Thursday, July 15, 2010

The new CSA: Community Supported Alcohol

Posted by on Thu, Jul 15, 2010 at 3:57 PM

pirtle_thumb_200x252.jpg
Changing the A in CSA to Alcohol...
​I think we've gotten to the stage where most people have an idea of what CSA means. For those who don't, it's a community supported agriculture program, wherein a group of members purchase shares from a farm to provide seed capital and diversify the risk in exchange for a weekly produce, meat or dairy distribution.

Therefore, I think it's time to expand the concept locally with a new kind of CSA -- community supported alcohol. Let's import the idea from New York, where Hudson Valley winemaker Raphael Lyon is delivering small batch wine four times a year to CSA members (h/t Emily Farris).

In addition to the wine deliveries, Lyon's CSA members also have the opportunity to work at his craft winery. There they can also offer suggestions about what he should make, which could lead to spectacular or terrible bottles. But it's not many wineries where you can offer up potential new flavors.

The market in Kansas City is ready for more craft alcohol. Imagine a homebrewing collective or CSA, wherein you received a monthly subscription of seasonal beer. Or somebody like Pirtle Winery in Weston creating a small wine membership program turning customers into winery members.

I'd be glad to pay for a partial share in the High Plains Distillery, if it meant I could have a stocked bar year round. Because the best way to get people to eat their vegetables is to infuse them in vodka.

Tags: ,

Comments (3)

Showing 1-3 of 3

Add a comment

 
Subscribe to this thread:
Showing 1-3 of 3

Add a comment

More by Jonathan Bender

Most Popular Stories

Slideshows

All contents ©2013 Kansas City Pitch LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this service may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of Kansas City Pitch LLC,
except that an individual may download and/or forward articles via email to a reasonable number of recipients for personal, non-commercial purposes.

All contents © 2012 SouthComm, Inc. 210 12th Ave S. Ste. 100, Nashville, TN 37203. (615) 244-7989.
All rights reserved. No part of this service may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of SouthComm, Inc.
except that an individual may download and/or forward articles via email to a reasonable number of recipients for personal, non-commercial purposes.
Website powered by Foundation