A new approach to wine service is taking root inside the Futura Cafe at 7201 NE Glisan Street. For the past six weekend evenings, Eno Wine has taken over the popular Montavilla coffee house and created a new experience in the neighborhood. Opening after the baristas head home on Fridays and Saturdays, Caroline and Matthew Tache swap out mugs for stemware. Each week features a new collection of wines, allowing patrons to experience a distinctive flight of six selections, wine by the glass, or a sharable bottle. Currently open from 5 to 10 p.m. on just two evenings, the owners will expand to Wednesday through Sunday later this year.
Matthew and Caroline Tache began Eno Wine inside the Collective Oregon Eateries (CORE) dining hall. That trial location failed to mature into a permanent shop. However, the hunt for a new space created an opportunity for a different style of wine bar that leveraged an existing space into a symbiotic cooperation between complementary businesses. “Brick and mortar is a big investment. Stocking a wine store with hundreds of different kinds of wine and thousands of bottles is expensive,” explained Caroline Tache. Rent of a whole storefront and inventory costs would require higher prices and change their vision for Eno Wine. The couple was aware of other coffee shop and wine bar combinations outside of Portland that worked well due to inverted schedules and overlapping clientele palates. “If you come here (Futura), you care about your coffee, so you’ll probably gonna care about your wine,” said Caroline Tache, detailing why the two shops work well together.
Menu variety is an integral part of Eno Wine. Themes and special events will drive each week’s bottle selection, encouraging regular visitors who seek variety and attracting new groups. On June 23rd and 24th, the section offered all Eastern European sourced wines from Slovenia, Croatia, and Hungary. Previously they hosted a wine and food paring event for chef Hannah Che’s James Beard award-winning cookbook The Vegan Chinese Kitchen. They also plan future collaborations, including one with the neighboring Secret Pizza Society. They will select certified vegan wines to pair with vegan pizzas at that event. Future themes will post to the Eno Wine Instagram feed as details emerge.
Sharing Futura Coffee Roasters’ space on NE Glisan fits the Taches business goals for an accessible neighborhood wine bar and bottle shop. Futura’s owner was receptive to collaboration because the two businesses share a commitment to sustainable production and quality. The cafe’s layout and clean design works for Eno Wine’s image, but they hope to add minor enhancements to the shared space, primarily in a wine rack that will showcase popular bottles to customers of both shops.
Matthew and Caroline Tache are Montavilla residents who want to balance the beer-rich culture here with more wine options for their community. However, the seed of this new wine venture started across the country. “I worked in restaurants for a long time and then transitioned to food and wine writing. For about ten years, I wrote about food and wine for sites like Eater and Zagat, then as a food editor for the free weekly paper in Philadelphia. Obviously, it’s a subject I’m very passionate about,” said Caroline Tache. That enthusiasm for restaurant culture took a substantial hit during the pandemic, and she transitioned to sales, managing a boutique wine and spirits store outside of Philadelphia. In 2021, Caroline Tache moved to Portland to start her own business combining her review and sale careers. Matthew Tache is new to this business but brings a personal enthusiasm for wine to the shop.
The group works with several local distributors, including Montavilla’s own Prufrock Wines, creating impressive selections of affordable options. Many of the bottles cost less than $28 but still represent high standards of wine production. “We’re looking for minimal intervention, natural, sustainable, just good quality small production lines,” explained Caroline Tache. People looking to try a creative array of wines should visit Eno Wine on Fridays and Saturdays from 5 to 10 p.m. Look for expanded days and hours over the coming months.
Disclosure: The author of this article received free tasting of six wines during the interview.
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