We have all been there, you are pouring that last glass of champagne or wine looking at that beautiful empty bottle, wanting it to last forever.
Well, now it can thanks to Wine Candles, a small family business based in Brisbane that upcycles empty champagne and wine bottles and turns them into candles.
“We love our wine and champagne and there are so many beautiful empty bottles, that you might have bought for a special occasion or that were very expensive, or whatever the reason, and it’s hard to throw them away,” co-founder Claire Brinkman says.
“Following a conversation with my husband Peter we thought, why don’t we make candles out of them? We had been making candles for ourselves for two years, so that’s how the idea of turning wine bottles into candles came about.”
While the candles don’t smell like the actual wine that was inside the bottle, the candles still carry the label of for example Bollinger and Mumm Champagne.
“We don’t promote them as Bollinger or Mumm candles, we market them as champagne candles. We are not associated with any of the champagne houses.
“We tried a gin fragrance once for a customer and they hated it,” Brinkman adds.
“So, we decided to stick to fragrances that people are familiar with and like, and that suit their business. For example, one customer sells beautiful gourmet products and the candles she orders include peach and strawberry fragrances.”
She says that besides stockists such as gift stores, florists and bottle shops they also supply to wineries.
“Wineries love us, they send us their empty bottles from their wine tastings at cellar doors and we turn them into candles and send them back. It’s a win-win for both.”
Exhibiting at the Gift & Lifestyle Melbourne for the first time, Wine Candles was launched about a year ago.
“Both my husband and I took redundancies from our jobs, Peter last year and I did a couple of years ago. I wanted to do something I could be proud of after a stressful busy corporate career.
“We cut our bottles using a wet saw with a diamond blade, then we use a custom-made Flat Lap to polish the top. This process produces a smooth edge to ensure our candles’ quality is of a high standard. We use premium, natural soy wax without additives and Australian-crafted fragrances to make our luxurious candles.
“We did a lot of research and it took a lot of effort, time and money, but we got there in the end and we are very proud of it.”
