Wine Impression

This is the first wine store I frequented after moving to SF in 2003. I didn't really know much about wine or spirits, except that I liked drinking them, and this store was a vital part of my continuing education and development as a wine drinker.This was a good place to get started, in retrospect.There are other great neighborhood stores scattered throughout the city that I shop at these days, so Wine Impressions doesn't get as much attention from me as it used to.This is one of those places where you can sometimes find "allocated" bottles and other high demand bottles.

Giving this spot 4 stars because although a wine shop, they have a solid selection of Russian River beers! Freshest Blind Pig in the area. Another shop on Divisadaro sells Blind Pig, but every time I've checked they're bottled 6+ months ago. Here however, I've found as fresh as a couple weeks and at a fair price! A great option if you live in the area. Supposedly they get their shipments on Mondays so check early week for the good stuff. Can't say much about their wine besides they appear to have a wide variety. You're not going to find a cheap $10 bottle here, but instead some smaller batch California wineries worth trying with a nice meal or if you're wanting to try something new.

Wine Impression is one of the best wine shops in all of San Francisco. The owners are friendly and helpful, they have an outstanding collection of wines and many chilled wines/beers/bubbles "ready to go" in the cooler, plus unique and "hard to find" wines that other wine shops can't get their hands on. As a bonus, they are also funny and just all around good, awesome people. I am always about supporting shops with cool owners and a great selection. Today, in particular, I was searching for Beaujolais Nouveau and after being in another part of the city looking around and visiting other wine shops without any luck of this highly allocated wine that just released yesterday, Wine Impression delivered! I should've known that they'd have received one of the very few coveted allocations in all of SF and gone here first! Lesson learned! :) I was so happy to have found my wine, and buying from them was a pleasant experience as it always is. I left the shop smiling with my special little stash of wine. :) I can't wait to return.

Haven't actually been in here yet(I'm from the South Bay), but I was recently given a bottle from the original store and figured this would be the place to share it.

Wine Impression is a very solid local wine store. The selection is excellent and the service is very good. The folks that work there seem knowledgeable and helpful. I usually go there for a special bottle of champagne, to stock up on the rose for the home, a unique red for a special dinner, or when I am looking to browse and pick up something that catches my eye. When we host our annual party at the Vogue Theatre, I usually get a case of a fun red and a drinkable white from Wine Impressions to supplement what I pull out of my cellar.The prices may be a touch higher than BevMo, but the service is better and the owners are local folk. So while both are walkable from my place, I usually head in this directions.They also have a good spirit selection for something other than the grape.

I was torn, horribly, horribly torn, in my star rating for A Wine Impression. On the plus side, the shop has a nice selection and the owners are incredibly knowledgeable in that comfortable and friendly way that allows for any question. I got a fantastic education on sherries (my new obsession) and spent some delightful time discussing the merits of Greek wines.On the minus side, I had to wait a loooooooooooonnnnnnng time to have that conversation.I've been in A Wine Impression several times now and it seems like a typically nice San Francisco shop in which to browse. The charm and the draw, however, is the knowledge level of it's owners - but there aren't enough of them to go around! If this shop were the size of Vino SF or D&M it might work - but this place gets enough business and has enough space that they really need a couple more passionate salespeople. Should the owners discover a good cloning method and multiply themselves about three times, I will add another star.

Did you know that Cockburn is not pronounced KOCKBURN, but rather KOEBURN? Yeah, neither did I. Decent selection, friendly and helpful staff, close to home for me.

Selection is dated and half the time there's no product in the store.. it literally looks like they've been robbed, or can't pay their bills. It's in my neighborhood so I've pop by periodically because of convenience. But the last time I was there, I overheard one of the older gentleman that works in the shop berating a young saleswoman and it literally disgusted me. Everyone is struggling right now and trying to make a living. Get over yourself !

The last time I visited I got free champagne glasses! Great selection. Maybe a few bucks more than the big stores but I am happy to support a local shop. Great beers and tequilas and whiskeys in addition to the wines. The people giving bad reviews need to be a little more friendly and they will find this is a gem of a store.

Wine shopping Covid-19 style; call ahead, pay over the phone, pick-up door side! We gave them our preferences and budget, they personally hand picked a case, carried it out to our car! No muss, no fuss, excellent customer service!!