Pairings Portland Wine Shop & Bar

on our weekend trip to Portland in search of donuts (blue star and pips), we had planned to also stop by a few wineries. but our plan to visit said wineries bombed in large part because we went to Pairings. And I am ever so grateful. We happened to be there during one of their biggest sales of the year and luckily came early enough to grab Jeff’s attention before the madness. Jeff schooled us on how to taste wine properly… and not in a pretentious way, but in a way that every wine drinker should, so that you can fully appreciate each sip, so that you can taste the complexities of each one as you make your way through your pour. Jeff’s passion for Oregon’s contribution to wine and how he champions the growers and all their hard work is absolutely inspiring. This is a serious shop, Jeff knows his stuff but what’s most important is that he knows his customers. His regulars (I’m assuming) came through the door and he greeted them by name! He even pairs wine with your signs, your moods, and your favorite singers. Jeff helped us pick out bottles that he recommended (and that stayed within our budget). He asked us what we liked and what we didn’t. I wanted all Oregon wine (because I usually only drink Washington wine, being from Seattle, or French wine)…a case of wine later, we all went home happy and excited to start drinking! Thank you Jeff, for your time, for sharing your talent with us, and for opening my eyes to all that Oregon wineries have to offer… we will be back!

«What do you want to do now?» «let’s go get a flight of wine some place.» Only in Portland can that simple decision result in a drop down a rabbit hole where a mad hatter proprietor will take you on a magical mystery tour journey. With West Coast 60’s tunes playing and while sipping our first glass of a pinot noir from Willamette Valley we got a lesson on how Jeff matches wines.
As others said he can match wine with food like a black belt certified sommelier. The exercise he was engaged in when we arrived was matching wines for a party using the astrological sign of the host and converting the partie’s date into a theme using numerology. This involved working with the aura he perceived in the pieces of paper he had created. If you are familiar with Carlos Castaneda’s task to find the right spot on Don Juan’s porch then you are in the right dimension in the time space continuum.
Now I’m just your ordinary wine drinker but I have been at it for over 40 years. This was unique. In the end we were introduced to 5 new wines that were stunning, had some excellent cheese and olives, and became acquainted with another little bit of Portland that is entirely wonderful.

When the wine bar is listed under Wineries and «spirits» they could be referring to the tarot card reader. ha ha
I don’t go near tarot cards and they make me a bit uneasy, but they are dog friendly so I avoided going near the «Seer» (Medium) and spent my time sipping wine near a couple who brought their lovely rescue dog in with them.
I loved that they create new menu’s to reflect the tastes of the weekly wine pourings and that the owner works the room, telling you all about the wines and how to best savor each one.
The wines themselves are on display throughout the room and are creatively marked to describe books, movies and TV shows. Almost like a wine library.
We came for a Scorpio birthday party and were shown the wines that would best suite us moody, passionate women.
We sampled both reds and wines:
Blachon St Joseph Blanc
Protective, exciting, dynamic
Riffault Sancerre Rose
Energetic, intense, intelligent
Seuil Graves Rouge
Secretive, resourceful, determined
Gallety Cotes du Vivarals ‘09
Hypnotic, good memory, volatile
Blachon St Joseph Blanc
Deep, moody, perceptive
I can honestly say that I have never seen such a creative shop! It’s definitely worth a trip to.

This place is ah-​mazing.
Fantastic service. Jeff and his team really take the time to make sure you are fully tasting your wine and that you have found what you want.
They do a really great job at taking the intimidation of wine away.

This place occupies a unique niche; it’s a wine shop specializing in natural wines. This means, at least to the proprietors, wines made using only the natural yeast — no additions. It has an eclectic selection, a very knowledgeable staff that do great tastings and a quick and dirty (read: approachable) guide to tasting. Good prices and a fun atmosphere make this a perfect wine shop!

