Best Places to Enjoy Oregon Wine in Downtown Portland

• 
• Tweet
• SumoMe

• Tweet

Through numerous international trips with my drinking partner in crime, Tony, I have had the privilege to sample wine from some amazing wine regions around the world: Tuscany, Mendoza, Porto, Hunter Valley, etc.

But humble brags aside, I am starting to become quite fond of the wines that have been coming out of the vineyards in our home state of Oregon. Prior to moving to the Pacific NW roughly four years ago, I had zero knowledge about Oregon’s world-class wine region.

With more than 700 Oregon wineries, 1,000 vineyards, and 72 grape varieties, the state is quickly becoming a premier travel destination for wine-lovers around the globe. And with the recent discovery of my love for Pinot Noirs, I have been exploring more and more of Oregon wines in recent months.

One thing I discovered through my “research” is that you don’t have to take a day (or weekend) trip to wine country to sample Oregon’s best wine. Lucky for us city dwellers, there are a handful of exceptional wine bars and tasting rooms right here in Portland that will give you a taste for what makes this state such a wine-centric destination.

To help out other wine lovers living in (or visiting) Portland, I have compiled a list of the best places to drink Oregon wine in PDX… Enjoy!

Woven Wineworks

Fun fact: Woven Wineworks, a family-owned winery (and Oregon’s First Certified Craft Winery!) located at the Covey Ridge Vineyard in Banks, Oregon, just opened their Portland tasting room in the heart of downtown over July 4th week.

What used to be a divey sports bar has now transformed into a beautiful basement tasting room with large booth seating (for groups), private event tables, and a spacious wine tasting bar. Woven Wineworks Co-Owner, Elaina Joy, operates the tasting room and is a blast to chat with about all things Oregon wine!

Being conveniently located next to numerous restaurants and theatres, the Woven Wineworks tasting room is the perfect place to sample WW’s delicious wines (mostly Pinot Noir with some tasty Rose, Cuvée, and blends mixed in!) before a big night out.

Garagiste

Garagiste was recommended last year to me by Erin at Platings and Pairings. This place advertises to come in for “WINE/FOOD/BEER/CAKE”…

Yeah, I don’t need much more convincing than that.

After working in the buzzing San Fransico restaurant-scene for 25 years, husband and wife duo, Jan-Marc & Barbara, settled down in Portland (about a decade ago) for a more relaxing lifestyle where they now focus their energies on making wine — right out of their two-car garage!

In 2009, Jan-Marc Wine Cellars launched with just shy of 400 cases produced, and by 2013 grew to one-thousand cases packed in their same little garage winery. All of Jan-Marc wines are now featured at Garagiste Wine Bar… alongside food, beer, and cake!

What I love about Garagiste is that they are super flexible with their flight tastings. For example, you can sample a few wines or sample the entire line of their whites and reds. Just be sure to do all of this wine tasting with a side of cake! Barbara’s chocolate and carrot cakes are out-of-this-world good.

Function PDX

Ron Acierto hosting a private wine tasting dinner at Function

Function is a cute little pop-up shop & event space on the busy strip of NW 23rd street. They are always doing intimate tasting events featuring Oregon winemakers, microbrews, and chefs. Function even hosted women winemakers from around the state for the entire month of March for their “Women of Wine” Month (in honor of Women’s History Month)!

Follow Function on Instagram for up-to-date event information at their pop-up.

Oregon Wines on Broadway

Late last year, I visited Oregon Wines with wine aficionado, Ron Acierto, after being recommended to the place by Catherine at Ten Thousand Hour Mama. It’s a small and intimate wine bar in the heart of downtown. The service is fantastic and the ambiance is very casual, making it the perfect place to grab a glass after a busy workday.

As a bonus, they focus on Oregon Pinot Noirs so if you are a Pinot fan, this is the place for you!

Oui! Wine Bar + Restaurant at SE Wine Collective

While I have previously written about SE Wine Collective, I wanted to give them another shoutout since revamping and opening their eatery, Oui!

As a recap from my previous article, SE Wine Collective is a community urban winery and wine bar featuring an extensive wine menu of wines made both here in Oregon and outside the state. I find the ambiance in here to be perfect for a romantic date night and the staff here is always super knowledgeable about their featured wines from their SE Wine Collective winemakers, as well as under the radar wines from around the region and globe. Whenever I come here, they know exactly what wine I will love!

Even better, the Oui! food is fantastic. The menu is always changing, but I had an unbelievable dining experience here for both Valentines Day this past year and at their collaboration dinner with Visit California and “California Dream Eater”.

Looking to branch out from the land of Oregon Pinots? Try these great Portland wine bars with great international options:

1856 Bottleshop & Bar

With a great selection of both Oregon and international wines, 1856 Bottleshop is a fantastic place in the NE quadrant to grab a bottle, or sit and have a glass (or three!). As an added bonus, they also are pet-friendly, so you can sip your wine with your pooch by your side!

1856 also is home to the Sunday School wine classes on select Sundays. Run by wine geeks, Mallory (Manager of 1856 ) and Martin (wine columnist for the Portland Mercury), these classes are designed for wine enthusiasts that prioritize learning about wine on a Sunday over going to church… AKA, my kind of people.

Each class comes with a glass of wine, a tasting flight of the wines you will be educated on, and materials, such as class notes and hand-drawn maps, which can be taken home for later reference.

I came here with Meredith Davison for their Sparkling class (part of their Summer Series of classes) and had an absolute blast.

Park Avenue Fine Wines

I came here for a Gamay wine tasting lunch during Feast 2017 and immediately fell in love with the place. Park Avenue Fine Wines is a beautiful and spacious bottle shop with a vast selection of both Oregon and international wines. This place is huge, so if there’s an obscure wine on your shopping list, chances are Park Avenue has it!

Enoteca Nostrana

Fan of Italian wine (and food)? Enoteca Nostrana is the place for you!

Nostrana’s 40-seat sister wine bar just opened this past April and features Italian small plates and diverse wine flights. This place is on the pricey side (with some half-glasses in the $13 price range), but definitely worth the splurge on a fancy date night out. As an added bonus, this wine bar is STUNNING.

Canard

Wine tasting and oyster sampling with Mary of The Kitchen Paper at Canard

Another a sister bar to Portland’s famous Le Pigeon, Canard is THE place to be for French food and wine enthusiasts. This uber casual eatery is the perfect place to stand around a table with a crowd of your friends (Canard can get packed!) and sample some amazingly unique French plates (think Uni Toast and Foie Gras Dumplings), slurp down oysters, and taste some incredible French wine and champagne.

Your turn: What are your favorite Oregon wineries and/or wine bars in Portland? Please share in the comments below!

If you are curious about the world of Oregon wines, I would also recommend getting your tickets today for Feast 2018 (taking place September 13-16th), which will have some fantastic food events happening throughout Portland highlighting some of Oregon’s finest wineries. Just take a peek at their lineup of wineries!