It’s a blustery, chilly, on-again/off-again rainy evening in mid-winter, among the longest nights of winter – when the darkness creeps in before you know it, blanketing everything in dreary gloom. Puddles lurk in the shadows and scarves are needed to buffer the chill.
Nighttimes like this, there’s no place cozier than a plush sofa seat by a fireplace with a glass (or three) of wine, surrounded by friends familiar and new, and tasty nibbles galore.
We duck into Living Room Wines, a welcome new addition to the University Park neighborhood of North Portland, and tuck into cazuelas of cauliflower bisque, potato chips and caramelized onion dip, and queso studded with bacon lardons, lapped up with tongue-shaped slices of bias-sliced baguette.
Wine flights are three pours for $20 – choose from a rotating selection of bubbles, whites, pinks, oranges and reds. We ordered two different flights and tasted the world, starting with a spritzy, juicy, effervescent cava from Spain (Bodegas Pinord Mas y Mas) and a dusky rosé sparkling Cab Franc from the Loire region of France (Arnaud Lambert Crémant de Loire). We cruised along with a balanced sweet-sour Oregon Pinot Gris (Libra Wines’ “Pisces”) and an Oregon Chardonnay made in the “modern” stainless method by Landmass. Of the reds, we tried a jammy, high-toned Merlot made in the natural style by Hooray For You (their winemaker, Greg Cantu, is a dear friend and a member of the Living Room Wines team), and a dark cherry bomb of a Montepulciano (Barone Cornacchia) that turned my cheeks rosy.
Between sips and bites, our friends shared stories from their recent honeymoon in Italy, where they discovered their new favorite white wine – Vernaccia. “We don’t have any Vernaccia right now, I’m sorry to say, but I just received a sample of something similar,” intoned Fabrizio Barbagelata, co-owner of Living Room Wines, along with partner Justin Sedor. The two opened their wine bar this past November.
Barbagelata poured us each a finger of Pigato, an undersung Italian grape variety similar to Vernaccia. Swirled, the blonde-ish wine delivered a bombshell bouquet – floral, like honeysuckle, and sipped like an all-naturally sweetened fruit cocktail. “That’s just perfect,” says our friend. “May I have a whole glass, please?”
In his by-the-glass and bottle selections, Barbagelata showcases his depth of knowledge and favorite French, Spanish, Italian and Oregonian producers du jour. Previously, he managed a Spanish wine program as general manager of Tia Pol in New York City. He also spent several years in wine distribution, including at Frederick Wildman & Sons, before relocating to the West Coast to manage the fine wine portfolio for Frederick Wildman in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest, and pouring at 45th Parallel Wines.
Living Room Wines lives and breathes over 2,000 square feet of space, encompassing a sofa lounge, horseshoe-shaped bar, banquette seating, a well-apportioned bank of retail shelves, and an as-yet-unchristened special events space tucked in the back, nestled next to their shoebox of a kitchen.
“We worked really hard to create a menu that would be simple to execute while maximizing craveability,” Sedor says. “This is our dream, and we’re so happy to be here,” Barbagelata adds.
Living Room Wines is sandwiched between Chef Zhao and the Peninsula Odd Fellows Community Classroom and Museum of Odd History to the north, and Darcy’s Restaurant and Bar to the south. Across the street are East Side Delicatessen and Taco Bell – the neighborhood is an amalgam of Portland old and new, with other notable neighbors, including Chill N Fill and Lombardo’s Pizza.
To get here, take the slow, scenic drive down Lombard Street, a winding thoroughfare through a historic neighborhood that traces the banks of the Willamette River and offers spectacular views of Portland’s namesake port.
Living Room Wines, located at 4818 N. Lombard Street, is open from 1-9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. For more information and to make reservations visit LivingRoomWinesPDX.com.
