Ambonnay Champagne Bar

Exquisite. We had a tasting and it was truly lovely. Loved the ambience, the champagnes we tasted were beautifully curated. Go here with a wine lover and spend time talking to the staff!

Loved it, the staff was great and very knowledgable about the Champagne and cheeses. The location is very small and intimate. Perfect for a date.

Small space to get an expensive glass of champagne. Great building and nice bartender.

Small space with really friendly and knowledgable service. We had glasses of grower champagnes before and after an Aube comparative tasting. David hosted the tasting event/​class, which was well received by everyone who sat at the table. I tasted many wines I had never before. Very good value for $ 45 pp.

They had jamon serrano the night I went. Perhaps I was just lucky, but Ambonnay not only had one of the most interesting sparkling wines I’ve had, but the featured ham was amazing. Really impressed. The location is a little awkward, feels a bit corporate/​commercial. Other than that, huge fan.

Extremely intimate space with bubbles galore. The sommelier knows his wine inside and out and will take you on an adventure through Champagne and beyond. Treat your wife to a perfect for a low-​key night away from the kids.

I love Champagne. And I don’t mind paying for it. But this place is sterile. There is simply nothing welcoming about it. The decorations? The wine list is great though and David is very knowledgable. Just not terribly friendly.

My husband and I have been visiting Ambonnay since it opened 3 years ago and from then until now it has gotten very popular! We visited the other night and almost every table was full! The owner, David, knows his stuff. He visits France every year to taste through Ambonnay and champagne country to bring the best bottles to us! After exploring champagne bars in Manhattan and NY, Portland is very lucky to have Ambonnay and to have a top sommelier pouring remarkable wines. We love the exclusivity of champagne and never leave without ordering the truffle popcorn! This place is on our top 10 list of best places to visit in Portland!

It’s rare that I give a five start review, but Ambonnay truly deserves this and more. If you live in Portland or are passing through on a trip, be sure to make time to stop at this unique and wonderful champagne bar. David, the owner, is knowledgeable, personable and has an wonderful curated selection of champagne (and a little sparkling wine).
The atmosphere is cozy and inviting and the price point is amazing for the quality of champagne served.

This is really a hidden gem in an up and coming area. The list of Champagne goes on and on and on. The owner is very well versed and really knows his stuff. The bottles can definitely get on the expensive side, but hey! its the real deal!

Wow! A place in Portland where i can drink delicious and interesting Champagnes for $ 14 or less a glass?! Amazing! Anywhere else in town charges $ 20 for moet or veuve or btls are $ 100+. Great prices, cozy fun laidback atmosphere, knowledgeable but not snotty bartenders. Whats not to like? Plus they got an air popper too!

In a word: AWESOME. From David to the wines to the place, it’s all great. Open your mind and your palate and go. You’ll be transported (more elegantly than tequila could ever drive you), and the journey will be luxurious, powerful, and delicious (plus, no next morning alcohol remorse — no wedding champagne served here). This place is a true gem in every taste — everybody loves (or should love) champagne, and David will show you what you’ve been missing.
PS: Don’t forget the truffle popcorn… fantastic, even without the movie…

Great selection and knowledge of bubbles. And a great addition to options for drinking in PDX before, after or instead of dinner with close options nearby to crawl at Redslate wine. We will be back.
But if I could persuade David to make one change: The interior needs to be MUCH more cozy. Drapes on a portion of the windows, much more plush seating and warmer interior design would give the Driftwood a run for its money as the go to night spot for a little intimacy. Do it!

David knows his bubbles, the selection is fantastic and the venue is really intimate. An awesome edition to PDX.

We were the only ones in the place one Sunday evening, and it was a really lovely experience. The truffle popcorn is amazing. I wasn’t even hungry, and I was shoving that stuff in my face as quickly as I could w/​o looking like a little piggie. It was slightly irritating that he didn’t have many options for us — as he told us that the night before was crazy. Well, I’m super glad that you have lots of customers, but I’d like some wine too. So hopefully they can figure out ordering so that they aren’t left w/​o wine on a night when I need some (which is every night). And the problem was that only the more expensive stuff was available. So I really think that it would have been nice had he offered a small discount to make up for the fact that we had to get a MUCH more expensive bottle than we would have otherwise gotten. Like 5 or 10% would have been nice. Nice for us, and nice for him. Win-​win. Or wine-​wine, whichever. :)

I like that there is a champagne bar in Portland. I’m not a huge fan of beer and honestly all the breweries are getting old to me. Decided to go to Ambonnay to celebrate with friends. I had already looked at the menu online so I wasn’t sticker shocked really. But I thought there might be another menu not posted online that included a few more affordable options. I get it, it’s a champagne bar, but it’s a champagne bar in Portland, OR. Oh well, it’s worth it.
The only food on the menu is a great truffle popcorn and a fabulous cheese plate. Both were amazing and go great with champagne. Who would have though popcorn and champagne? Well, it’s dam good let me tell you. And not too oily either. Just perfect.
I didn’t know what to choose, so i let the very knowledgable owner/​bartender choose for me. It was a wonderful rose, and I don’t normally like rose. In fact, when I saw it my heart sank. But that was all over once I tried it. I can’t remember the name of it and I honestly just didn’t look a the total bill for fear I might faint, so no help to you there.
If you’re looking for a quiet (except for the trains), quaint place to enjoy some great champagne, this is your place. I would go back again for sure. After I save up a bit.

Endeavoring mightily to patronize the excellent brewpubs in Portland, I’ve become myopic. We arrive early for dinner at ClarkLewis, leaving time for a pint nearby, when Cheryl said «I’m in the mood for a sparkling wine». Thus we happened upon Ambonnay. What a treat.
Ambonnay is a small, but very inviting bar focused on champagne, sparking wine, and rieslings. We had flights and glasses, guided by the personable and expert owner, and all was fine. The cheese board made for a tasty appetizer, and the suggested wines matched exquisitely.
A perfect place to take your sweetheart.

Yep. Just what the other 5-​star reviews said. The owner, David Speer (also of Red Slate which is another great wine bar I’d give 5-​stars to as well –
) is incredibly knowledgeable and hospitable. Cute and cozy place, quite comfortable, and even romantic at night.

We crossed the river Friday evening just to check out Ambonnay, after verifying that it should be open (both Unilocal and their website listed them as open until 11 pm on Fri nights). Yet the doors were locked, lights out, no one home — at 10 pm. No note on the door, nothing on the website about different hours this weekend. Luckily Produce Row is nearby and we had an excellent time there instead.
So, a poor experience with Ambonnay… 2 stars for not adhering to your posted business hours — unprofessional. I’ll give it another shot at some point and see if they can redeem themselves.

FINALLY!
Despite being right smack in the middle of wine country, Portland has never had a champagne bar. Till now.
And sommelier David Speer did it right.
The décor? Well, as the lady I was with said, it’s like sitting inside a champagne glass. Warm colors, granite bar, bubbly mirrors, chandeliers (pay no attention to the industrial HVAC further up)… really an inviting area. Seven sparklers by the glass… 50 more by the bottle. Scanning the menu, we went for a risk. Gruet Sauvage. Who knew they made sparkling wine in… New Mexico?
Taste.
Who knew they made TERRIFIC sparkling wine in New Mexico?
Great service, cool music… and when the check came, a reasonable price. (200% markups on bubbly at restaurants? Less than half that here.)
On the whole, a wonderful experience… and one I’ll duplicate just often enough to avoid becoming an alcoholic.