For me, the standout red was the 2012 ENSO Mourverdé ($35) - which I likened to a pinot noir or tempranillo - 2 of my favourites. The red flight consisted of a mourverdé, a counoise, 2 blends, and a malbec. This was a luscious, nicely balanced rosé. You’re probably thinking… a creamy rosé? It was very unique - creamy while still being on the dry side, and not too acidic either. Another of my favourites was the 2013 ENSO Rosé ($14), which is the most distinctively creamy rosé I’ve ever tasted. This was an easy-to-drink, light and citrusy blend. The first white, the 2013 ENSO White ($14), was actually one of my favourites - it’s a blend of sauvignon blanc, dry riesling, chenin blanc and semillon. The white tasting flight consisted of 2 white, 2 rosé, and one sparkling. It was a hot day and we had just come from exploring Portland’s Japanese Garden, so I was in the mood for something cool and refreshing.Įach flight was composed of 5 different wines, with sequential numbers marked on the tasting boards under each glass, just so that there was no confusion. I was a bit more familiar with Oregon’s red wines before my visit, but wanted to try some white and rosé varieties as well. Since we wanted to get a good handle on local and west coast wine, we ordered the tasting flights - one red and one white - both priced at just $10 each. I thought it typified Portland in so many ways. The space definitely speaks to more of a handcrafted, unpretentious aesthetic - the atmosphere was very relaxed, friendly and comfortable. ![]() Their aim is to keep the productions small and focus on crafting great wines at affordable prices. ENSO sources their grapes from vineyards in Washington, California, and Oregon, then bottles the wine right there, in the back of the tasting lounge (which is actually an old storage garage, brimming with vintage charm and fresh local flowers). If you’re visiting Portland and find yourself in a similar situation as me, I highly recommend it.īeing Canadian, the concept of an urban winery was a new one for me, but there are actually quite a few in Portland. Since I wasn’t able to visit wine country, I stopped into an urban winery in SE Portland called ENSO instead.ĮNSO Urban Winery + Tasting Lounge (1416 SE Stark Street) was such a cool spot to chill for a couple of hours and enjoy some really fantastic wine. When I was in Oregon, I wanted to head out to Williamette Valley to do some vineyard touring - I love Oregon Pinot Noir - but was running short on time. Let me start off by saying that I’m a bit of a wino! I like to try different local wines when I’m traveling and add bottles from around the world to my (ever dwindling) collection.
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