Micah Nasarow and his wife Heather are trying to bring the small town appeal of shopping locally to Renton, with their Cedar River Cellars winery.
For Micah, a 20-year veteran of the fermentation and food-processing industry, it’s as simple as going back to the days of the butcher, the baker and the winemaker down the street.
“I really think that communities need to start looking back at each other and saying we have the baker, the butcher and the winemaker,” he said. “Instead of going all the way into Bellevue to Whole Foods, just go to the top of the hill, go the two blocks to your grocer and not go across town.”
Nestled in a residential neighborhood in the East Renton Highlands is the Nasarow’s Cedar River Cellars. The husband and wife team have gone from producing 100 pounds of grapes, as amateur brewers in 2005, to producing 5 1/2 tons of fruit professionally by 2009. At that time, they produced 200 cases. Today they are up to 350 cases of wine, with hopes to go up to 450 soon.
Their operations are run out of a warehouse off of Lake Kathleen Road Southeast in Renton. The Nasarows get their grapes from Eastern Washington. Their wines are Ava’s Crush Cabernet Sauvignon, Bella Bella Syrah (named after their daughters), Watershed Merlot, Confluence (Cabernet and Syrah blend), VNA Viognier, Mormor Riesling and they’re working on a Cabernet Franc.
“In the end, we really just wanted to connect with our community and provide them with a quality wine that didn’t taste like candy,” said Heather.
Micah said their wines have a roughness to them, true to their handcrafted quality.
“It’s rustic,” he said. “It’s small, Cedar River, handcrafted artisanal wine.”
The couple used to work at Starbucks: she was a coffee master and he a sensory scientist. Micah’s also fermented everything from beer, mead, cider, sauerkraut and now wine. He’s even professionally certified as a beer judge, which was his first passion. Switching to wine-making was a natural progression for the couple, with Micah at the helm. He has a bachelor’s of science in science of food service and technology from Oregon State University. Both Heather and Micah grew up in small Oregon towns; his was in Willamette Valley and agricultural-based. The couple produced wine for guests for their wedding from a wine kit they purchased.
The Nasarows pride themselves on not producing wine from grapes that aren’t grown in Washington. So they don’t have any Bordeaux blends or Rhone-style wine. They want to work with the quality wine that’s grown in the state and make a name for Renton with their winery.
“People have this perception that Renton is a ghetto or dangerous or whatever,” said Heather. “There are so many beautiful things in Renton, so many wonderful businesses that you really can shop local. And you really can get everything you need in Renton.”
The winemakers plan to expand their space in the East Highlands. There is a large lawn surrounding the warehouse they envision hosting outdoor tastings and picnics. They’d also like to add a bar area to the space and invite people to come fill up their growlers, or bottles, and take wine home.
“We have been beating the bushes pretty hard here in Renton with just neary a peep out of anybody,” said Micah. “And all of the sudden in 2013, it’s literally been almost the phone ringing off the hook daily; people find out about us more.”
March has been named Washington Wine Month by the Washington Wine Commission. The Nasarows plan to celebrate with different activities throughout the month. For more information visit the winery’s web site at www.CedarRiverCellars.com.
