Posts Categorized: Partners

Pride in Our Parks with NPCA

NPCA x Underwood Pride in Our Parks

Earlier in June, we proudly partnered with the National Parks Conservation Association’s (NPCA) “Pride in Our Parks” event. It was nothing short of excellent, with perfect weather and an incredibly engaged group of LGBTQ+ community members who brought enthusiasm and heart to every activity. The NPCA team hosted participants for a meaningful adventure in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area that combined the joy of exploration with hands-on conservation work. From hiking scenic foothill trails to getting their hands dirty planting native milkweed at the native plant nursery, participants experienced firsthand how parks serve as vital sanctuaries for both wildlife and community connection.

We geek out a little bit about where we live, and we’re passionate about supporting spaces that celebrate the wild open landscapes that make our communities special. Just as Oregon’s unique terrain of mountains, farmlands, and wild spaces inspire our winemaking craft, we believe our national parks deserve the same dedication to preserve their beauty and accessibility for all communities to discover and cherish.

NPCA x Underwood Pride in Our Parks

NPCA Pride in Our Parks

This is what the day looked like:

  • Hiked 1.5 miles in the foothills in Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
  • Volunteered for 1.5 hours with a native plant nursery, planting milkweed to help restore the park’s native population
  • Visited the visitor center and learned about the current threats to national parks and their protection.
  • Had lunch together and discussed the importance of parks being equitable places for all to enjoy.
NPCA x Underwood Pride in Our Parks

A few quotes from participants:

“Events like this are so important to the community. Getting to enjoy nature together and celebrating who I am is the best way to celebrate Pride.”

“I never spend as much time outside as I’d like, and this event reminded me just how important it is – with all the threats to national parks lately, it’s just a reminder of just how important these places are.”

“This is my first time celebrating pride, and getting to do it with a group of people who care about parks like I do is really meaningful. I loved hiking and meeting new people, plus getting to learn more about the park’s native plants was so interesting!”

NPCA x Underwood Pride in Our Parks

Looking for ways to support the national parks?

Send a message to Congress!

10 YEAR CANNIVERSARY

 

For a decade, Underwood wine has been leading a sustainable revolution, and now, we’re raising a can to our CANNIVERSARY – 10 spectacular years of wine in cans! 

Drinking Underwood isn’t just a taste sensation, it’s a celebration of wine no matter the container. It’s helping to level the playing field by removing the “rules” and the stuffiness around drinking wine — #pinkiesdown. It means 95% less energy, endless recyclability, and diverting heaps of waste from landfills. 

With each can, you’re not just enjoying fine wine, you’re toasting to a decade of making sustainability a priority, one sip at a time. 

Happy CANNIVERSARY to UNDERWOOD!

We’re just getting started. 

 

WINE CANS TIMELINE: 

2012 – On a random Sunday an email was sent from UWC founder, Ryan Harms, to his Union team.  

2013 – Celeste, a French Citroën truck was purchased and remodeled to be a portable wine bar.

2013 – Underwood Pinot Noir in a can was debuted at Feast PDX in September, a food festival in Portland, Oregon.

2014 – Underwood begins to sell Oregon Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris in big beer-sized 375ml cans! 

2015 – 1 Million Cans Sold!

2016 – Underwood Bubbles was added to the lineup.

2016 – Celeste hits the open road for the first time to share the love of canned wine at festivals and events. 

2017 – Underwood Rosé Bubbles makes it a 5-can lineup!

2018 – Union Wine Co. builds the industry’s first high-speed canning line with a canning capability of 200 cans/min. 

2019 – Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Rose are produced in single serving 250ml “slim” cans for special events.

 

 ALUMINUM CAN FACTS: 

Aluminum cans are 100% infinitely recyclable. 

Cans don’t absorb light that can damage wine. 

Cans are less expensive to produce & ship.

Cans can go anywhere. 

Cans created a new consumer experience. 

 

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: 

In 10 years…

Underwood has produced 41 million cans which is equivalent to 1.7 million cases of 750ml bottles. 

The smaller, lighter can allowed Underwood to ship nearly 24 million fewer pounds from the winery. 

This kept nearly 7.9 million pounds of carbon from entering the atmosphere. 


