Stina's Cellars Offers Lakewood Residents Fine Wines

Lakewood wine lovers take heart.

Tucked away in an industrial complex at 9316 Lakeview Ave SW, Suite B, is a little known gem of a wine-making, wine-tasting operation called “Stina’s Cellars.”

This winery is the handiwork of Fircrest resident Perry Preston, who started making wine in 1997 in response to a dare by his wife, Penny.

“She was doing the wine-tasting thing when we were dating.  I wasn’t really into wine at the time,” he said.  “I was just going around tasting as something to do.”

That all changed after a trip to California’s Napa Valley wine county in 1996, when his wife decided to try making her own wine.

“She made some indescribably awful blackberry stuff,” he recalled.  “I think I said something like, ‘Ewwww, God!’

“She kind of threw the gauntlet down and said, ‘Fine!  If you think you can do better….’”

The challenge got Preston reading and studying about wines and wine-making. In turn, he began experimenting and acquiring equipment and soon learned he had a natural talent and palette.

“In 1997 when grapes came in, we found a grower who was willing to donate a few lugs of grapes,” he said. “The first wine was a Merlot”

Preston was encouraged to pursue his hobby when his first wine took second-place at the Puyallup State Fair.

“I wanted to use the basement of our house for wine-tasting, but my wife said she didn’t want people coming there for that,” he said. “Also, there are only certain areas in Fircrest where you can have this kind of use.”

The business finally went commercial in 2005 with a 1,150-square-foot warehouse and tasting room in University Place.

“We outgrew it right away,” he said.

Today, his wine production and bottling operation is situated in a 2,600-square-foot warehouse with adjoining tasting room up front.

Stina’s Cellars draws its name from the moniker Preston’s co-workers gave him 18 years ago at American Airlines, where he worked ramp service and baggage handing.

“They took my last name, Preston, and started calling me Prestina,” he said. “One of the ladies who worked there was from Denmark. I guess Stina is a pretty common name in Denmark, so she just shorted my nickname to Stina and it stuck with me.”

The name and wine are both memorable. Currently, Stina’s Cellars offers a selection of reds that includes San Giovese, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Syrah, a Bordeaux-style blend called Montage and Petit Verdot.  It also serves up Rose and several whites, including Riesling, Siegerrebe and Chardonnay

All are come from grapes grown in the Columbia and Yakima valley regions and Eastern Washington, where Preston picked grapes as a youth.

Preston acknowledged it has been a struggle to keep things going during this "depression," as he calls it, but the business continues to survive thanks to New World technology that helps keep prices down.

“Even though it’s a premium wine, instead of charging $50 for a bottle I can charge in the $25 to $30 range,” he said. “Having the right pricing structure is what’s kept us alive while other wineries have gone out of business.  People have just stopped buying $80 bottles of wine.”

In addition to teaching himself wine-making, Preston has had to teach himself marketing strategies and supply logistics.

“It’s not like I’m buying inventory and selling it this year,” he said. “I’m buying grapes this year that I won’t be able to market until next year if it’s a white wine, or two or three years down the road if it’s red. There’s a lot of speculation involved.”

Stina’s markets its wine to nearly 100 retail outlets in Western Washington.  The winery also is making up for weaker domestic sales by exporting to Taiwan, where Preston also buys most of his empty bottles.

The business started with 700 12-bottle cases a year and currently produces 1,000 cases — or 1,200 bottles a year.

Right now the business is pretty much a break-even proposition,” he said.  “My goal is to get it up to 3,500 cases a year and keep it there.”

Stina’s Cellars and Wine Tasting Room is open from noon to 6 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays and by appointment. For more information call (253) 227-9748 or visit the business online at www.stinascellars.com