Bacchus & Venus

Great place! Good wine selection, friendly staff and a fun, casual vibe. Nice amount of bar seating and a couch area up front. They offer a nice variety of snacks and have a cute little area of kitschy stuff you can buy. Go here, enjoy the wine, get a little buzz and have fun!

I love this little gem of a place! They have a great deal where you can try 4 wines for $25. We did this deal plus tried their orange wine. All selections were excellent, and we really enjoyed the orange wine and ended up getting a bottle. The staff are super friendly, and the shop is right near the water and the ferry, so it's a great little place to stop in before you continue on your journey into the town.

Excellent wines and enthusiastic service. Knowledgable staff and I really like the focus on small California low production wineries. Really gives you the chance to get a sense of the wine tradition unique to California. Very cute decor and a great place to day drink on a Sausalito trip.

After walking-off (if this is really a thing) our delicious breakfast from Lighthouse Café (please reference my Yelp review if interested), my wife and I decided that we should quench our thirst by doing some wine tasting at Bacchus & Venus. As no reservation is required, we conveniently walked into the establishment and were mildly acknowledged by an employee chatting with a customer. I say "mildly" acknowledged because she appeared to be annoyed that she had to pull herself away from the customer (whom I could tell was a regular) and attend to us. As we waited to be provided with the wine tasting menu, we grabbed comfortable seats by the window to do some people watching.My wife and I chose the "All Red Flight", and enjoyed the view of Downtown Sausalito as we made our way through the menu. Since we have similar taste, we decided to take home a bottle of the "Rose & Son" Santa Ynez Cabernet Sauvignon. We considered staying longer to enjoy a glass of some of their other offerings. In past experiences at other tasting rooms, employees exude a welcoming vibe that makes us want to stay and continue the experience. Unfortunately, we did not receive that vibe at this tasting room. The wine was decent; however, the customer service experience is lacking. I would love to return to this room once reviews indicate that this issue has been resolved.

Bacchus & Venus was one of the businesses participating in the 2022 "Sausalito Soup-er Bowl" event, offering a "buy one, get one" deal on glasses of wine. Though I'd walked by plenty of times before, it was this offer on this day that caused a friend and I to head inside and we were so glad we did. The ground floor seats were fairly full so we ordered from a standing spot at the bar while scanning the intimate space for a spot to sit. Our server then mentioned that we could take our glasses upstairs. There's an upstairs here? Who knew? Later that afternoon, at another local, participating wine spot, we both remarked on the fact that we preferred Bacchus & Venus. Why? We fell in love with that quiet, upstairs space with big picture windows. Even though there'd been another group up there sharing the space it still felt intimate, private, and casual; a combination that appealed to both of us immensely. Sausalito has many options for enjoying wine and each has a unique appeal. Upstairs at Bacchus & Venus feels like a little secret and a special surprise. The wine, of course, is good, but the ambiance in which you consume it makes all the difference, so head up those stairs and enjoy.

