Cruising into SF Thursday and want to hit a store in the downtown area (I won’t have a car) to grab a few wines to supplement my shipper I’ll be checking on the plane.
Any shops you’d recommend and what their specialty (if any) is?
I’m not looking for anything in particular fwiw.
Other than K&L which just came onto my radar 
Arlequin
http://www.arlequinwinemerchant.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Great selection of killer, small CA producers, grower champs, and a solid focus on natural wine-
Terroir
http://terroirsf.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
San Francisco Wine Trading - http://www.sfwtc.com/store/pc/home.asp
The Wine Club - http://www.thewineclub.com/
Wine House - http://www.wineaccess.com/store/winesf/index.html
Not in SF but close enough and worth the trip:
Beltramo’s - http://www.beltramos.com/
Weimax - http://www.weimax.com/
All the above recs are solid, I would also suggest:
Ferry Plaza ain’t the place for bargains or even great deals but the selection is excellent and it’s a fun place to go have a glass of wine. Say “howdy” to Debbie for me.
Oh . . . in step with the post immediately above . . .
Ferry Plaza ain’t the place for bargains or even great deals but the selection is excellent and it’s a fun place to go have a glass of wine. Say “howdy” to Debbie for me.
![[berserker.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8600bbd4810d342b8fbd4ffb62b4f0026275fd37.gif "berserker"){kind=small}
![[rofl.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/a/a7452fcd8e675af869f8da01174474a545b03944.gif "rofl"){kind=small}
For SF Wine Trading Company, take the L line MUNI outbound to three stops past the West Portal Station (15th Ave. and Taraval) and walk up Taraval three blocks. It’s on the left (north) side of the street. Good selection from around the globe. Best spirits selection on the west coast.
K&L is good too, lots of champagnes. If you want to take public transport, look for an N or T train going south of Market towards the ballpark…get off at the train station, which is 4th street, about 7-8 stops after the train surfaces from Embarcadero. The N line ends there, and the T line makes a hard left. Walk two blocks up Fourth towards the city, it is on your right.
K & L is pretty walkable from Powell & Mason, right?
What Fred said. SF Wine Trading Co is a nice shop.
if you like Germans there’s Dee Vine Wines on the Embarcadero: http://www.dvw.com/
She could probably use a good laugh…
Oh yeah, Dee Vine. A real fun browse and what an odd location!
+1
Should you make it over to the East Bay, consider Paul Marcus in Rockridge (at the BART station), Kermit Lynch, North Berkeley Imports and Premier Cru which is opening it’s retail, though not sure if that happened yet.
Biondivino is an Italian specialty shop just off Polk Street towards North Beach. A wine store I actually like better is William Cross Wine Merchant right around the corner on Polk Street. Good variety and good prices. So you get a two-for-one on that trip.
K&L totally rocks, though. I’ve bought probably 80 percent of my wine from there in the last four years.
Yes, you can walk to K&L from Union Square. Go to Market and 4th and walk down 4th street. You will go under the freeway and it’s a block and a half further down.
To reiterate some and add others:
Napa Valley Wine Exchange - is downtown and has a very good selection of “cult” cabs
Ferry Building Wine Merchant - like others said, they ain’t cheap but they have some rare stuff. I don’t know anyone else in SF who has stuff like Kutch, Ovid, Pott, Shafer Hillside, etc.
Golden Gate Wine Cellars - love this place. Frank does a great job getting up and coming producers. If you want to try the next Kutch or the next Ceritas, you want to try here.