 

THE PRESS THOSE FIRST FEW YEARS WAS AMAZING: 

 

 

 

THERE HAVE BEEN MANY CAN DESIGNS OVER THE YEARS:

Underwood added a couple of “coolers” early on—our Riesling Radler took a fun spin on a more traditional beer radler, and our Strawberry Cooler made with real strawberry puree was both tasty and adorable. Later, we created a low alcohol Spritz, and a White Haute Sangria in partnership with Marshall’s Haute Sauce. Our Nouveau was a hit in bottle so…a can of Nouveau seemed like a gimme.

 

We designed several cans that honor what we call our “Give Back” partnerships with the The Nature Conservancy, the National Park Foundation, Planned Parenthood & Wild Fang, and Keep Oregon Green. We also partnered with local Portland artist, Lisa Congdon, to design what we think of as our Pride can. 

 

Specially designed slim cans worked great for our partnership with the Timbers/Thorns FC organization.

Cheers to wine in cans, and the next 10 years!

 

Our Newest Collaboration

We’ve been fans of North Drinkware since their launch on Kickstarter in 2015 and have sipped many beverages out of their glasses over the years. One day in the summer of 2020, after one or two of those beverages, we worked up the courage and decided to reach out to see if there might be an opportunity to partner on something creative. Needless to say, they were all-in and hit the ground running with a design unique to their process that captures the essence of Oregon. We’re so excited for you to experience drinking wine out of these hand-made glasses.

The Union Wine Co Glass by North Drinkware

The glass shape is inspired by the everyday drinking glasses found in Spain and the design is meant to capture the essence of Oregon’s natural features through 3D depictions of Mt. Hood and our Willamette Valley wine region, featuring Amity Vineyards, separated by the mighty Willamette River. At 6oz, the glass is a perfect size and celebrates our philosophy that the experience of enjoying your evening pour doesn’t require a stemmed glass. Like our wines, these glasses are hand-made locally in Oregon.

The Union Wine Co Glass by North Drinkware

The Union Wine Co Glass by North Drinkware

Overview of The Union Wine Co Glass by North Drinkware

North Drinkware is known for their premium hand-blown glasses which feature popular mountains in the base of each one, all made in Portland, Oregon. Their deep love of the outdoors inspired the start of the brand and allows everyone to bring the mountains home.

North Drinkware and Union Wine Co. are both proud members of 1% for the Planet and with this partnership, both are donating 1% of sales to Willamette Riverkeepers. Willamette Riverkeeper’s mission is to Protect, Restore, Enjoy. They believe a river with excellent water quality, abundant natural habitat, safe for fishing and recreation is a basic public right.

You can purchase the glasses here. Cheers.

The Union Wine Co Glass by North Drinkware

Brett Stenson Artist Spotlight: Behind the Design of Our New Cans

 


My process usually starts with some sort of trip or some sort of experience first, like, how do I develop a strong emotional connection to something I’m going to start drawing or carving? So it starts with coming up with what am I emotionally connected to? And then from there, I start sketching stuff, come up with the composition, come up with the idea.

Brett Stenson Artist Spotlight

Brett Stenson Artist Spotlight

If you go out and draw something that is laying in a stream, you’re going to see a composition that nature made, you didn’t make it up sitting at your computer, like you had to be subjected to it and look at it and accept it for how beautiful or weird or not that beautiful it looks and turn it into something that it is really interesting and cool on paper because if you do it cool, somebody is going to enjoy it so you don’t have to overthink it very much.

Brett Stenson Artist Feature

The idea behind the cans was based on having your own perspective when you’re standing in a river and being able to look down and see fish swimming in rocks and plants. So it almost puts you in a place of, oh, I’ve stood here before or I’ve been in this place before. I think what was cool about designing something that you had to spin and look at was that I wanted it to feel almost like an infinite continuous loop of a river, kind of like passing by as you spin it.

Brett Stenson Artist Feature

I feel like Union Wine and Underwood has such a great reach that they can show a lot more people in an unexpected way, you know, you think you drink it and you’re like, yeah, it’s wine, but it’s also made of water. If it’s not good water, it’s not going to be good wine. So you have to have great water. That makes great grapes. That makes great wine. Making artwork or making design work for people that are going out there and protecting trails, protecting forests, is my way of helping by making things that raise awareness for that stuff because I don’t necessarily have the knowledge or energy to go out and like, know how to protect a river or make it more fertile for fish to live in because that’s what biologists are for. So my design work is like my way of connecting to the things I care about.

