Local artist reuses wine bottles as a centerpiece for weddings
By Gabriella Brown
When wine bottles leave the tasting room at the Findley Martin Winery, they don’t go to waste.
Rather than throwing empty bottles away, co-owners Amy Sidwell and Murray Gervais barter with local artist Richard Acosta, who does glass-etching.
“Where we are located in Mon County, we don’t have curbside recycling,” Sidwell said. “We met Richard and what he does is upcycle them.”
Acosta said he uses the winery’s blue bottles as a centerpiece for weddings to go along with the etched glasses he designs. Acosta also creates other projects with the bottles, including chandeliers.
“At the time, I was just looking through Facebook Marketplace to see if anyone was getting rid of any kind of glassware,” Acosta said. “I stumbled across their ad for a case of wine bottles for $10.”
While visiting the winery to pick up the bottles, he said he noticed they were using etched glasses. Once he mentioned he worked with glass, he said Sidwell and Gervais were interested in working with a local artist.
Since then, Sidwell said about once a month Acosta comes to pick up a case to be repurposed, while supplying the winery with etched glasses.
Because the winery is unable to reuse old bottles, Sidwell said this has been a great alternative to ensure the bottles don’t end up in a landfill.
“We really believe in reusing if things can be reused,” she said. “We have to use new bottles each time we fill a bottle with wine, so we are thrilled Richard has found some use for them.”
Sidwell said since the winery opened last November, they have enjoyed working with local artists and makers to create something new with the empty bottles. Before meeting Acosta, Sidwell said they worked with another maker who created tiki torches with the bottles.
Acosta said this is his first time working with a local business since he started glass-etching in 2005. He said he got started with glass-etching when he met his wife.
He said although his wife wanted etched-glasses for the wedding, they could not afford them. Because of this, he decided to make his own.
“I was saving $1 bills in a shoebox to help with our wedding costs,” Acosta said. “I decided to buy a pack of wedding stencils and use them to etch our own glasses with ‘bride and groom’. The end result was amazing.”
Although the tasting room is closed due to COVID-19, the winery is continuing to deliver wine right to local’s doorsteps. Sidwell said Gov. Jim Justice only recently issued a bill allowing alcohol deliveries, which has helped their business stay afloat.
“We are making deliveries which have been going really well,” Sidwell said. “Otherwise we would not be open and we would not be bringing in any revenue at all. We were really grateful that we had the opportunity to do any kind of business right now.”
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