In beer-crazy Central Oregon, a Redmond couple is hoping something fresh will draw in drinkers: wine.

Sparkling wine, to be exact — naturally carbonated and run through the taps next to your local lager, so every pour is fresh and no half-empty bottles go to waste.

Debra Worthen-Brey and Phil Brey launched their company, Sand Lily Sparkling Wines, last year. Their first batch of finished wines are now on tap in Bend and Redmond. For now, the two-person team are the winemakers, distributors and the marketers — taking on every job necessary to get the business off the ground.

The Breys hope they’ve found a niche in the region’s overflowing beverage industry. While champagne and its non-French relatives are common at parties and wine shops, the couple doesn’t see it often in dive bars and brew pups in the region.

Sparkling wine on tap is common in some parts of Europe and starting to show up the U.S., said Worthen-Brey. Some event-specific mobile wine carts now have it on hand, but it’s still pretty rare to see it on the tap list next to the Bud Light.

For now, the couple is offering two varieties — a brut and a brut rosé, both with an ABV of 12 percent. The brut is made with 100 percent chardonnay grapes while the rosé is a blend of both chardonnay and pinot noir, giving it a flavor more of raspberry and cherry.

They start with Willamette Valley grapes grown in the hills near Philomath. Brey adds sugar and yeast to the tank of crushed grapes and lets it ferment over a period ranging from six weeks to two months. Time and fermentation work to create a naturally carbonated wine. After that, Brey can add finishers to smooth out and play up specific flavors.

For now, you can find Sand Lily on tap at Otto’s Landing in Redmond, and at Boneyard and Van Henion in Bend. Mixologists have already come around to it, said Worthen-Brey, because it makes it easier for them to add fresh bubbles to champagne-based cocktails.

Keeping the wine in kegs also helps reduce waste. Skipping the bottle phases reduces material use and packaging.

Brey is a longtime fixture of the Bend brewing community, having worked for Deschutes Brewery back in the 1990s and now for Van Henion Brewing. He said it has been fun to dabble in making wines, moving from a process that takes just hours to brew and bottle to one that can now take months.

“It has slowed me down a lot and made me take my time,” he said. “That’s been a nice change.”

Brey is more comfortable in the beer culture atmosphere of laid-back drinks at home in both dingy bars or outdoor patios. He knows wine can be intimidating for some drinkers and the culture that surrounds it is more sophisticated, sometimes bordering on pretentious. He said Sand Lily hopes to break down some of those barriers with their easy-to-order, easy to-drink varieties.

“We’re trying to take some of the pretension out of it by putting it on tap in a bar,” said Brey.