Marin does not get enough credit as a wine county. It sits between San Francisco's somm culture and the vineyards of Sonoma, and over the last few years a real drinking scene has grown up in its small downtowns: proper wine bars in San Anselmo and Tiburon, bottle shops that pour, and restaurant lists built with more care than the neighborhood-spot label suggests.
We sell wine to restaurants for a living, so we read these lists closely. Here is where we would drink in Marin right now. A couple of these places pour our wines, most do not, and every one earned its spot.
Voyage Wine Bar, San Anselmo
San Anselmo's oldest wine bar is now its most current. Relaunched by a new team, Voyage keeps a list that runs from classic to low-intervention, with low and no-ABV options, and it has since grown into a cocktail-forward full bar and restaurant without losing the wine focus (SF Chronicle, voyagebar.com). Open Tuesday through Saturday. If natural wine is new to you, we wrote an honest primer here.
Mog Asu, Tiburon
A wine bar and bottle shop from Fedric Dcosta and Emily Lund with bottles from more than 40 countries, spanning ancient winemaking regions and newer voices (Marin Magazine). Flights, shareable plates, and the kind of global range you rarely find outside a city. mogasu-ca.com
Picco, Larkspur
Cal-Italian on Magnolia Avenue with a serious bottle list and what might be the best wine deal in the county: every 750ml bottle is half price on Mondays. That policy quietly turns a neighborhood dinner into an excuse to drink better than you planned. We are proud to be on the list here, and our Sonoma 'Atelier' White Field Blend has become a favorite pour in the room, textural enough to keep up with a menu built on sharing. restaurantpicco.com
Zinz Wine Bar, Corte Madera
Corte Madera's first upscale wine bar, wine store, and art gallery in one, with an eclectic list of boutique producers, small plates, and live music. Owner Kyle Hendrix has built the kind of room every small downtown deserves. zinzwinebar.com
Bacchus & Venus, Sausalito
A wine shop and tasting room on Bridgeway where sommeliers build flights across California's AVAs, terroir tastings included. It is a smart first stop before a day in wine country: taste broadly here, then drive north knowing what you like. bacchusandvenus.com
Poggio, Sausalito
Northern Italian cooking in downtown Sausalito with a beverage program to match the room. A trattoria in the proper sense, where the wine is treated as part of the meal rather than an upsell. poggiotrattoria.com
Insalata's, San Anselmo
This San Anselmo Mediterranean institution keeps a real cellar and welcomes personal bottles with corkage, a policy that tells you the restaurant takes wine people seriously. It remains a benchmark for Mediterranean cooking in Marin. insalatas.com
Bungalow 44, Mill Valley
A Mill Valley fixture for modern American cooking, with a concise, well-chosen wine list and a proper martini program on East Blithedale. It is the definition of a neighborhood restaurant that drinks better than it needs to. Our wines are poured here, and we are glad for the company. bungalow44.com
The Monk's Kettle, Terra Linda
Yes, a craft beer tavern on a wine list roundup. Monk's Kettle in Terra Linda runs 24 drafts and more than 60 bottles, but the beverage buying extends to a thoughtful set of local and sustainable wines, ours among them. It is proof that good buying is a habit, not a category. linda.monkskettle.com
Worth watching
Two more for your list: Left Bank in Larkspur, the French brasserie that has run wine dinners and Beaujolais Nouveau nights for three decades (leftbank.com), and Notte Divino, opening July 24, 2026 in the longtime Ristorante Divino space in Sausalito with Southern Italian cooking and an Italian-focused wine list (Sausalito.org).
Why we wrote this
Small producers live and die by buyers who taste with an open mind, and Marin has more of them than it gets credit for. If you are curious how we make wine, start with what is actually in your wine or see every place that pours our wines.
Nothing hidden. Nothing filtered.