Redmond residents can plan on a new place to socialize this November when Kari and Michael Nelson open Testimony Wine Bar just north of downtown.

The space, set to open in November, is meant to be a comfortable place to learn about wine, have fun and connect with each other, said Kari Nelson.

“I absolutely love this community,” she said. “I want to provide a really fun space that everyone can afford, that everyone has associations with.”

The wine bar, located at 307 NW 6th St., will feature a 1,000-square-foot wraparound deck, bottle shop and event space complete with charcuterie offerings and custom-made truffles from Hot Lava Bakery in Sunriver.

“We’re not trying to be bougie in here,” Nelson said. “We’re trying to just have some fun.”

Additionally, the bar will be focused primarily on small, boutique winemakers in Oregon and Washington. For the majority of the wines they sell, Testimony will be the exclusive retailer — meaning customers won’t be able to find them anywhere else.

“It’s really important to me that I’m able to represent these winemakers in my space because they’re mom-and-pop shops,” she said. “They don’t have the time to go and distribute and sell their products.”

And, even though it’s a little more work for the Nelsons to learn the winemaker’s stories, Kari said it’s fun to learn about new producers, watch relationships brew and see how excited winemakers are about the growing industry in Central Oregon.

Additionally, the wine bar will host events, such as a Wednesday open mic, mimosa brunches, paint-and-sip nights, girls night out and winemaker dinners and lectures.

The wine bar is a labor of love for many hands. The Nelsons both work full-time jobs — Michael as an electrical engineer and Kari at St. Charles — though they’ve done much of the construction themselves and with friends. In the three months since they bought the property, they’ve spent nearly every evening and weekend working on the project.

The property wasn’t initially for sale until Jeff Casselry, a real estate broker in Redmond who is also a member of the Redmond Rotary Club, realized the 1934 home across from his firm would be the perfect place for Testimony.

When the Nelsons sat down in the living room across from Don Baxter, the prior owner, Kari said it was just an instant friendship. After that, the rest is history.

“We bonded over common interests and a genuine love of Redmond and the community,” she said. “He was excited about my business because he had a similar vision for the space.”

The seeds of the business were planted years earlier, when the Nelsons moved to Central Oregon from the Willamette Valley. Kari previously ran a wine club called Northwest Wine Explorer. The club would study a wine varietal every month and pair it with food.

“I’m an artist,” Kari said. “I love art and I think wine is a beautiful form of art.”

And just like with art, Kari said there’s many different styles of wines to study and collect and get intrigued by. Kari said wine can also be a community connector — merging her passion for art with her passion for people.

“I love people,” she said. “I love to lean into them. I want to learn about their life. I can’t wait to be behind the bar just talking to patrons and getting to know more people in the community”

In a divided society, Kari said the intention of the wine bar is to open up to each other, be vulnerable with each other, have fun and break bread.

“We all have a testimony,” she said. “And the more we share it with people, the more we actually come together.”

Kari said she felt called by God to connect the community and use wine as a vessel for connecting people.

“It’s a passion for God,” she said. “It’s a passion for wine. It’s passion for our community, together.”