“A great wine education class. I was amazed by the instructor's wealth of knowledge, the great wines to taste and talk about, and the small, intimate class size. A fun way to learn a lot about wine.”

—Will, Ritchie Creek Vineyards

Suggested San Francisco Wine Bars

Parking is ridiculous. Don’t drive. Print out our Maps. Take the bus, street car, or at least a cab. Walk between nearby wine bars. Take a cab back to your hotel.

San Francisco Wine Bar Walking Tours

Print out these high quality maps and take a stroll around SF, checking out what the local wine Bars have to offer. Click here to download these files.

Read below for some detail on our suggested SF wine Bars

MARKET ~ CASTRO FRINGE

All three of these colorful, ‘very San Francisco’ places are within 25 yards of each other in the same block. Start here, then decide to branch out in any one of the subsequent the directions.

CAV ~ Eclectic, but sophisticated. Pamela Busch knows a lot about wine, especially wines from unusual places. Excellent shared plates of wine-friendly food. ~ 1666 Market St ~ www.Cavwinebar.com
HOTEL BIRON ~ Cozy atmosphere. Eccentric wines. Fun crowd. ~ 45 Rose St ~ www.HotelBiron.com
ZUNI CAFE ~ Wonderful selection of oysters on the half shell. Good match for sparkling wines by the glass. Place to see and be seen. ~ 1658 Market St (bet. Franklin & Gough) ~ www.zunicafe.com

MISSION DISTRICT

ANDALU ~ Okay wines are entertaining when matched to the small food plates ~ 3198 16^th St (at Guerrero) ~ www.Andalusf.com
LIMON ~ Peruvian cuisine. Good wines, but choices seem fairly standard compared to the food. Nuevo hip. ~ 524 Valencia St (nr 17^th St) ~ www.Limon-sf.com

DOWNTOWN HOTEL / THEATER DISTRICT

HIDDEN VINE ~ Hard to find; very worth the effort. Extremely comfortable, private. ~ ½ Cosmo Plc (in the back of the Fitzgerald Hotel, which is at 620 Post St) ~ www.theHiddenVine.com
FIRST PRESS ~ Been around for a long time serving the convention crowd from nearby big hotels. Reasonably good values on better than adequate wines. ~ 101 Cyril Magnin St ~ www.FirstCrush.com

TAKE PUBLIC TRANSIT UP MARKET STREET

DESTINO ~ Can be crowded. Go late. Enjoy some unusual South American wines. Peruvian cuisine at modest prices. ~ 1815 Market St ~ www.Destinosf.com
MECCA ~ Large dramatic space; bar and restaurant. ‘Colorful’ Central on Halloween, including 6’5” people with beards and great legs, dressed as women, in line to visit the men’s room. Check any intolerant attitudes at the door. Small by-the-glass list, but excellent wine program overall, with extremely knowledgeable servers. ~ 2029 Market St (between Church and Dolores) ~ www.sfMecca.com
EOS ~ Very fine wine selections. Associated with Bacar, so Debbie Zacharias plays a role. Street car stops right in front. ~ 901 Cole St (at Carl ~ take the N-Judah street car) ~ www.eossf.com

EMBARCADERO, FISHERMAN’S WHARF, NORTH BEACH

FERRY PLAZA Wine Bar ~ Partnership between Peter Granoff, MS (who started one of the first Internet wine companies in America) and Debbie Zacharias. Pretty sophisticated selection. Have a plate of oysters brought over to your table from the Hog Island outlet nearby. ~ Ferry Bldg ~ www.fpwm.com
BUBBLE LOUNGE ~ 300 sparklers. Say no more. Great place to meet before a dinner in Chinatown or North Beach. ~ 714 Montgomery St (nr Jackson) ~ www.BubbleLounge.com

SOUTH OF MARKET (SOMA)

BACAR ~ Perhaps the most sophisticated wine-by-the-glass program in the City. Expensive, and noisy, but a great chance to taste things you’ve only read about. Recently added a jazz lounge downstairs. ~ 448 Brannan St (nr 4^th St) ~ www.Bacarsf.com
SOUTH Food & Wine Bar ~ New place with a strong emphasis on all things Australian. Middle of Multi-Media Gulch and across the street from CalTrain Depot, so most buses end up here eventually. ~ 330 Townsend St (nr 4^th St) ~ www.Southfwb.com
DISTRICT ~ Trendy brick interior. Crowded. Noisy. Don’t wear a suit. Do have tattoos. The wine isn’t really as much of an emphasis here as it might be at another place. But then, there are other things in life besides wine. Make new friends, go down the street (toward the Bay) to Tres Agaves and pretend to be a tequila connoisseur. Don’t blame me in the morning. ~ 216 Townsend (at 3^rd St) ~ www.Districtsf.com
YIELD ~ A focus on organically grown grapes is the hook at this Dogpatch location (eastern side of Potrero Hill, reachable on the 3^rd St light rail). Of course this ‘green’ notion doesn’t necessarily lead to quality wine. Try the Artizuri Grarnacha or Patrick Campbell’s Terra Rosa Malbec. ~ 2490 Third St (at 22^nd St, perhaps strangely to out of town visitors) ~ www.yieldsf.com

UNION STREET, CHESTNUT STREET, THE MARINA DISTRICT

AMELIE ~ Tres francais, even down to a pack of Gitanes placed (nostalgically, one would assume) against the bar back. Huge list of modest quality (mostly European) wines by the glass. ~ 1754 Polk St (nr Washington) ~ www.Ameliesf.com
OTTIMISTA Enoteca ~ Okay wine selection with Italianate bent. Attractive crowd. Great fried olives. Comfortable atmosphere. Worth a visit. ~1838 Union St (nr Octavia) ~ www.Ottimistasf.com
NECTAR ~ Best bet for meeting well-dressed, neurotic companion who likes pleasant wine. Lots of women. ~ 3330 Steiner St (near Chestnut) ~ www.NectarWineLounge.com
California Wine Merchant ~ Small. Hardcore aficionados. Knowledgeable staff.
Minimal frou-frou. Real good wines. ~ 2113 Chestnut St (nr Steiner) ~ www.CaliforniaWineMerchant.com
A16 ~ Very strong, and broad, Italian selection. Well-prepared Italian country food. ~ 2355 Chestnut St (bet. Scott and Divisadero) ~ www.A16sf.com
BIN 38 ~ Local hang out with a lot of artisan beers. Stewardi unwound, interior designers akimbo. Small producer wines of modest distinction. ~ 3232 Scott St (nr Lombard) ~ www.Bin38.com
PRES a Vi ~ Middle of the Lucas Film campus (read geeks drinking expensive wine). Beautiful place. Nice offering of flights. Shared plates. ~ One Letterman Dr ~ www.Presavi.com

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