Wine Following The Milkman Model, Thanks To Kevin Kelley, Klean Kanteen And The Wines Of The Natural Process Alliance

Wine following the milkman model

The milkman may have gone the way of the bouffant and the 1955 Buick.

But please welcome his enological replacement, the wine-canteen man.

As part of his ongoing exploration of natural wine, Kevin Kelley, the hands behind Salinia and other labels, created the Natural Process Alliance (NPA) last year.

To distribute NPA wines to local restaurants, Kelley takes a revolutionary approach: He bottles them using eco-minded stainless-steel canisters from Klean Kanteen.

Each batch is bottled on demand, so every lot is different from the last–yet still fresh, vibrant and free of preservatives.

Canteens of NPA wine, including Chardonnay from the cooler side of Sonoma County, are delivered directly to such Northern California restaurants as Nopa and Chez Panisse using a milk-run model that exchanges empty canisters for full ones.

In the last three weeks, Kelley upped his game and opened a small tasting room at his warehouse winery, with NPA wines on tap.

Go directly to the source to try our favorite, the Sauvignon Blanc ($4 a glass). Or buy a canteen for a to-go experience ($32; refills $12).

You can keep the can, of course.

Salinia Wine/The NPA, 3350 Coffey Ln., Suite D, Santa Rosa; 707-527-7063 or naturalprocessalliance.us; tasting room open Fri. and Sat., 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.