"In a Salmon Street warehouse, up a flight of stairs and down a relatively nondescript hallway, lies Oregon winery Statera’s new tasting room, which opened on January 17. Its walls are relatively unmarked, save a mirror serving as the tasting room’s menu, advertising bottle prices for its wines. A few tables and chairs sit in the space, including a handful of bar seats staring out the window, overlooking the Stumptown roastery in Southeast Portland. But at the center of the space, hanging from the ceiling, is a gargantuan globe of stuffed animals, looming over the tasting counter and its visitors. Wylde built the globe of stuffed animals, hauling in garbage bags full of plush unicorns and bears and Pikachus from the Bins, a Goodwill outlet store. They attached them to a spherical cage of chicken wire, not stopping until the wire was completely hidden. The goal: To make the tasting room — and wine — feel approachable and fun, whether that involves hosting book clubs and Dungeons & Dragons games in the tasting room or loading hard-to-find cups of instant noodles with crab and kimchi as a food pairing. Wylde founded Statera with fellow Chehalem Winery alumna Meredith Bell in 2015 specifically to focus on the region’s chardonnay — single-vineyard wines, pet nat, and the occasional blend. Grapes come from biodynamic and organic vineyards, particularly Johan Vineyards along the Van Duzer Corridor near Salem. Each of the winemakers has their own labels, as well, which they pour and sell out of the tasting room: Bell’s Est. Wines, which specializes in pinot noir and sauvignon blanc grown in Clackamas County, and Wylde’s Lares Wines, which makes bold blends incorporating everything from apple juice to aligoté. At the tasting room, visitors can choose between flights, glass pours, and half-glasses, perusing bottles listed on the mirror. When it comes to food, Wylde offers a rotating selection of Korean and Japanese snacks and instant noodles, the latter of which they upgrade with toppings like crab or squid, premium sesame oil, and/or kimchi, depending on the day. Some days, Wylde brings in a slow-cooker of congee, which they top with a similar array of accoutrements." - Brooke Jackson-Glidden
