Europa Wine Merchant

never picked up a bad one here — making it one of the best wine shops I’ve ever visited.

This is the best wine shop in Portland. It’s small enough that all of the selections have been hand picked by the owner, but big enough to still have some ultra-​geeky, esoteric wines. I frequented it when I was studying for my certified exam through the court of master sommeliers and still go back whenever I’m downtown or need something hard to find.
Most recently I was seeking some German Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir) for a blind a tasting and not too surprisingly this was the only shop in town that carried any and he actually had a few to choose from.
The prices are really competitive as well. Lower than you would expect at a boutique shop in a tourist-​heavy neighborhood.

Stopped in about 10 min to closing time which I wasn’t aware of until I asked the guy what wines he would recommend. He said he had a few 10 – 12 dollar wines and I could get whatever I could afford! Then he said they close in 10 min and walked away. I had jeans on and a t-​shirt but that’s no excuse for assuming I know nothing about wine or can’t afford it. I went to Oregon on Broadway and bought a few nice bottles to take home to Colo. I won’t be going back to this place!

What a great little place. It’s too bad that Jackie and her boyfriend (see one star review) had such a bad experience; I had entirely the opposite.
Michael the owner spent over 45 minutes walking around with me after I asked him what he was excited about in the shop. He is knowledgeable and patient; I learned a lot!
HIs wine selection is thoughtfully curated, tending towards more complex and interesting wines, but with a large range in price point. I walked out with a $ 22 Greek white wine which was delicious and what I had come in looking for, as well as an unusual $ 8 Italian red.
I was quite sad When Vinopolis left the neighborhood, but no more. Europa offers many of the things that are great about Vinopolis, and with quite a bit less overwhelm!

I went with my sister and brother in-​law for a Friday night tasting. The wine rep was knowledgable and enthusiastic about the wines and it was a unique tasting — not your run of the mill stuff.
There are some great price points on wine in this shop. Michael, the owner, answered all our questions. You can tell his wine knowledge and love of wine runs deep but he’s very low key/​understated and not pushy in the least bit. It’s a little shop but has a wide selection of wine and I loved some of the funky, industrial fixtures.
I’d love to come to the Friday tastings every week but I’m afraid my entire food budget would then be spent on wine (and this is bad how??). I’ll try to pace myself and it’s comforting to know this great wine shop is there when I need it.

My boyfriend and I stopped in after hitting up a food truck this past weekend. To be honest, the entire experience was weird. I thought I was reading too much into things until we left the store and my boyfriend started ranting about how annoyed he was.
In the owner (or employee’s defense) we were wearing hiking clothes and maybe didn’t seem «legitimate.» That being said, who are they to judge someone and totally write them off? We typically keep 50 – 100 bottles of wine in our home in our wine fridge and ended up buying 4 bottles of wine in Portland from a DIFFERENT wine shop to drink at the apartment we had for the week. It was like an episode of Pretty Woman where you want to prove to the snooty owner that you CAN buy their product even though they don’t believe you.
Anyway, we asked how the wine was arranged and he grudgingly explained to us. Next, we asked what local/​Oregon wines they had. He pointed us to that section and then proceeded to walk away and unpack boxes. What? You have no interest in telling us about the wine or recommending anything? Whatever, I have no interest in supporting a business where the owner or employee is not passionate about what they do. We took our business elsewhere.
I have to say, I’m glad that someone reviewed this place before I did, as I didn’t want the first review and first impression to be mine. I really hope that local businesses can succeed and I love to support local stores whenever I can. Hopefully we just hit the store at the wrong moment and others will have better experiences.

Stopped in and the owner, Michael, was very knowledgeable and helpful. Nice variety of wines and good price point.