SALEM -- Oregon would become the first state to allow wine drinkers to fill up "growlers" of their favorite vintage at restaurants and stores in addition to wineries under a bill that's getting four-star reviews at the Legislature.

Taking a page out of the highly successful microbrew practice, lawmakers may allow customers to bring or buy reusable bottles and fill them straight from kegs supplied by winemakers. Current law allows the practice at wineries, but not grocery outlets, wine shops or restaurants.

Supporters of

say it's not just a way for Oregon's burgeoning wine industry to sell more wine, but also an effort to knock down some stereotypes about local pinots and chardonnays.

"We have to take it out of the effete realm,"

owner Harry Peterson-Nedry told members of the House Business and Labor Committee, where the bill got a uniformly positive hearing Monday.

Some people think that when they buy wine they should put it on a shelf, let it age and bring it out on a special occasion, Peterson-Nedry said. Allowing growlers, he said, "gets the average person to consider wine as a beverage they can get today and drink today."

Committee member and bill co-sponsor

, R-Dallas, said the practice is commonplace in other countries, mentioning Chile and Spain. "It's only here where we have these ridiculous rules that put the lid on a local industry."

Breweries and brewpubs have long been able to fill up customer-supplied jugs with their products -- a practice that has taken off in beer-savvy Portland. In fact, for a lot of smaller brands, hauling away a half-gallon growler is the only way to take their beer home.

Here's how it would work for wine, according to testimony Monday.

Wineries would fill a keg with wine -- as more and more are doing now for restaurant sales by the glass -- and ship it to a store or eatery that is licensed to sell alcohol. Customers could bring in a refillable container of not more than two gallons, have it filled up and take it home.

Dan Jarman, a lobbyist for

says the practice saves money and is environmentally friendly. "It puts us at the leading edge of sustainability," Jarman said, and could lead to tons less glass being hauled around.

Although there has been no vocal opposition, not everyone thinks wine should be treated like beer. One problem: when wine is exposed to air, it goes bad much more quickly than when it's sealed in a bottle.

Brian Budke, store manager at

, a downtown Portland wine shop, had not heard of the proposal and wasn't overly impressed by the idea. The store sells a huge selection of bottled wine, and he doesn't see a need to change the business model.

"We're doing all right with what we have," Budke said.

The bill has an emergency clause attached to it, meaning it would take effect as soon as it passes. Supporters are hoping to see it fast-tracked so it can get through both chambers and be signed by Gov. John Kitzhaber before May, which is Oregon wine month.

Amendments to the bill would require dispensers to be licensed by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, and would allow the stores to sell beer in refillable containers as well.

Such containers have been called growlers for decades, and no one is quite sure why. Winemakers have adopted the name, but wouldn't mind finding something a little more, well, polished.

Or at least foreign-sounding.

How about "groweliers," suggested

, D-Clackamas, who sits on the committee.

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