Sliding Scale Wine Club

 For the past year or so, I have been trying to work the ‘Wine Club’ concept into a shape that reflects the values and preoccupations of Dacha Wines. The result is formed by a desire to make my wine accessible to a wider range of people within this community, and to make a living myself. In doing so, I’d like to offer a truly viable business model to other young farmers and winemakers considering a life in the wine industry.

My mission has clarified since I started farming in Oregon—taking small, often neglected vineyards, and working with them to reimagine The Vineyard as a place of ecological health and diversity. Much of my work focuses on increasing and supporting biodiversity, because in the natural world the most biodiverse systems are also the healthiest and most resilient. As in the vineyard ecosystem, human diversity in terms of race, gender, age, and socioeconomics is a sign of health within a community or industry. By this metric, the wine industry is quite sick.

One reason for this lack of diversity is that the barrier to entry is so pricey. The question of affordability is something I struggle with every time I price my wines, and this wine club is one way to engage the issue. I hope that the sliding-scale model will help bring into focus a value in these wines independent of their cost in dollars: the value of the work that went into them; the value of the specific, diverse ecosystem that they embody; the scarcity value—since very little is made of them each year; and last but not least of all because they are delicious.

This is how it works:

Each member gets 6 bottles of wine towards the end of each year. The mix of wines is up to me, and everyone will get the same mix. However, you choose which group works best for you, i.e. how much you would like to pay.

Group 1

6 bottles x $40 = $240

This group is suggested for folks who are well established in their careers, and/or have access to savings, investments, or inheritance. This group helps to support others’ access to the wine industry.

Group 2

6 bottles x $30 = $180

This group is suggested for folks who don’t see themselves in 1 or 3. This price point allows me to both cover costs and pay myself; that is, to continue making wine year after year.

Group 3

6 bottles x $20 = $120

This group is suggested for folks who do not have access to property or inheritance, who are students, at the beginning of their careers, and/or have chosen to work in professions—farmer, teacher, cook, librarian—that are vital to society but chronically underpaid.

Wine club pick up takes place each fall, after harvest, at the Lewisburg Vineyard just north of Corvallis. It is fun! There is of course wine, but also food, diverse (living) poultry, and interesting people. If you can’t attend the pickup for some reason, I will make sure that you get your wines. For Fall 2024, I might add a pick up in Portland.

 If you would like to participate, please send an email to isabel@dachawines.com.