GC Wines Opens New Tasting Room in Northeast Portland

Oregon winery Grochau Cellars is celebrating 20 years with a new tasting room in Portland and a new name: GC Wines. GC Wines’ new tasting room is located in Canyons Alley at 3450 N. Williams Avenue. The tasting room is GC Wines’ second outpost; the winery’s original tasting room is located in the Eola-Amity Hills near Amity, at 9360 SE Eola Hills Road.

The new GC Wines tasting room is an airy, bright space in the Canyons Alley, an open-air corridor of storefronts located at The Canyons apartments at 3450 N. Williams Ave. The space seats 17 guests indoors in addition to a standing bar that fits four people and outdoor seating in the courtyard. The modern, open space is warmed by the handmade wooden bar and shelves and lush hanging plants.

The menu offers a flight of four GC Wines for $20, with the flight selection changing monthly. For October, the flight features the 2021 Melon de Bourgogne, the 2021 Etheric Wine Workshop Skin Contact Auxerrois, the 2019 Redford-Wetle Vineyard Gamay Noir, and the 2019 Upper Five Vineyard Syrah. The wines on the flight are also available by the glass or by the bottle.

The menu also has an additional bottle list, to be enjoyed in the tasting room or taken home, as well as a rotating draft beer (Crux Pilsner for October), and a variety of snacks are available. The snacks include a Spanish nut mix, rice crackers with nori, and olives. Outside food is allowed and encouraged, so guests can bring in a takeout dinner to enjoy with a flight or a glass of wine.

GC Wines was founded by John Grochau as Grochau Cellars in 2002, and has evolved while also adhering to the principles he started with: wine made with minimal intervention from responsibly grown vineyards. Grochau believes that all the people involved in making the wine are the collaborators who create the final product. After reflecting on more than two decades in the business, he shortened the name of his winery to GC Wines to reflect the brand’s evolution from one person’s dream to a dream realized and a much bigger family.

GC Wines is nationally known for their Commuter Cuvée, an approachable Pinot Noir blend. Their wines also include the Convivial Pinot Noir and Gamay Noir blend, single vineyard Pinot Noir, and a number of varietal whites, ranging from the lemony Melon de Bourgogne to crisp Pinot Blanc.