Who Has Best Winelist in Portland, OR?

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
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Does anyone have an opinion about which restaurant has the best winelist in Portland?
On the rare occasion Shel and I are in town without kids, we would like to go somewhere where they have a decent list…and not just a list of every Oregon winery. [cheers.gif]

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The first places that came to my mind were Castagna and Carafe, both of which have (IMHO) well-chosen, fairly-priced lists that don’t rely overly much on WV pinots. Then my wife reminded me of Plainfield’s Mayur, which probably has the deepest wine list in Portland, including a lot of older Bordeaux which (again, my opinion) aren’t particularly compatible with the restaurant’s Indian cuisine, but they also carry a good selection of German and Alsatian whites that pair up nicely with the food. On Mondays, they sell a wide selection from their cellar for half price.

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[shock.gif]

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Steve,
Just took a peak at their winelist…very impressive.
Wish they had more Burgs. Their Bordeaux and Calif selection is really great. The big mystery though…how does it pair with Indian food???

Are there any places within walking distance to downtown that has a decent list?

btw last time we were at Carafe (Feb?), they were ‘revamping’ their list…whatever that means. Their selections were much more limited compared to the previous times we were there…

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The big mystery though…how does it pair with Indian food???

Hey, I certainly can’t tell you - the pairing is pretty much inconceivable to me. Every time we go there we purchase a bottle of riesling off the list and always been quite happy with that pairing. One other note: Plainfield’s has an amazing selection of very old madeira available by the glass, which is a fun and relatively inexpensive thing to experiment with. One could argue that Plainfield’s is walking distance from downtown - it’s on 21st Ave - but it’s an uphill trudge for most of the way.

I’m kind of drawing a blank on recommendations closer to the core area. The restaurant at the Heathman Hotel is supposed to have a good list, but I haven’t been there for years. Higgins is another downtown place that gets big raves, but I don’t quite get it.

Good luck - I’ll be interested to see other folks’ suggestions.

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Both the Heathman and Ten 01 have very good, broad and deep wine lists.

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Considering corkage policy in Portland as a whole, why not bring your own?

Have to agree with Heathman and 10-01 and add Nostrana if you’re into Italians - wine that is.

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I haven’t been to this restaurant, but it’s a fallacy to assume that Indian food can’t pair with red wines, especially if the root of that fallacy is that Indian food is always red chili spicy and/or heavily flavored with other spices. Now it CAN be difficult, but I see some dishes on their menu that would be fine with a Bordeaux or cab/merlot wines.

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Cary,
I am not assuming one cannot pair Indian food with wine, which is why I asked…(being ignorant to it, you see) [gheyfight.gif] [training.gif]

Bob,
Whenever we are in town, I just pop on over to Vinopolis to buy wine, thus I rarely bring wine into town…there was an occasion this past winter where Shel and I were wandering around without the kids and we wanted to get a nice bottle with some light food (like cheese plate, fruit etc).

I’ll have to check out Heathman and Ten 01. How is the food at these places?

That Indian resto’s winelist is great…enough to have me interested.

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I just looked as well, and that list is dated 2008. If they still have that same list, I can’t imagine most of those reds with the foods listed on the menus. But some of those whites are really tempting.

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Food wise, the Heathman has been quite good. It tends to be fairly straightforward French with a regional twist.

Ten-01 recently changed Chefs and formats (downstairs small plates, upstairs conventional dining) and I have heard it remains good but I haven’t been since the change.

Regarding Plainfield’s, I haven’t been (we like East India Company) but I have heard that the restaurant had been through some changes in ownership and that some of the cellar had been sold off so if you are viewing a 2008 Wine List it may be somewhat diminished today.

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Andy,
I was wondering what the Ten01 upstairs/downstairs menu meant when I looked at the website.
Their winelist, if current, looks fantastic…and it’s a skip and hop from downtown. Considering that we’d pop in for a bottle and light eats, this will be a place for us to check out.

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I have heard that the restaurant had been through some changes in ownership and that some of the cellar had been sold off so if you are viewing a 2008 Wine List it may be somewhat diminished today.

I think that’s probably correct. There was a bizarre period a 3-4 years ago during which Craig Plainfield relinquished ownership and took the wine (it’s basically his private collection) with him. As I recall, the hiatus lasted a few months, during which the new owner pretty much augered the place into the ground and ended up giving it back to Craig.

Plainfield’s is a quirky place. They are capable of putting out some great food, but (unfortunately) my experience is that more often things are slightly off-kilter. The formal furnishings are looking a little tattered, and to some degree I expect that extends to the wine list as well. Still, they have some interesting, unique selections on the list, and you can’t beat their prices on half-price Mondays.

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AGAIN? This seems to be an annual ritual. Word was that Erica the sommelier got fed up with all the changes and left.

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…Again…and no more Lunch.

Erica is now with Hawk’s View Vineyards.

I know a few people who have been to Ten-01 since the changes and claimed the new team is doing a good job.

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Good call on Heathman.
Got into town late, Vinopolis closed.
Went to Heathman (across from Hilton where we were staying) to browse their list. Got a 10 yr old Burg, 1er cru (Montille) for a little over $100.
Considering it being a restaurant list, I thought that was a very reasonable price. The staff was incredibly accommodating and I was able to take it back to the room. [drinkers.gif]

Their winelist was quite good.