Elliot J. Sutherland
David Naatz is the owner and operator of the newly opened Riverwood Winery, north of Weston on Missouri Highway 45. Riverwood Winery offers a variety of wines, cheeses and picnic equipment.
Join our Mailing List!
Please click the link below to sign up for your community paper mailing list. Stay up to date with all the events going on in your community as well as the latest news.Sign Up Today!
Lawyer gives up practice for winery
Riverwood Winery near Weston is David Naatz’ first love
By: Gene Hanson
David Naatz has practiced law for 25 years in Washington, D.C., Seattle and Kansas City. His wife, Ginah, is also a lawyer. They moved back to Kansas City 12 years ago, and two years ago they bought an old building north of Weston.
It wasn’t to expand their law practice. It was to start what is now called Riverwood Winery.
Naatz didn’t know much about the business, only that his motivation to get involved was triggered by his interest in wine and wine making.
Located in what was once a school house on Missouri Highway 45, just north of the Snow Creek ski area, the winery includes a wine production room, a gift shop and tasting room with a wine-tasting bar, a fully-furnished kitchen, an auditorium with a stage, three acres of lawn, and a demonstration vineyard. The old school building still has the original blackboards.
Naatz said he and his wife saw the building several years ago and decided they would buy it if it ever went on the market.
It did.
“We opened on Super Bowl Sunday,” Naatz said. “It was probably the coldest day of the year, but we needed a slow day so we could learn how to operate things like cash registers and the like.”
Since then, Naatz said, business has been surprisingly good. Ironically, he said, many visitors were once students in the school.
Naatz buys some wines produced and bottled for the winery in Ste. Genevieve, Mo. And he has his own wines made with Missouri-grown grapes and fruit.
Naatz gets involved in the whole process, from picking and crushing the grapes to the bottling and labeling.
He plans to make full use of the school building built in 1954 for the West Platte School District.
Naatz said he planned to use the auditorium for special gatherings such as weddings, receptions or parties. It also will be used as a tasting room, and for cooking classes and demonstrations.
Naatz lives nearby, behind Snow Creek. He wants to extend his winery and convert a tobacco barn there into a facility for large groups.
“You can’t help but love this business,” he said. “I enjoy the kinds of people who visit us. They are usually those out for a weekend ride who happen to enjoy experiencing wineries. They come for a good time, and if they don’t like my product, they don’t go away angry. It’s just an experience.”
Riverwood also offers gourmet foods, such as cheeses, cured salamis, specialty crackers and chocolates.
For more information, visit www.riverwoodwinery.com.
Business Editor Gene Hanson can be reached at 389-6638 or ghanson@npgco.com.
printable version
e-mail this story
It wasn’t to expand their law practice. It was to start what is now called Riverwood Winery.
Naatz didn’t know much about the business, only that his motivation to get involved was triggered by his interest in wine and wine making.
Located in what was once a school house on Missouri Highway 45, just north of the Snow Creek ski area, the winery includes a wine production room, a gift shop and tasting room with a wine-tasting bar, a fully-furnished kitchen, an auditorium with a stage, three acres of lawn, and a demonstration vineyard. The old school building still has the original blackboards.
Naatz said he and his wife saw the building several years ago and decided they would buy it if it ever went on the market.
It did.
“We opened on Super Bowl Sunday,” Naatz said. “It was probably the coldest day of the year, but we needed a slow day so we could learn how to operate things like cash registers and the like.”
Since then, Naatz said, business has been surprisingly good. Ironically, he said, many visitors were once students in the school.
Naatz buys some wines produced and bottled for the winery in Ste. Genevieve, Mo. And he has his own wines made with Missouri-grown grapes and fruit.
Naatz gets involved in the whole process, from picking and crushing the grapes to the bottling and labeling.
He plans to make full use of the school building built in 1954 for the West Platte School District.
Naatz said he planned to use the auditorium for special gatherings such as weddings, receptions or parties. It also will be used as a tasting room, and for cooking classes and demonstrations.
Naatz lives nearby, behind Snow Creek. He wants to extend his winery and convert a tobacco barn there into a facility for large groups.
“You can’t help but love this business,” he said. “I enjoy the kinds of people who visit us. They are usually those out for a weekend ride who happen to enjoy experiencing wineries. They come for a good time, and if they don’t like my product, they don’t go away angry. It’s just an experience.”
Riverwood also offers gourmet foods, such as cheeses, cured salamis, specialty crackers and chocolates.
For more information, visit www.riverwoodwinery.com.
Business Editor Gene Hanson can be reached at 389-6638 or ghanson@npgco.com.