Brett Stenson Artist Feature

Chefs at Home Series: Taco Tuesday with Jason French & Viola

Chef, consultant (and all-around great dude) Jason French has been a bastion of the Portland restaurant world for nearly twenty years. He ran the kitchen at Paley’s Place and helped open Clark Lewis before heading out on his own to open Ned Ludd and then Elder Hall. Thirteen years later, he can still be found where he is most comfortable…in his kitchen.

When Jason cooks at home, he often employs the help of his daughter Viola. Nearly thirteen herself, she has definitely followed in her father’s footsteps, honing her own kitchen skills. We asked Jason if we could hang out and get a (literal) taste of what kind of cooking he and his daughter collaborate on. He immediately suggested Taco Tuesday, a great way to spice up an otherwise bland day.

Jason chose to make Roasted Chicken, Squash, and Tomatillo Tacos with Refried Beans and Viola’s signature Guacamole.

For the tacos:
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 cup whole tomatillos, husked
1 medium summer squash, trimmed and cubed (seasonally, acorn or butternut squash may be substituted)
1 C chicken stock
1 T cumin seed, ground
2 T chili powder
1/2 tsp cayenne
Salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 475 degrees. Peel the husks from your tomatillos.

Cut your squash into large chunks.

Cut the chicken thighs in half, place all the ingredients into a large bowl, and season well.

Separate out in a single layer of a sheet pan and put into the oven. Roast for 25-30 minutes, until chicken is fully cooked and the squash is golden brown.

Cut up the chicken and half of the squash. Put into a heavy-bottomed pot.

Put the roasted tomatillos, remaining squash, and the chicken stock into a large blender. Pulse until chunky and add to the pot.

Keep warm on the stove while you prepare the rest of the food.

While her dad is taking care of all that, Viola is in charge of the guacamole.

For the Guacamole:
1 large ripe avocado
1 T fresh lime juice
2 tsp cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit and scoop all the flesh into a bowl. Add the other ingredients and mix well. Adjust seasoning as needed.

And of course, get the chefs final approval…

Set the guacamole aside and make the refried beans. In a pinch, there is no shame in using canned refried beans, but if you have the time, and an extra set of hands to help, homemade is always best.

For the Refried Beans:
1 T olive oil or lard + 3 T more for frying
1 small onion, peeled and minced
1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
1 T fresh oregano or 1/2 tsp dried Mexican oregano
2 C cooked pinto, black or red kidney beans, drained
1 C chicken stock
Salt and pepper

To make the beans, heat 1 T of oil and slowly cook the onions and garlic until just starting to color. Add the beans, oregano, a pinch of salt and pepper, and the chicken stock. Simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Put everything in a food processor and blend until smooth.

In a heavy-bottomed pan, add the remaining oil until hot, add the beans and reduce to a simmer. Cook until the beans achieve the desired consistency, continually scraping all the “crusty goodness” off the bottom as it cooks. Adjust seasoning and set aside.

Once everything is ready, finish up your Fixins.

Fixins:
(Feel free to add/subtract whatever makes you happy)
corn tortillas, hard or soft, served warm with dinner
fresh limes, quartered
grated cheddar or Mexican style cheeses like Cotija
scallions, thinly sliced
French radishes, thinly sliced
pickled jalapenos, canned are supreme
fresh cilantro leaves

Finally, heat your tortillas over an open flame (or on an electric burner) and keep warm.

With perfect timing, Jason’s girlfriend Carrie happened to come home just as the last tortillas were being cooked. A bottle of Underwood Pinot Gris was opened and the French Family dinner was a complete success.

We want to thank Jason and his family for sharing their Taco Tuesday with us. If you are somehow unacquainted with Jason’s work, you can check out his restaurant, Ned Ludd, and his event space Elder Hall. In his spare time, Jason also works as a personal coach and consultant.

Finally, from everyone here in the Union Family, we hope you are staying safe. And please get out there and VOTE!

Photography and Text by David L. Reamer. (@dlreamer)
Recipes by Jason French. (@jasonffrench)
Guacamole by Viola.