This October, we're doing something we've never done before: throwing open the doors of our crushpad and inviting all of Portland to get their feet dirty.
On Saturday, October 10, from 2–7 PM, Portland Wine Company is hosting The Great Portland Grape Stomp — a harvest celebration, neighborhood block party, and I Love Lucy-inspired bacchanalia rolled into one wildly fun afternoon. It's Portland's first urban grape stomp, and it's happening right here at our Southeast Portland crushpad, 3201 SE 50th Ave.
Why We Started This Whole Thing
Twenty years ago, Love & Squalor started as a small-batch passion project — the kind of idea that sounds a little crazy until you're actually making it happen. In 2018, we took that project and planted it firmly in the city, becoming an urban winery in Southeast Portland. We could have kept things out in the valley. Instead, we chose to bring the winemaking here, close to the people who'd be drinking it, because we believed it didn't have to live only behind a tasting room counter surrounded by vineyard rows. It could live on a city block, next to a coffee shop and a bike lane, and still taste like the place the grapes came from.
Today, that's still exactly what Love & Squalor is: Oregon fruit, sourced from the growers we've come to know and trust in the state's best regions, made into wine right here in the city. Urban winemaking isn't a gimmick for us — it's the whole point. It means our neighbors can watch a vintage come together. It means "wine country" isn't somewhere you drive to; it's somewhere you can walk to.
Why a Grape Stomp, Why Now
Twenty years is the kind of milestone that makes you want to throw a party instead of write a press release. So we asked ourselves: what does it actually look like to celebrate two decades of doing this? Not a formal gala. Not a quiet toast. Something that captures what harvest season has always felt like behind the scenes — chaotic, joyful, a little absurd, and a lot better with other people around.
That's where the stomp came from. For as long as we've been making wine, harvest has been our favorite time of year: the smell of fermentation drifting through the warehouse, stained hands and sticky floors, the whole crew laughing about something that happened at 6 am during crush. We wanted to bottle that feeling (pun very much intended) and hand it to the people who've spent 20 years buying our wine, joining our wine club, and showing up to support a weird little urban winery with big ambitions.
"After 20 years of winemaking, we thought it was time to let everyone else get their feet dirty," says Matt Berson, Vintner and Co-Owner of Portland Wine Company. "The Great Portland Grape Stomp is a chance to celebrate the people who have supported us, embrace the fun of harvest, and experience a little bit of wine country right here in Portland."
What to Expect
The centerpiece of the day is, of course, the stomp itself. Twenty teams of four will face off in a five-minute grape-stomping showdown, with the team that produces the most juice claiming the grand prize.
But you don't have to compete to join the fun. The afternoon is packed with:
Love & Squalor wine, poured all day
Local food available for purchase
Live music and games
A costume contest, with prizes for Best Team Costume and Best Lucy Look-Alike
General admission includes a branded Govino outdoor wine glass, five tasting coupons, and discounts on additional pours and bottles — so come thirsty and stay for the show.
Get Your Tickets
Tickets are $25 for wine club members and $40 for the general public. Whether you've been drinking Love & Squalor since our first vintage or you're just looking for a uniquely Portland way to spend a Saturday, there's a place for you at the crushpad.
Grab your tickets, gather a team, or just show up ready to cheer — and help us celebrate 20 years of Portland Wine Company the way harvest was always meant to be celebrated: barefoot, together, and a little messy.