Vintners Cellar of Oregon

I don’t even know where to begin. Norman is an amazing host and conversationalist to make you feel right at home. He knows the right wines to recommend and how to make you feel like you’re appreciated. We come here every time we’re in town and it’s an exceptional experience each time!

I wanted to give a second review to make up for the sad 4 stars I gave in 2012. I have to just chalk the rating up to being slightly ignorant to the way of Unilocal.Simply said… this is my favorite place to be! Though I don’t get to frequent as much as I want, I am there every chance I get. The wine is wonderful, the atmosphere is cozy and warm, and there is not one item on the menu that is not absolutely delicious! There is always something going on that welcomes new guests in to explore the amazing varieties of wines, and I personally love every suggestion when I throw a general description of what I want Norm’s way. This is a family who loves what they do, and love the people they open their doors too. I can’t speak highly enough about Vintners, but if you have never been in… it should be first on you list next time you are out!

We decided to give Vintners a shot today after purchasing a great
coupon a few months ago.
Overall we had a great experience besides the owners (wife?) did not greet us when we walked in and clearly avoided eye contact. The owner himself who is also waiting tables was very friendly and made us feel welcome. The restaurant itself has a very cozy feel to it — it almost felt like sitting at our own dinner table.
The happy hour menu was reasonably priced and had some great options! I tried their Glühwein which was absolutely delicious and tasted like the kind you’d get in Germany at the Christkindl’s market.
The only thing that put a damper on the entire experience is that the owner did not want to accept our
certificate because we came during happy hour. He claimed that the coupon clearly states that a reservation is needed in addition to it not being valid for specials or happy hours. Our
coupon did not say anything like that and we basically had to argue our way into him honoring the certificate.
I don’t understand why restaurants opt into having
certificates only to make the customer feel bad for using it because it means they are making a loss…
Also here’s a spoiler alert: the spring rolls are the spring rolls you can purchase at Costco for 9.99 just like the pretzel buns and chicken strips they use for their chicken sliders.
The place is really not bad but I would not go back due to the owners passive aggressive comment/​issue when using a certificate.

Really enjoyed the experience. Was generous with the wine sampling. We liked enough of them to have a hard time choosing which bottle to purchase! We had a pizza and the dough was amazing and had the perfect combination of vegetables.

Such delicious food and decent wine. Blue cheese stuffed bacon wrapped dates were so on point. Smoked pulled pork pizza, veggie spring rolls and stuffed mushrooms were also amazing. The few red wines I tried were good but very light and sweet so they just weren’t what I was looking for but easily palatable. The service was perfect and besides the lights being a little too bright I loved the ambiance. I am looking forward to going back.

We made a reservation at 5pm on a Sunday without realizing that they close at 5pm. Norm, the owner, was super gracious and not only seated us but proceeded to give us wine on the house, including two desert wines. He encouraged us to stay as long as we wanted. We had an 8:30pm flight, and he let us stay until we needed to go at 6:30pm. Plus he let us play with his dog!
And yes, the food is awesome! Especially the flourless chocolate cake :)

One of my favorite places in downtown PDX! I’m in at least once a week. Great wine (all made in house), great people (owned by a local family), and great food (some GF options too). Very reasonable prices, 5 tastings for $ 7 (waived if you buy a bottle, ranging $ 15 – 20 for most).
Vintner’s is more than a wine bar… How appropriate that the owner’s name is Norm… At Vintner’s, you feel like you’re in a place «where everybody knows your name.» If you live or work in the Pearl or Alphabet District and you haven’t been here yet, you’re missing out.

Service, food & atmosphere are all 5 stars.
The best deal is the wine tasting of any 5 wines of your choice for $ 7.
The appetizers are all great, especially the stuffed mushrooms and also the focaccia. They have either dairy cheese or vegan cheese. Salads are great too.

We had such a good time here! The wine was delicious, the décor was quaint, and Norm was great and accommodating. Items were moderately priced, actually a lot lower than we were expecting for a wine bar. Whenever we had a question about how a certain wine tasted a brief description was given along with a personal free taste, which was completely unexpected. All the wines are locally made and you’re even able to work with staff to make your own. Can’t wait to come again!

We decided to stop here for dinner during our trip to Portland. We’re from San Francisco and we’ve been to hundreds of wineries in our short wine drinking tenure.
The wine here was amazing, everything had a light palatable flavor. The food was also delicious especially the goat cheese appetizer. The atmosphere was perfect for a date night or girls night or even a meeting with friends.
Norm was a great host and had a great sense for giving us tastes that we would enjoy!
We definitely recommend the wine tasting, the fruit wines are great! We also loved the Nob Hill wine and almost everything we tasted. We loved that they do all their wines in small batches so each bottle is special.
Great place!

We just found our favourite wine bar. Fantastic service! Not for kids and the 20 somethings are likely to be elsewhere. Food: Excellent. Prices are fair to good! Once you sink your teeth into the bread offerings and you’ll know immediately you chose wisely! Happy hour is spot on. So go alone, bring a friend, or direct the group this way! Great spot but please leave two bar stools so I can sit next to my sweetheart!

Went in with my new fiancé. We were greeted warmly by Norm who made us feel at home instantly… he literally told us to «take our shoes off and put our feet up» while sitting on the couch.
Norm promptly brought out our tastings and struck up friendly conversation. We told him our engagement story, and all about our travels. He asked if he could take our photo, and we agreed. When we put in our order for two bottles of wine, he surprised us with a custom-​labeled bottle with our photo and names :) Best place ever!

