The Tualatin Valley tourism bureau loves to tout its wines. It'll send you down various country paths in Western Washington County to tasting rooms where they'll discuss the terroir, the value of the volcanic, wind-blown soil and the character of the pinot noir grapes that have given the area its reputation.
If you're lucky, they'll waive the tasting fees if you buy a bottle.
But should you expect a vast, curated collection of these wines at a shop in the region's largest city? Absolutely not. Here's a hint about Willamette Valley vintners (and basically any others): Even the ones who bring in their artist friends for the labels, dress like hippies and still play the Dead in the tasting room want to make as much off of their vintages as possible. That means they're either only selling out of the winery or limiting their distribution.
This makes it incredibly difficult to run a functional wine shop in this area unless you're willing to do the legwork or make contacts that will bring bottles to you. Neil and Skywater have found a third way.
Tracing his history back to Park Avenue Wines in Downtown Portland, Neil manages to keep a host of local offerings on hand and will guide customers through them when time allows. There are training-wheels vintages from local cellars like Resolu (which don't actually grow any grapes or own any vines of their own), and there are wholesale takeovers by neighboring vineyards like Dion. There are bottles than can break a $20 and there are reserves that are considerable investments.
But there's also a far more considerable import business, which does a Jersey boy's heart good. To see Portuguese, Italian and Eastern European wines again among Bordeaux, Alsace, Rhone Valley and Malbec varietals was a bite of the Proustian madeline--transporting me to the wood-paneled, densely stocked wine shops of North Jersey's cultural gateway.
Surrounding the wines with Italian sodas and mixers, European crackers and cookies, a fridge filled with Lambrusco and Sidre--all of it easily attainable--was a small bit of genius. But it didn't end there. There classes and tastings, dinners and wine-talks. Visits from California vintners, seminars, painting, live music. There are lockers for members and membership tiers that help subsidize the pricing seen on the floor.
The lounge itself is a dark, cozy mix of Deco and Modern that echoes an Italian social club. and it feels completely foreign amid the barber shops, hobby stores, karate classes and half-block banks of Downtown Hillsboro.
But it's hitting the place just as it's changing. People now have a drink at a tap takeover at Noble Hop before attending a Skywater event. Crowds that let out of Skywater attend performances at The Vault. I'm convinced that Skywater's "Surface Tension" subpar-Italian-restaurant-inspired wine-and-pizza nights prompted Pizzario to ditch the foodservice dough balls and start making its own crust.
Neil's about to have a miniature city of affluent residents 55+ across from his shop. The Decadent/Collective block keeps hosting chefs and bolstering the menu. Both Chaat Wrap and Thai House have rebranded and reinvested. Chains like Top Burmese, Blue Ox, Sizzle Pie, Grand Central and Backwoods Brewing are coming. Last I checked, Syun Izakaya is still one of the best Japanese restaurants in the state.
Neil timed Skywater's arrival just right and has given a long-dormant clientele reason to come downtown. This isn't the wine shop my family thought we'd find here at the top of the Willamette Valley, but it's one that these Jersey ex-pats didn't know we wanted or missed. We're now here an almost embarrassing amount, but make no apologies for it. I hope more people find their way in. read more