Ruby Wine

Great local wine shop! My favorite in the city. Aron always has delicious reasonably priced wines to recommend. We belong to his wine club and look forward every month to his uniquely wonderful selections. He also bring in wine makers and distributors from all over the world, each Friday night to pour, taste, and discuss their wine. The perfect date night spot…

One of my favorite spots in SF.
This charming little wine shop has an expertly chosen selection of top quality natural and organic wines, and super friendly and knowledgable staff to help guide you.
Friday night tastings at the shop are usually $ 10 for a taste of at least 3 – 4 wines, each week featuring a different theme or winemaker. Such a fun way to try new wines and socialize with other wine drinkers. And there’s always a lovely cheese plate as well!

5 star gem

Amazing selection of small production wines, knowledgeable staff, the best place to mingle on a Friday night!

Stopped by on a Saturday afternoon to do a tasting. Pros/​cons:
Pros:
— Interesting selection of wines (outside of the tasting)
Cons:
— The pourer was rude. She was entrenched in a conversation with her friend regarding their drug usage and completely ignored us.
— Poor selection of wines for the tasting

I’ve been coming here for a couple of years now and surprised I haven’t written them a review. Aran, the owner, has a great knowledge of the wines he selects and is constantly switching things up. As someone who knows nothing about wine, it’s great to be able to ask someone who truly knows what they’re talking about for suggestions or just have a go at the $ 10 tastings and find out for myself.
+1 for being next door to Chez Maman who always has a wait but are willing to come find you next door while you get your sip on.

Absolutely amazing. Not only is the shop quaint and well-​stocked, the staff are supremely knowledgable and all around fantastic. Went for a $ 10 wine tasting, we tried 7 different wines. I’m not a fan of whites in general but the ones they had for us were great! As were the reds. Had a wonderful time there.

Quite a charming spot with an excellent selection of wines. The owner is very knowledgable and his passion for wines was palpable. He recommended a cider which turned out to be distinctive and delectable as well as a Pierre Overnoy Jura. It wasn’t available for purchase at the time… but an industry friend was able to track one down for me and it was every bit as magnificent as he had suggested it would be. Would definitely like to return one day.

I just moved into the neighborhood, saw Ruby Wines and thought to myself why not? I usually have awesome experiences at these smaller specialty wine stores, as they usually have knowledgeable staff and quality wine.
This definitely was not the case with Ruby Wines. It started off well with one of the staff members telling my friend and I that we could reach out if we had any questions. That was pretty much as good as it got.
When we proceeded to ask her about wines, she did the typical «Well what do you prefer?» Both of us are fans of both Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon so we relayed that to her nicely. From there she proceeded to say things such as «I have no idea about this because I don’t like these at all» or «I hate this one, but you can try it, because since I hate it, it might be good»
…Yea that really makes me want to try it…
Finally, she gave a non-​enthusiastic recommendation for a Cabernet Sauvignon that both my friend and I decided to take. She told us it was the one wine she tried and thought was decent for what it was (a cab, because again, she had to let us know she disliked them)
With this, my friend and I went home, happy to be done with the staff and happy to enjoy our bottles of wine. However when we opened them, both were spoiled. Both tasted like carbonized, rotten grapes. Not how wine should taste. We debated going back to let them know, but with how we were treated our first visit when we were buying not returning, it wasn’t worth the effort.
It’s a pity — I wish I could have enjoyed the neighborhood wine shop as much as everyone else seems to. Maybe your experience will be different, but I just wanted to let you know — caution when approaching. Things may not be as good as they seem…

Fridays are fun! Great wine selection.

If I could give Ruby 10 stars, I would. Fantastic service, fantastic selection, knowledgeable staff, interesting shop in a good location, and they always have a bottle open and are generous with their pours! Ruby is really more than a wine shop– it’s a community. Bravo
On the prices, they are more than fair for the quality and rarity of their selection– you won’t get a deal, but they’re not gouging you either.

The Chez Maman/​Chez Papa franchise must be really happy Ruby Wine is located directly between their restaurants in Potrero Hill. Your thoughts: «I can wait 45 – 70 mins for a table! Look, there’s wine tasting next door!»
I see what they did there.
Ruby Wine is the sh*t though. It’s the good kind of crowded. They pour you a little chard (their starter wine) before even giving you a vocalized welcome. Everyone mingles inside (and outside! to hell with the law!) and the people behind the counter are drinking too.
Oh, and the wine is really tasty.
Confession: I ate almost all of the cheese they had put out. Whoops!

