A California Wine Pro Is Opening a Bottle Shop in the Alberta Arts District

A new wine bar and florist is coming to Northeast Portland. Dogwood, from couple Brant Ozanich and Gabriella “Gabby” Terracciano, is meant to serve as a neighborhood bottle and flower shop with an emphasis on small-production wines “with a proclivity towards BIPOC producers,” in Ozanich’s words.

Ozanich and Terracciano moved to Portland from the Bay Area, where Ozanich worked at restaurants like Eater SF essential restaurant The Morris and celebrated Italian restaurant A16. Terracciano focused on her florals, making bouquets and arrangements for clients in the Bay Area. Before they began their professional careers, the two studied in France, which influenced their interest in their respective fields: Ozanich went to Burgundy for the pinot noir harvest after becoming a certified sommelier. “To me, wine is the perfect lense to view history, geography, climate. It’s one item that incorporates so much in the world, from soil types to the personalities farming and making the wine, to the history of the region and how certain varieties got there,” he says. “I have an insatiable thirst for knowledge and all those different subject, so wine is the perfect way to pursue all of them without pigeonholing myself in one. And of course, it’s delicious.”

As first reported by the Oregonian, Dogwood should open in the spring — likely April — specializing in retail to start: the bottle selection at Dogwood will include wines from countries like France and Spain, as well as bottles from California and Oregon. Down the line, Ozanich and Terracciano will apply for an onsite consumption license to offer onsite tastings, after-work glass pours, and wreath-building and wine classes. Terracciano will specialize in plants from women-owned farms, which she will transform into arrangements with “an avant-garde, elegant touch,” according to her fiance. The name Dogwood is a nod to her history as a florist: A dogwood blossom was the first flower ever given to Terracciano, and it was the first flower she ever pressed. “[Portland is] the City of Roses, but dogwoods also flourish here,” Ozanich says. “They generally bloom in spring, when we’re opening our store.”

The couple has other plans for the spring: They’re getting married, within the same month they plan to open Dogwood. They moved to Oregon to settle down. “We love the climate, we love the people, we love the community,” Ozanich says. “We wanted to explore a place, put down roots, buy a house.” Dogwood will open at 4932 NE 30th Avenue.

• Dogwood [Instagram]
• Dogwood brings wine and flower power to Northeast Portland [O]