing a reasonably big team. I’m much more hands-on now, doing things that I’d ask other people to do previously. And I’m really enjoying it — I’m much more hands-on with the wine itself.
Does that create a deeper connection with you and the business?
I think it’s just very different — but I’m enjoying using my own hands!
You moved from South Africa to La Jolla in 2012, and opened up LJ Crafted Wines in 2015. Can you talk about how opening the business went? What lessons did you learn?
Well, obviously, as new immigrants to the US, things worked a little bit differently here. All the laws regarding alcohol are different, and every country’s got its own way. It was really a way of figuring out where we wanted to end up and how to get there. We hit a few bumps along the way, I’d say the first one was about a year after we made our first wine. We had about 60 barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir up in Napa, and then the earthquake came in August 2014. It was devastating. Exactly half of everything was destroyed.
And then I think our other problems might have been even bigger. During our tenant improvement, we ran into all sorts of issues being on a slope and dealing with disability rules. We had to fix up a sloped sidewalk in front of us and change the levels of the floor inside our building, which tripled the cost of the tenant improvement budget we had originally set.
But, you know, once you’re into it, you just have to finish it off. At first, we had reasonably high staff turnover, but luckily now, among the eight or so staff, I think we have a turnover of maybe one staff member a year. So that’s made us much more solid as a business and given us more resilience in dealing with adversity. And it’s nice not having to train the whole team again!
And then I think the other side of it was trying to get a brand new concept going that hadn’t been seen in the wine industry and educating staff about it. The idea of using refillable glass bottles instead of normal wine bottles with a capsule and cork is quite different, so that posed a challenge.
I like what you just said — once you’re in it, you just have to see it through! That mindset has held true for you guys throughout owning the original winery, and now LJ Crafted Wines?
Yes — we’re determined to make this a success! It’s very exciting to work on something that makes sense both sustainably and economically.
Can you talk about the biggest success that you’ve had with LJ Crafted Wines? Any large milestones?
The biggest success is simply showing how many single use bottles we’ve saved using our proprietary technology, the Wine Steward®! If we look at LJ Crafted Wines, the concept is actually pretty old. People would go to the local winery, fill up their container, and take it home. That’s what we are doing, except now we’re using some modern technology that we’ve developed. In the old days, the container that the wine would’ve come from would’ve eventually gone bad because it would’ve oxidized. And with our new technology, the airspace that’s in the barrel has no oxygen in it, so that the wine will always stay completely fresh until the barrel is finished. We’ve also made a lot of strides in sanitation, obviously. But otherwise, it’s just finally improving on an idea that’s been around for centuries.
Can you talk about the process of developing your wine technology, the Wine Steward®? Was it something that you’ve always been interested in creating, or did you one day just realize it was a niche that needed to be filled?
I think it was just about filling a niche. Honestly, I always felt that wine tasted better just straight out the barrel — after it comes out of the barrel in a normal winery, it’ll go through filtration and preservation, a bunch of things like that. And every time you filter a product, you remove character.
I felt that would be really great if we could just offer the wine as it is, directly out of the barrel. And the other side of it was, if we could copy a bit of what the beer industry does, and somehow use refillable bottles. We saw that as the goal, and then it was a matter of saying, “How do you get there?” and working backwards.
So it wasn’t just a fluke, we actually worked backwards to get there!
While you’ve avoided using over 154,000 glass bottles using your from-the-barrel technology, there’s still a long way to go in the wine industry. Do you still see single-use glass bottles as the primary elephant in the room? Are there other areas you see that the wine industry (whether in production, farming, etc) that the wine industry can make strides in sustainability?
The wine industry has witnessed remarkable developments, particularly concerning vineyard practices. There’s a growing sensitivity towards using fewer spray materials, and significant efforts are being made to explore more organic farming methods. From an environmental perspective, studies have revealed that nearly half of the wine industry’s carbon footprint is attributed to glass bottles — a substantial concern we need to address. While some argue that glass bottles can be recycled, this process doesn’t substantially reduce their carbon footprint, as collecting, melting, and redistributing them requires considerable energy due to their weighty nature.
Prior to COVID, around 70% of wine bottles in the US were imported from China, which involved shipping heavy bottles across oceans for single use, which is an environmentally unsound practice.
However, despite these challenges, I believe there’s room for change. Many wineries would like to explore alternative packaging options, but there’s concern that deviating from the traditional glass bottle might affect their brand’s image. Yet, we can initiate changes on a smaller scale — starting from the wineries themselves. For instance, tasting rooms could use refillable bottles for all wines consumed there, and wineries could consider using refillable bottles for events and functions they host. By highlighting the environmental benefits and offering simple explanations to customers, such initiatives could gain traction.
While it may require some logistical adjustments, starting with a few wines at a winery could be an excellent trial. If one approach doesn’t work, there’s always room for trying something else. Overall, it’s a doable and worthwhile endeavor that has the potential to make a positive impact in the wine industry.
Do you plan to roll your wine technology out to other wineries?
Well, we would like to do that in the future. At the moment, we’ve been too involved in just our little business here and living in the community. I haven’t really gotten out there yet.
I can totally see wineries benefitting from your technology — I think about the wine tastings I’ve been a part of, and looking at how many bottles those wineries go through is incredible!
It will definitely save them a lot of money! Those tasting rooms can tell you how quickly their empty bottle bin fills up. They could do it with reusable bottles so easily!
How do you balance the demands of running a business with the desire for sustainability? Do you see more economic difficulties or economic benefits for LJ Crafted Wines associated with your green efforts?
The benefits have been significant! We’ve been able to streamline our entire operation, making it run a lot more smoothly. Our winemaking process in Napa and the transportation of barrels down here have been great. We’ve also been fortunate to receive strong support from the local community, and the wine club and refill bottle club have played a vital role, especially during the challenges of COVID. They were a source of immense support during that time.
Additionally, with the recent surge in glass prices worldwide and availability issues, we’ve noticed that many bottles are kept in garages and homes. We’ve encouraged people to bring back their bottles, and we are offering refunds for their deposits. We actually had to send out an email to ask for our bottles back. As far as we know, we might be the first to ask for bottles to be returned!
What’s next for LJ Crafted Wines?
We’re actually about to start a direct to consumer shipping business and use cans! We are rolling out some 750 ml screwcap lightweight cans. These will be single-use, but will be easy to recycle and in an environmentally friendly container.
Interesting. I feel like I’ve been seeing more wine in cans around.
I definitely think we will be seeing more wine in cans. The problem is, the market right now is generally the cheaper end of the wine industry. No one puts up-market wine in a can, and I think for many consumers it’s a tough thing to overcome. People just like to have a bottle and cork!
Although, we’ve already overcome that perception once. When we started, no one had really seen wine in growlers. We used an elegant bottle, and said, “This is a 1Liter bottle for the same price as a 750ml bottle — you’re getting an extra 250ml since you’re not paying for all of that packaging!” Everyone seemed to like the growler after that!
It probably also helps that your quality is good — the wine speaks for itself!
I completely agree. We’ve had great quality control up in Napa and the community has definitely started to appreciate that. I’m proud of the wines we serve people, and think they will stand up with any other wines in Napa.
What are the best ways for people to learn more about, or get involved with, LJ Crafted Wines?
Come and visit us — and join the wine club!
Want to learn more? Go more in depth here:
Mick Hammock 
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