Seviche intro’s wine on tap drawn from keg, not bottles

Seviche is now pouring wine on tap, an arguably environmentally friendly alternative to hauling bottles everywhere.

According to a news release, the restaurant’s first tap wine is Walnut City Pinot Gris from Oregon.

As draft wines grow in popularity on a national level, the benefits of this type of wine service become more evident.

“Wine kegs are reusable, so they are a more “green” form of packaging than bottles,” said bar manager Chris DeRome. “Just one keg holds the equivalent of 28 bottles of wine, so you can imagine how much energy is saved that might have been used on glass or recycling.”

Another benefit that keg wines have for consumers is freshness. According to Wine Spectator magazine, wine bottles in an average wine-by-the-glass program are kept opened for several hours or even a few days, increasing the risk of oxidation.

By contrast, draft wine is held in stainless steel kegs, which are connected to taps by lined plastic tubing containing inert gas that pushes wine through the lines. This inert gas also protects the wines from oxidation by occupying the empty space in the keg.

Keg wines are also free of other concerns that come with bottled wines, like bottle variation, bottle shock and faulty corks.

Other wine on tap systems, such as the classic but still rare cruvinet, pull wine from bottles.

Seviche’s current draft wine selection is priced at $10 per glass, and the restaurant plans to add more taps if customers respond favorably.