Like vegetables, eggs, and tea towels, I predict (okay hope) that the next big “local” obsession in these parts is going to be wine. And I don’t mean Oregon wine from out in the country, I mean the wine that is being made in increasing numbers by small urban wineries dotting the inner east side (mostly). When the Bindery opens—pour some out for the Teen Challenge thrift store—late this summer, I predict it will catch the attention of everyone who’s becoming more dimly aware of this creepin’ scene (you’re gonna hear about it; at 10,000 sf it’s the largest underground wine operation in the urban United State), but in the meantime there is quite a bit already in place to check out.
In the interest of time efficiency and reducing your chances of getting a DUI, these small wineries have joined forces with the Portland Short Bus (which has joined the Barfly Bus as one of Portland’s favorite methods of mobile partying) for periodic, daylong tours of these spots. Thirty-five bucks gets you nearly five hours of introduction to your friendly neighborhood winers, complete with—obvi—wine tasting, snacks, and schmoozing.
The next one coming up is the “Who’s Yo Daddy” edition, scheduled for the titularly appropriate Father’s Day date of June 15, which is either the perfect way to bond with pops all afternoon or the perfect way to ignore him. Your call! Tickets can be scored right here.
- The Bindery: It’s gonna happen.
When you don’t grow any of your own grapes, you’re only sort of a winemaker.
That’s garbage, Chuck. You’re not a vintner, but you are very much a winemaker.
Wine is only as good as the fruit from which it’s made, so if you’re not involved at all with the cultivation of the grapes, you’re skipping over the hardest part of making wine. It’s the reason why real wine making is so much more difficult than brewing or distilling.