What a fun outing we had! Found them on Unilocal and gave it a shot — so glad we did! Jeff was there & gave us an excellent tasting experience, very different than the snotty wine shops in town! Had some nibbles to go with our tasting & the cheese was well paired with our wine. Jeff gave us a few recommendations and we bought 3 bottles. Only improvement I might suggest — ring up tasting & cheese costs separately than the wine purchased. I ended up tipping on the entire cost of our tasting, cheese & purchases which cost me an additional $ 25. I felt like tipping but not a $ 92 wine purchase and the tasting.
We’ll be back to visit Jeff & grab some more interesting wines.

If you haven’t been to Pairings yet, you’re missing out. Jeff can match a wine to your mood, astrology, favorite Game of Thrones character… He could probably match a wine to the consistency of the lint in your pocket if you asked him.
Jeff is passionate about what he does, and that passion is evident in every aspect of the shop. There’s almost always some sort of themed event going on, including classes, fundraisers for charities, potlucks/​meetups and poetry shows. If you’re looking for good wine and interesting conversation, Pairings is the best of the best.

Pairings Portland is an excellent place for a great glass of wine or a complete wine tasting. Jeffery jumped through hoops to help me plan my mom’s birthday event. We had a schedule conflict and he was able to put a wonderful pairings together in less than 24 hour notice. My family and friends spent a Saturday evening trying 5 – 6 wines and Jeffery was very knowledgeable and helpful explaining and answering all my dad’s silly questions. Thank you very much Jeffery for a great evening. My mom had a great time.

Jeff was absolutely wonderful. My boyfriend and I were traveling in Portland because we had never been before and wanted to see the city. I feel like Pairings with Jeff was the gem and highlight of our Portland trip. As cheesy or odd as this might sound, Jeff completely revolutionized my perception of tasting wine. I’ve been to my fair share of wine tastings and wineries but never have I had a learning experience quite like this. I love the concept of wine being an ingredient, a response to a taste instead of the taste itself. What a great, one of a kind store. Jeff is clearly passionate about what he does and teaches and my boyfriend and I will immediately return to his shop if we visit Portland again in the future.

Was looking for a place to get some work done and the owner was more than happy to accommodate me and my entourage of chargers and cables.
Hung out for more than an hour in the late afternoon and had a glass of their «house» red.
Owner seemed super knowledgeable about wines and pairings. They organize their wines in creative ways, according to certain themes, and foods it appeared. They had a long list of Game of Thrones wine pairings which I thought was fun.
Not a big wine snob or anything but if I ever felt like picking up a bottle of wine from someone that could speak intelligently about it without being patronizing or pretentious, this would be a place to keep in mind.
Bonus: got a mini-​lecture on biodynamic farming.

What a fantastic little wine shop! I chose to try a tasting flight of four white wines, each one of which Jeff graciously explained. He isn’t snobby about wine. He just loves wine and is happy to talk about it!
I love how the shop organizes its wine (by what mood you’re in, what food you’re eating, or what type of dog you have, for example). The bottles are reasonably priced as well!
I high recommend going here and taking the time to chat with the owner or employees. Such a fun spot!

Jeff is a great teacher of wines. We found a couple fantastic organic and biodynamic wines for my father who has never had an organic wine he liked. Special kudos to jeff: Hes the owner and chief bottle washer and if its open he’s there. Theres plenty of verbal explanation (he’s a new yorker) but the true explanation is simple taste tests with and without other basic cooking ingredients. These tests and the ingredients change the wines and make everything jeff has said make sense. Ask for the ‘transformers’ explanation/​course! Great selection. Great service!

Spend some of your precious time to drop here and you won’t be disappointed. The place was quite small but fun place, especially the pairing part. His passion and creative minds towards wine was simply amazing.

