Mt Tabor Fine Wines

I recently emailed the owner off of their email distribution list to purchase some wine that was offered in one of the emails. Unbeknownst to me, you needed to be a long time customer to purchase the wine. The email was a bit rude in response to mine so I emailed him back, told him I was unaware of the prerequisite to buy the wine and that he could have approached it better. He fired back an email that said he «would have fired me as a customer anyway» and good luck trying to find the wine. Wow! I didn’t realize that you could fire customers and it is obvious to me that customer service is not part of his business model.
I’m sure the owner, Sandy, is very knowledgeable about wines, but I don’t think that gives you license to treat people poorly. Obviously, I won’t be purchasing wine from this shop in the future, but it sounds likes that’s okay, I wouldn’t have made the cut anyway.

Regrettably I must agree with the review that complained about customer service. At a wine tasting last week, we saw an elderly woman with two other friends begin the tasting of five samples of Pinot Noir… Somehow, before she’s begun, the woman accidentally bumped one of the samples onto the floor where it broke. She apologized profusely, yet when staffers rushed over with brooms and mops they made no attempt to hide their displeasure at the accident. A new customer approached the area to take a table, and one of the staff blurted out, «Stay back, we have a big mess on our hands!» As they cleaned up and for the rest of the evening, they ignored the lady that broke the glass and never offered to replace the sample.
The folks at Mt. Tabor Fine Wine don’t make the wine, so all they have to offer is service – something they failed at the night we were there. We won’t be back.

This place is perfectly pleasant but perhaps I just came in on a bad day because I did not find the person behind the counter very helpful or friendly. I walked out with an Oregon Pinot Gris, but I’m not sure that I’ll go out of my way to return.

High priced. Unfriendly to those carrying backpacks.

Our favorite place to buy wine in Portland.
Focus is on Willamette Pinot, Washington wines, Burgundy and Bourdeaux. Sandy knows his wines and seems to turn us on to something new every time we’re in.
What I really like is that the value wines at $ 10 – 15 /​bottle are as interesting and as thoughtfully chosed as the higher end wines.
Friday tastings are a nice opportunity to try before we buy.

Sandy over at Mt. Tabor Fine Wines really runs a a tight ship, and I have a hard time buying from anyone else these days.
While it may seem quite small on the inside, MTFW manages to fit quite a serious selection along those walls and has things that fit almost any budget. If you don’t see something you’re looking for, Sandy can often order it for you and have it there faster than you can shake a bottle of Mollydooker!
On the shelves, the prices here are about average, with some things being slightly more and other things being slightly less. The real savings, however, are made when you purchase a mixed 6 or 12 pack of wine and receive the 10/​15% discount. Just do as I do; save up until you can afford a case and purchase your wine then!
…and really, what separates Mt. Tabor from the rest of the mega-​opolis (see what I did there?) stores is the personal attention you receive from Sandy. While he and I may not have the exact same palate, he learned what I liked/​disliked over time and is spot on 99% of the time with his recommendations. This combined with the fact that he takes the pretentiousness out of shopping for wine with his ability to explain things easily to those just learning makes MTFW the place to buy wine for pretty much anybody.
Really, just stop going to the big guys and start shopping here. You won’t regret it.

For years, I have had friends who are the pour-​er gals here, and I have friends that frequent the Friday eve tastings that go until 7.30 weekly.
This past Friday it was my turn. It was local pinot noirs which are my favorite, and they were quite good! The tasting was $ 15 and the only drawback was I would have liked some of the $ to go to my purchase of a bottle (s) of wine ;) .
But their selection is amazing! Very impressed with the local OR wines — all the vineyards I lurve like Sineann, Alloro, Ken Wright, Own Roe. Its a great hang for a Friday night after work relaxation. An ahem, you can not go wrong with Appizza Scholls and Por Que No chow across the street after.
I also have to thank my friend Brian who comes every week for picking up some Manchego cheese at Pasta Works to pair with the house bread and wines.

Thiiiiish plasche ish aweshommmmah.
We tend to do better here when we go simply to purchase and not taste (see above). They have a terrific selection of wines that you are not going to easily find at Freddie’s. Not that I’m knocking Freddie’s, but sometimes I want to buy stuff with an informed person guiding my selections. The Bud and I usually stop in here when we get in the mood for good, foreign wines.
I realize that we are in hard-​core pinot country. And I do love Oregon pinots. But every now and again, I just want to taste wine that comes from an entirely different terroir that speaks of faraway lands and distant possibilities, with whispers of cassis and lavender. A wine grown in wine-​producing soil so old you just want to close your eyes with each sip and experience how unlike a home grown Pinot the wine really is.
Mt. Tabor Fine Wines transports me. It’s cheaper than a plane ticket. And if you come for one of their wine flight tastings, that, my friends, is an experience not to be mishshshshed.

One sunny Saturday, my husband and I were strolling Hawthorne and were coming from Fat Straw with our delicious bubble teas when we noticed the wine shop practically next door. We had planned on stopping by Trader Joe’s to pick up a bottle of wine as a housewarming present but decided to stop into Mt. Tabor Fine Wines to see what they had to offer.
We were very surprised by the wide selection of wines available in this small shop. Although my husband and I love wine, we are by no means experts and have been intimidated by snobby sommeliers in the past. However, the service we received was very friendly and attentive. We were able to walk out of there with not only the perfect cabernet gift but we also picked up a crisp riesling for ourselves. Although the prices are a little more pricey than other places we’ve been to, we will definitely be back because of Mt. Tabor Wines’ selection and service!

Mt. Tabor Fine Wines has all of the elements of a great little neighborhood wine shop. Good selection, fair prices (1 or 2 dollars more than average), friendly and knowledgeable service, and an unpretentious atmosphere. These are definitely key elements for any wine shop in my book.
I stopped in on a Friday afternoon with the intent of checking the place out, and ended up walking out with a mixed six-​pack of some great niche wines, all under $ 20, and with the 10% mixed-​six discount, I walked out with a few dollars left to spare. I was greeted with a smile and offered service, and I wasn’t pestered when I declined and spent some serious time perusing the stacks. I really appreciate that they were available for questions and at the same time not pushy on the sales.
In the 30 minutes or so that I was inside shopping (around 430pm on a Friday), the place filled up with what must have been regulars for their weekly wine tasting. They were offering a reasonably priced (and generously poured) flight of pinots that evening, and everyone in there seemed to be on a first name basis with the shop keepers. There were so many people tasting that the bar was filled, and they started placing people at random places around the room. It was all smiles for this Friday afternoon neighborhood social gathering place. I look forward to coming in for a tasting some time soon (when I have time to savor the samples.
All in all, I am stoked to have this little wine shop in the area. I will be here often.

Wine 101 for us. We moved to PDX, 3 blocks from this shop 9 years ago and went to nearly every friday night tasting regardless of what was being served for two years and learned a hell of a lot. Sandy the owner is there nearly every day, has a photographic memory, has tasted and remembers everything in the shop and he is total foodie. We have bought wines and asked what to pair with them and he has a detailed list. We have brought dinner party menus in and he has paired everything perfectly with a different wine. He has a pile of Bang for the Buck wine every month that are perfect for daily drinkers. Some people have said he is a bit grumpy, but he really is a nice guy. Saturdays are free (what is left over from last night’s tasting) which is also fun to swing by for a quick taste if you can not make it here on friday. We are much poorer & smarter thanks to how great this shop is!