Old Town Cellars crafts candles out of recycled wine bottles

Lindsay Arnold founded and began Quincy Candle Co. in December 2020. Photo: Dishing PC

PARK CITY, Utah. — Old Town Cellars (OTC), a private label winery in the heart of Park City, now sells handcrafted candles made from recycled wine bottles. This collaboration between OTC and Lindsay Arnold, owner, and founder of Quincy Candle Co. (a custom candle company based in Park City) began in December 2020. Since then, Arnold has produced more than 200 candles for the winery, which are sold at the OTC retail shop located at 408 Main Street.

The soy-based candles are made free of harsh chemicals, and each bottle of OTC wine comes with its own handmade blended scent. The most popular to date include the Outlaw Reserve, a masculine smokey moss and leather scent, the Elusive chardonnay, a citrus musk aroma, and the Perpetual Reserve, an essence of amber, musk, and cedar, a combination of sweet and musky that appeals to both men and women. The Mountain Town Red fills the air with refreshing and citrusy scents of grapefruit and mint, and the Bear, OTC‘s fortified dessert wine, is sold in three different scents including fern, lemon, and evergreen; jasmine, mint, and musk; and vanilla, lemon, and citron.

“We’ve always been conscientious in our pursuit to recycle and re-use as much of our product, as well as who we work with since our inception. It’s always at the forefront of our mind to source as local as possible all the while supporting small local companies like ourselves as we enter our sixth year in business. It’s a fun project but also something we considered due to the amount of glass we run through on any given day or week in the lounge. The finished project is spectacular in its execution and we really appreciate Lindsay’s openness to collaborate with us as she grows her own brand.” – Stephen MacKay, owner of Old Town Cellars

It takes Arnold roughly ten minutes to custom make each candle from start to finish. She begins the process by using a glass cutter to score a line around the bottle where she wants it to break. Next, she weakens the glass with boiling water and an ice bath, forcing the cut in the glass to grow until it snaps. She then adhere’s the wick to the bottom of the bottle, so it doesn’t float around when the wax melts, and hand pours the wax into the wine bottle to dry.

“I never know what I’m going to get from them. I get the most bottles from what they sell the most of. And every bottle of wine is unique to its own scent. It’s creating another life for the bottle.” – Lindsay Arnold, owner and founder of Quincy Candle Co.

A 16 ounce OTC candle, made from a cut 750ml bottle sells for $40, and a 30-ounce candle, made from a cut 1.5ml magnum bottle is $60. A 16-ounce candle has about 100 hours of burn time.

Old Town Cellars bottle shop and lounge is open 3 to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Follow @otcwines on Instagram for news and updates. Quincy Candle Co. products are sold at The Collective Park City and on Etsy. Follow @quincycandleco on Instagram or to collaborate on a project email quincycandleco@gmail.com.