I walk by this place all the time. I don't like wine bars so usually ignore them, but "B&V" is a more full service wine shop. Shelves with hundreds of wines at all price points above $20 or so, pay to sample before you buy, similar to European Enotecas, Vinoteks, OEnoteques, etc. But I'm getting ahead of story; here's how it went on my visit. My shrink's office is quite nearby and recently I stumbled down the hill from my house to score a new thrill drug. On my way back I decided a glass of Poggio's house white from Italy was all I really needed to kick my black dog. But somehow I found myself here instead, looking at a young lady opposite me at this bar. Single brand wine bars are all around now, a marketing tool for lesser known brands. Some don't actually operate a "winery" anywhere which doesn't mean their wines aren't good. You don't survive in this business anymore with dud products. But wine can be good yet still not famous which puts them at a disadvantage against better known brands on retail shelves. A place like B&V serves as an introduction to these "invisible" wine brands. I worked in wine production for twenty years only to quit it flat one day for two reasons. There's much more interesting ways to make money with food science than the wine industry. But more even was the same reason normal people have always looked askance at this sordid affair: wine snobs. Yes, Virginia, there is... and worse now than ever in a sneaky creepy kinda way. I would happily report that I sensed none of this nasty vibe at the B&V except that I was the only customer around. One-upmanship takes two. Several reviews complain about B&V service people being rude so I'll describe "Venus", whom this young lady might well have been. She easily knew enough about her wines such that the old hard sell would have greatly diminished her. Further to her credit, she was: cute, unpretentious, and low key to the point of being, quite frankly, distant. So objective and detached about the wines was Venus, she might just as well have been selling mayonnaise or lawn mowers. Just my speed, actually.So let's get down to it: how best to make use of this place. I recommend it aside from its "wine club". If you're on vacation here and know nothing, buy a "flight" of whatever with a plate of cheese. If you like a bottle buy it, go upstairs, enjoy the view, have a free and quiet moment to sit, drink, maybe even imagine living in this silly never-really-was "artists' colony". (For benefit of out-of-towners here's an unrelated bit of history about quaint, cute Sausalito. Until fairly recently it's been home not to artists but to blue collar steelworkers who built the GG bridge and liberty ships. Before that were Portuguese fishermen. At various times exotic derelicts have lived here, like Sterling Hayden in his green caboose during the 60s. A few lesser derelicts have always lived in houseboats floating in the mud north of town. But today the town is home to a great many more white collar tax mules whose artistic medium is virtual money. Major artists have in fact been here from time to time. Musicians recorded some albums of considerable significance at the Record Plant, 2200 Bridgeway. But as usual I have seriously digressed from my topic, whatever it is or was.) So back to wine: If you know what you want forget the flights. Instead focus on a varietal and find somebody new, maybe underpriced. Use your own good sense of quality/price/value as you'll know nothing about the brands. Also remember that people who invest at least $25 million in a small winery are proud of it and usually name it after themselves. But if they name it after their dog or truck or wtf? And most important, look for these four words: "Produced and bottled by". I tasted one I'd never heard of, bought a bottle for $60; it will be the last item from that winery I ever drink. Not because it was bad but because there are so many other wineries around here. So B&V is a quick study to add some variety to your cellar without driving all around up north just to see a new operation. They're all essentially the same, trust me. But if the grapes make the wine, tell me what exactly you plan to learn by looking at them, eh? My two complaints about B&V: they only sell California wine and they don't credit the price of a bottle with a portion of your tasting expense. On the other hand, Venus poured a generous sample, well more than a 1 oz "taste". You aren't going to find any bargains here but then this is toney Sausalito; prime locations like B&V's are pricey. You can't come into a place like this in a town like this expecting to find something on the cheap. So I suggest you consider Bacchus and Venus is an entertainment venue, which is hard to find in this town, actually. Too bad eccentrics like Sterling Hayden don't live here anymore. Action at the no name could get pretty lively when he walked in the bar.

we had taken the ferry from San Francisco to Sausalito and came across this place. We stopped in for a wine flight and their cheese plate. Service and explanations of the wines was very good. The Gouda served was excellent. It provided us with a nice, relaxing respite from an afternoon if walking and shopping.

Super cute and small winery.Great service.YUMMY wines!!Very chill.Sit and enjoy the tastings and enjoy.

Amazing spot for great California wine. They have superb boutique wine from medium to small producers. Great spot.they have a secret menu, ask for empanadas (not listed)

I am a local wine tour guide and very familiar with the caliber of wines AND the off-the-charts expertise wine knowledge of the staff at Bacchus and Venus. (If you're extra lucky Eva will be serving you :)Was recently reminded of the gem that this place is when I popped by. Minutes from San Francisco, but carrying those legendary and desirable wines from the famous wine regions several hours drive from here. Sonoma, Napa, Paso Robles, Santa Barbara- all in here in this gorgeous wine room. (If you don't have the time to go there, go HERE.)I have also seen how well they take care of those who may not consider themselves major connoisseurs, but simply have the requisite curiosity. Those folks seem to leave with a smile- likely not just because the wines taste so good- I suspect also due to feeling a bit further enlightened in the finer things...