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A SF night out: Winery Collective & Ghirardelli Square

» posted by Rich on 2010-02-09 06:35:46

This past week I made a trek to a part of SF I rarely visit, the Fisherman's Wharf area. Now, there is probably only one reason to get me down there, and no, my parents were not in town... the reason is wine, of course.

I had been hearing about the wine tasting rooms popping up in this part of town, like Cellar 360, Wattle Creek Winery tasting room, and Winery Collective, all three in Ghirardelli Square, but I had yet to venture out there to have a look.

Cellar 360 is a big, bright wine shop that has several different tasting flights, each for a $10 fee, a reserve tasting for $30, and small plates for some great food pairings. They host special events, including free classes and happy hour specials. They even have a full demonstration kitchen where they have guest chefs and authors.

Wattle Creek gives you an authentic Sonoma tasting room experience, with great flights, including some limited releases only available in the tasting room.

But the real reason I came was for a special event happening at a joint called Winery Collective. That evening they were featuring winemaker Larry Schaffer, who just was named the SF Chronicle Winemaker To Watch, with his Tercero wines.

The space is great. They showcase boutique wineries from around california in a comfortable, tasting room setting. Some small tables and chairs are scattered around the room, with the long tasting bar down the entire length of one side... giving lots of people plenty of room to get their taste on. It got to be pretty crowded, but everyone got their pours. The staff, including Larry Schaffer himself, mingled and poured throughout the night.

The collective consists of over a dozen wineries including; VIE, Twisted Oak, Cornerstone Cellars, Viader, Shannon Ridge, Core, Robert Stemmler, LaTour, Donum, Copain, Longboard, Arnot-Roberts, and skylark, among others.

We tasted seven Tercero Wines for $20. The standouts were the 2008 Grenache Blanc ($18), and the 2006 Cuvee Christine ($28). One of the hosts, Cindy Crater, took good care of me. She kept me rolling among the large crowd that began to amass. She always remembered where I was in my flight, and took the time to answer questions, offering up her knowledge of each wine.

Also tasted:
2008 "The Outlier" Gewurztraminer ($18)
2008 Rose ($15)
2007 Grenahe, Watch Hill ($28)
2007 Syrah, Larner Vineyard
2007 The Climb ($28)

While bellied up to the bar I got to talking to the man in charge, Bryan Kane, who also makes his own wine under the VIE label. VIE Winery operates out on Treasure Island (visit by appointment only), but the Winery Collective acts as it's official tasting room. Bryan eventually offered me up a taste of his VIE 2006 Beatty Ranch Howell Mountain Zinfandel (Napa), and I gotta tell you, it was awesome. My tasting notes are a bit sketchy from that point in the night... but suffice to say, I bought a bottle of it. That's how much I liked it. I also bought the Tercero 2008 Grenache, and the Tercero Cuvee Christine, (wine wallet strikes again!).

If you're visiting San Francisco and you're going to be around Fisherman's Wharf anyway, you should hit Winery Collective, and the other tasting rooms at Ghirardelli Square.

I know that asking locals to go down to Ghirardelli Square is like asking native Floridians to go grab a bite to eat at Downtown Disney, but I assure you that it's okay. On the winter evening I was there, it was pretty quiet on the streets, and the tasting rooms and restaurants were the only things going. You may want to double your pleasure and indulge in a Ghirardelli ice cream sunday after your tasting! If you love wine and want a tasting room vibe without driving over the Golden Gate, this is your spot.