We were VERY surprised to find this amazing place in this particular location… tucked away in an «unknown to me» corner of NW Portland! A hidden gem, for sure. Great food, generously-​poured wine flights, excellent prices. Norm was knowledgeable about wine, all made in house, and included ciders and meads. You don’t get the wide variation and complexity that you would at a traditional wine bar with a range of wineries, but it’s definitely worth your time to go here. The ONLY thing I didn’t like, and it’s a very tiny thing, is that the décor looks around mid-​90s. Lots of burgundy and plastic flowers /​vines … I think they could really benefit from an overhaul of the décor, in order to uplevel the ambiance, but this is a minor consideration of mine when choosing somewhere to visit. A+! Thanks, Norm!

Vintner’s Cellar must be one of Portland hidden gems. Located almost directly underneath the 405 bridge, it can be loud in the area on the street, but once inside, you’ll never notice any road noise. We found this place when we were given a
gift card. My experience with
has been ok, it typically has dive restaurants and lower quality places on their site, but we saw Vintner’s and decided to give it a shot.
We arrived around 7 on a Friday night and the place was empty. Not sure if people were more interested in the Rose Festival events that day or what. The owner, Norm, greeted us and invited us to sit anywhere. The location is really nice with a rustic Italian theme going on. They have a couch area as well as a bar. We sat at the bar and started looking at the menu.
We learned that Norm is also the winemaker at Vintner’s. He buys the juices from all over the world (Oregon, Washington, California, France, Italy, Australia, etc.) and makes the wine at the restaurant. They also do a «make-​your-​own wine» class. for just under $ 400, you can make your own wine and a month later walk out with 35 – 40 bottles with your own custom labeling. Seems like a cool idea and fun gifts as well.
I’ve been to a lot of wineries in the Portland area. I’ll admit I’m not much of a wine guy. I can’t really tell the difference between varieties. I have no idea what were good years or bad years in grape growing. But I do know when I like something and when I don’t. I found Norm’s wines to be great. I didn’t think they were too sweet, too dry, to fruity, or too you-​name-​it-​adjectives for wine. Amongst his long list of wines, we tried 10 – 15 of them. Norm even gave us some bonus ones including items not even on the menu. I really like the smoky red he offered us, a non-​menu selection.
The food was good too. They share a kitchen with a bagel company (can’t remember which one at the moment), so their pizzas are made on a bagel dough. It gives it a sweeter taste to the crust, which I like, and it’s not filling at all like you would expect. We also tried the stuffed mushrooms and one of their salads. I will say, the food is good, but far from elevated winery cuisine. It’s good, tasty, simple.
Norm was great and enjoyed chatting with us. I really felt great about giving him my business for the night. I look forward to going back and spreading the good word about Vintner’s Cellar.

The owner was very nice. Long list of wines to select for the flight. Ended up buying a bottle of the one the owner suggested we try. Ambience was relaxing; fire place, sofa seating. The wines were very light, all very low on tannins but still acidic (to me). Recommended for beginning wine tasters since the Reds aren’t very bold. Leila normally sits behind the bar but since we were the only two there, she came to hang out with us for the first part of the wine tasting.

Purchased a voucher through
and what a great decision! Met a friend for dinner and was impressed with the delicious food and innovative wines. And such a unique and cool concept they have by creating and bottling their own wines. As it was happy hour the voucher wasn’t usable but no complaints as I will definitely be back!

Comfortable seating, friendly staff, great happy hour and family friendly.
For me, walking into a wine bar can be a little bit intimidating, Even after spending the last 15 years touring the wineries and tasting rooms of Paso Robles and Santa Ynez it still gives me a bit of anxiety. I know my wine and the proper protocol, that’s not the issue. It just that you never know what sort of reception you might be given. I’ve experienced it all, from the passive-​aggressive to the outright hostile. Not so with the staff at Vintner’s Cellar. You will receive smiling and friendly service if you step in this establishment. Norm (the owner) introduced himself to us and served us our drinks himself. Our salads and pizzas were served by a very nice, handsome, smiling young man. The overall vibe set by the staff here is one of openness and accessibility.
Oh… did I mention that my dining partners were 7 and 9. Yes, Vintner’s is family friendly. I wouldn’t take a crying baby in here but as long as your little ladies and gentlemen are behaving like little ladies and gentleman you should be good. They loved the $ 5 Happy Hour pizzas and trust me when I tell you that the most venomous New-​York City food critic has nothing on those two.
The space itself is warm, relaxed and comfortable. This would be a great place to have a glass of wine and a bite to eat after work or a long day of shopping.
Well done Vintner’s Crew!

Went here for a Meetup Wine lecture. It was very brief and different than I thought it was be, but they are still relatively newish. Norm, the owner was very nice… gave great wine recommendations and liked most of the tastings. He gave generous pours but was disappointed (a tad) when the other person wasn’t so generous. Ah well… can’t really complain as prices were very reasonable for both the tastings and the food fare. I tried the salad. which was ok, didn’t have all that I like on a salad and had to settle for Italian on my salad as I didn’t want a sweet dressing.
I liked the idea of batch wine making. Custom made. Though I couldn’t afford it I could see a few people going in on it. I totally see why people do it.
The atmosphere I liked in there as well. I’d go back if I’m in the area again. Nice find!

What a great place. Food is great AND they provide Vegan fare.
I love the ability to choose my wines for the tastings, instead of the winery telling me what I’m going to taste today.
Prices are reasonable. You can get a meal for two under $ 30. The problem is that you don’t want to stop. The wines are fantastic.
You can’t beat the atmosphere. Very relaxed and the proprietor is one of the friendliest in Portland.

Got a great groupon deal there. Without the discount, it may be a bit more pricy to just go…
BUUUUUUT, the most special thing about this place is to create your own wine. You could pay something around ~$ 300 to make your own barrel, label and bottle them up. I think that’ll make great holidays or special occasion gifts. 4 stars for the creativeness of it.
Other than that, the wine and foods were about average comparing to some heavy competition around NW…