From Vine to Glass: How Our Wine Lees Became Sustainable Design Material
- Will Davenport
- Jul 28
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 26
At Davenport Vineyards, we love seeing where a bottle of wine can take you - sometimes, it's further than you expect...
Our Limney Estate Sparkling Wine (2019), which recently picked up a WineGB Gold Award, spends four to five years maturing in stainless steel tanks on the lees.
It’s a slow and careful process that brings beautiful flavour and texture to the finished wine.
But recently, our lees have taken on a new role entirely - as part of a stunning glassware collection created by designer Lulu Harrison.
Yes, our wine lees have become actual glasses!
So What Are Lees, Anyway?
Lees are the leftover sediments that form during fermentation - the natural process where grape sugars are transformed into alcohol. They’re made up of spent yeast cells, tiny grape particles, and potassium tartrate crystals, also known as tartrates.
It’s these crystals that Lulu uses in her work.
We’ve developed a method to clean and dry the crystals so that their natural variety of colours and textures is preserved, while removing around 90% of the yeast - a careful process that makes them suitable for use in glassmaking.
Grapes are one of the few fruits rich in tartaric acid (alongside cranberries and bananas). During the cold winter months, much of this acid crystalises out as the wine rests quietly in tanks. When the wine is racked or filtered, these crystals - usually considered a waste product - are typically discarded.
But this time, something different happened.
At Davenport, we let the lees work their magic over winter, leaving the wines undisturbed in tank. Then, rather than disposing of the yeast sediment and crystals as we usually would, we saved them - and gave them a second life.
Design Meets Sustainability
As an organic vineyard, we’ve always looked for ways to reduce waste and tread lightly on the planet. So when glass designer Lulu Harrison got in touch with a fascinating idea, we were all ears.
Lulu was working with Maison/0, a creative platform from Central Saint Martins and LVMH that champions regenerative design in luxury. Her focus: to create contemporary glassware using local and waste materials - lowering environmental impact and rethinking the future of craft.
One of her key ingredients? Lees from our very own winery - in the form of crystal tartrates, a pure source of potassium. This potassium acts as a flux, helping to lower the melting temperature of the glass batch, reducing energy use in production.
She combined our lees with:
Waste cullet (scrap glass)
Recycled bottles
Biomass ash
Local Kentish sand
Quagga mussel shells (an invasive species repurposed creatively)
Glassware Inspired By Celebration
The resulting glasses are elegant, playful, and entirely original. Designed around the idea of celebration, each one is unique - bright colours, unusual forms, and personal touches like prunts (decorative glass blobs), optic moulds, and hollow stems that make them lightweight yet sturdy.
They’re not just beautiful objects - they’re a statement about sustainability, locality, and craft.
Lulu’s collection, created in collaboration with Sheffield / Hallam University Glass Research Group, Ben Gough and Abigail Wilderspin (glassblowers), was recently exhibited at the Future Fabrics Expo in London, showcasing innovation in sustainable design.
Why This Matters to Us
We’re proud to see something once considered waste turned into something so full of purpose and beauty. This project reflects what we value most - thoughtful winemaking, care for the land, and a creative, collaborative spirit.
We raise a glass to Lulu and to regenerative design. And if you’d like to raise one too - filled with something sparkling and organic - our Limney Estate is available now in our online shop.
Discover More: Follow Lulu and Maison/0 to explore the project further: 📸 @lulu_h___ 📸 @maisonzero
Photo credits: The Glass & Ceramics Research Centre (Sheffield Hallam University), The Glass Hub, Ben Gough & Abigail Wilderspin (glassblowers), Wine lees from Davenport Vineyard.