Lan's #9: The Hidden Vine

The Hidden Vine Wine Bar
620 Post Street
entrance on Cosmo Place
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 674-3567

I’ve noticed this bar on visits to Le Colonial and Ryoko but never had the opportunity to stop in. The entrance is on Cosmo Place (the alley where Le Colonial is) and very easy to miss. Once you find it and descend the stairs, you end up in what looks like grandma’s parlor: comfy chairs, flowering décor, and furniture that doesn’t really match.

At 11pm on a Saturday night, all of the tables were full, but the three seats at the bar were empty, so J & I sat down to look at their offerings. There’s a pretty good selection of wines by the glass…but ultimately, we chose two different red wine flights—one featuring Cabs, and another featuring unusual wines from around the world. We also ordered a plate of salami to go with our tastings and waited for everything to arrive.

Looking around, we saw a very eclectic mix of young professionals—but not the sort of asshole you’d see in the Marina. It wasn’t too loud, you could easily hear your companion, and everyone there was with a small group of friends, so this definitely isn’t a place you go to pick up on anyone. My only complaint was that the room was just a touch too warm, especially when drinking wine.

When our wines arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that the 3 glasses per flight featured heavy pours AND little paper rings around each stem identifying each wine. No other wine bar (that I’ve been to or that they’re aware of) does this. For every other flight I’ve had, you have to be very careful not to mix up the glasses…and you really have to listen to the server when they tell you about the wines. For a poor listener like myself, these little papers are a godsend. Plus, you can take the papers home so that you’ll NEVER forget what you drank!

Oh! And the salami was quite tasty--served with LOTS of sliced baguettes, dried blueberries, and some sort of tomato relish. Definitely a steal for $5-6.

All in all, $31 for a large plate of salami, and 2 wine flights—not bad!