Great neighborhood wine bar. Very laid back. Great selection of non-​standard wines.

On our neighborhood stroll, we wandered in here for a wine tasting. The gentleman who provided the tasting was very knowledgable and gave us a nice background on each wine. We tried three wines for $ 10. All the wines in the store are sustainably sourced and there’s quite a selection from around the world – I was impressed! You can also get a glass of wine and sit outside on a nice day which is a plus. There’s also a monthly membership you can get here which entitles you to 10% discount on wines. Great little neighborhood gem!

BF and I just discovered this place while walking to dinner and had to stop in. It’s a gorgeous little shop with the kindest and most knowledgeable staff — and it specializes in organic wines, which I adore and respect! We took home a few bottles for our collection and I can’t wait to try them out.
They do daily tastings and have a cute nook where you can have relax and have a glass before a dinner date. Perfect Sunday night activity. :)

I love this place! My boyfriend lives in the neighborhood and I have been to this wine shop more times than I can count. They have a great selection of wines at most price points (think $ 10-​$ 100+).
On Fridays they have a neighborhood night, and have a tasting of 5(ish) wines for $ 10 from a local winery (the owner is usually there telling you all about the wines, its awesome). A great deal, and if they take shine to you sometimes you end up with closer to 7 tastes. Plus, they have huge hunks of local cheese and acme bread to nosh on while you taste.
This place always delivers. Highly recommend!

Was a little surprised they had few wines under $ 20, but for the size of the shop they had great variety. We’ll be back when we’re in the area, but we’ll probably find another everyday place that’s a bit cheaper.

$ 10 for the tasting and you get 4 – 5 wines. No wonder this place was packed on a Friday night so that we were spilling out onto the street.
When we first walked in, my friend thought I farted. Later we found out they serve FREE CHEESE and that was the culprit, not me. I would just come back for that. And not it’s not your normal cheese you see at the grocery store so it’s good to be able to try new things.
Natasha is also a great bartender!

Great boutique lil’ wine shop. A shoe box of store full of all sorts of small lot wines. Of all the wine shops in SF, it’s the best curated selection with some of the hippest wineries (Scholium, Arnot Roberts, Matthiasson and the like), always an orange wine on hand, a handful of classic old-​word wines, and mostly biodynamic/​organic producers. Rather New World Kermit Lynchian, but perhaps with a bit less polish. It’s a real wine geek kinda place and if that sounds like you, then this is your place!
The staff is knowledgeable. This is the kinda place where you walk in and say what you need and they’ll find something. Since they only buy a few cases of each of the wines the wines rotate frequently. It also means the prices are ok, but they also have a wine club that gets you 10% off.
Tastings: Several selections daily, $ 10 for 4 wines or $ 8 a glass available during business hours. They have more focused tasting with on Fridays for the same price but much busier. Probably the biggest bang-​for-​buck and most gregarious tasting in town.

Let me start off by saying that Potrero Hill is the cutest, sleepiest little district in SF I’ve ever seen besides West Portal (minus the constant screeching of the L Taraval MUNI as it emerges from West Portal Station). Plus, the view of the SF skyline from 18^th Street is simply breath-​taking.
I was meeting someone for dinner at Umi and was super early getting into SF, so I had 45 minutes to kill.
My choices were: A) Go to the bar next door and try to wedge myself in with the dozens of loud football fans decked out in ‘49ers gear screaming at the T.V., or B) Try the empty boutique wine shop across the street.
Upon arrival, I met Theron. He is more knowledgeable about wines and spirits than anyone else I’ve ever known. Seriously, if you have any questions about wines or spirits, this is your go-​to guy.
Ruby has a diverse collection of wines from all over the world; their prices are also very reasonable. In addition, the shop offers a $ 10 tasting of 5 different wines. I tried several different zins from the Napa Valley/​Mendocino area.
This is a great, laid-​back to place to check out next time you are in Potrero Hill. The shop is a few doors down from Chez Maman. Thanks for the awesome conversation, Theron! I will definitely be back!