Here’s what I don’t like about some wine shops: the workers try and talk to you. I know this because I have worked in a wine shop before. Also, people throw wine terms at me: «rhubarb, slightly overripe white peach, 1000% oak» and I just don’t want to hear it, like please just point me in the direction of the Portuguese wine.
Jeff would never ignore me. I WANT Jeff to talk to me. Jeff won’t throw any useless information at you: he is ultra-​kind, smart, positive, and he cares so much! I’ve been in here a lot of times and seeing him is my highlight. In most wine shops I’m busy being a snob but here, I want to talk to whoever is in here because they are always interesting and friendly. As for the wines, Jeff has an INSANely selection here. Now, I studied wine in school and worked in a few different markets. I know some obscure stuff. THEY HAVE IT HERE, all perfectly and engagingly organized by pairings. They also have your beautiful basics, local stuff, bubbly, everything!
The pairings can be classic and straightforward: yes, this wine would be great with a picnic date, this will be great for your backyard grill session, but also thought-​provoking and abstract: What is the perfect wine to drink if I’m a Taurus? What about if I want a wine to match with my favorite Game of Thrones character? What if I have to apologize to a very specific person? Not only are there a million ideas here, but Jeff has the imagination and knowledge to back it up. He is a wordsmith using adjectives to spread his love of wine around.
The store itself is cozy, with different types of seating, card games, a bar to taste wine at, lots of books and baubles. There are restaurants across the street that you can bring food from. You can sit outside with your dog, you can hang around for hours or grab a bottle to go.
If you like wine– go here, you’ll learn a lot. If you don’t like wine, go here, because you will start liking it. And if you’re a wine snob like me, talk to Jeff and check out all the awesome stuff he has, because you will be IMPRESSED.

Wow, what a find in Portland. A wine shop with tasting that makes wine FUN. The unusual descriptions work. Red wine pared with the movie princess bride (the Sicilian) perfect!
Jeff, the owner, is remarkable; fun, friendly, and knows his wine.
We’ll be back often. Check it out for yourself you won’t be disappointed!

Stopped in on a whim while a friend was in town. Ended up staying for over an hour enjoying an awesome flight of reds with a few surprise cheese pairings that were graciously offered to us by the owner. Every wine was delicious and explained very well. The cheese pairings were the best I have ever had. Will definitly return.
Also, you have to love that wines are categorized by pets (poodle, ferral cat, etc), movies, moods,… So much fun!

Came by here for a wine tasting while visiting some friends in town. This wine bar is truly special. The owner takes a special effort in making his wines fun, relatable and enjoyable. It’s clear he has both an incredible depth of knowledge for wine as well as an extreme passion for sharing it with everyone.
This place has to rate as one of my top wine bar experiences of all time. If you haven’t been here, you need to come experience this place and try some unique and interesting wines.

Love the wine selection and unique and creative pairing options! They have pairings for different foods, dates, moods — you name it!
The staff is incredibly knowledgeable about wines and are super enthusiastic about getting you paired up with the right wine for you!
Intimate but quirky atmosphere — would recommend to anyone who is even mildly into wine!

Allow yourself some time if you have a chance to shop here – it’s a treat!
Pairings Portland is small but well-​stocked and the displays are themed. If you’re looking for a bottle for a night in, Jeff has an array fitted to whatever you plan to do while holed up at home. Or, if you’re into cats or dogs, you can find a wine sharing the characteristics of your favorite furry friend (Example: Maine Coon cat = dry, thoughtful, and earthy). But that’s just two. One could easily spend an hour here reading the descriptions.
It’s a super-​fun place and the flights are a bargain. Stop by and stock up – the holidays are coming soon!

The owner of the shop, Jeff, is extremely knowledgeable about wine. His passion and creativity are evident in everything from the wines he has in stock to his weekly events and and unique approaches to pairing wine with just about anything (meals, movies, music, horoscopes, pets, etc.) It doesn’t hurt that he’s also a fun, friendly and funny guy.
We like having this little gem nearby and enjoy stopping in to stock up on our favorites or try something new (Jeff is great at understanding our tastes and making recommendations.)
Looking forward to your continued success!