Coopers Hall

The wine list at Coopers Hall reads better than a lot of books I've read this year—it's like good company at a meal. "While most of us know Syrah, few of us have tasted Syrah from impossible slopes of the Northern Rhone where the grape found its origins, and if you haven't, then go find one. In the meantime drink ours…" When Coopers Hall opened as an airplane hangar for wine—winery and a cidery and barrelhouse and home to more wines on tap than maybe anywhere in the country—it was in danger of feeling cold, impersonal. But it doesn't. There's schmaltz on that bread (both figuratively and literally—you should order it), warm bar staff who care about what they serve and an idiosyncratic and talented sommelier, Joel Gunderson, who brings in oddball wines with interesting flavors and importunes you from the menu to "drink eccentric sparkling wine." He's right. You should.

Happy hour: 4-6 pm daily. A vast array of discounts on almost everything—including cheap wine fills to go.

404 SE 6th Ave., 503-719-7000, coopershall.com. 4-10 pm Monday-Saturday.

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