For some people, the promise of getting a wine buzz without a trek out to wine country is enough reason to support Portland's growing community of urban winemakers. We completely agree that it's hard to beat hopping on a bus or strolling down to the neighborhood winery for a glass of rosé in the summer sun, but there are plenty of other reasons these in-town vinters deserve our support. 

Our readers pitched in with some great insight on the importance of the urban wine industry, just one more reason to love Portland!

1. "Urban Wineries allow small producers to hone their skills while not requiring a lot of investment at the start."—Sean S.

2. "It's a great meeting point for my friends and I when we're all on opposite ends of town, and with our busy schedules it makes it the perfect locale to do our wine tasting without having to plan months in advance."—Tonja S.

3. "Urban Wineries are the phoenixes of abandoned industrial skeletons. Like little shiny beacons you can randomly happen-upon on an afternoon stroll. Within cab, bike, or stumbling distance to suburbia, they make great wines accessible to the denizens of PDX without a full day commitment."—Laurie

4. "Keeping the winery in an urban environment makes everything easier... distribution and supply for the winery, not to mention the long drives to and from wine country for work."—Robert F.

5. "Urban wineries are key to those of us who don't own a car but want to experience Portland at it's fullest. Keeping these wineries in the city not only creates a safer environment but also a healthier one. Thank you for reducing our footprint and bringing great local wines to the city dwellers!"—Linda

6. "We need to grow our Oregon winery industry, so we can beat California!"—Linda T.

7. "The urban winery is a key complement to the Portland social and tasting experience. We have amazing food from the savory to the sweet, and breweries that can suit anyone's fancy spread through our many neighborhoods. Oregon has amazing wineries, some of the best, and they seem to be underrepresented here in the city... it's the missing piece of the puzzle!"—M. Whitney

8. "Oregon wineries are important because like any other local business, they stimulate the local economy."—M.K.

9. "The proximity and density of urban wineries should, I hope, foster increased collaboration—or at least inspiration-by-friction!"—Joe

10. "Urban wineries are important because Portland is an up and coming tourist city. The Oregon wine scene is bigger than most out-of-towners think and people who are here for short visits often don't have the time to go explore our wine region so we have to make it available to them!"—Janey W.

Want a few more reasons? Check out our profile of Portland's best urban winemakers and scroll through the slide show above for photos from June 8th's PDX Urban Wine Experience, where twelve of the metropolitan area's urban wineries gathered to pour their wines and connect wine lovers with winemakers themselves.