Two Expiring Coupons, Two Wine Lovers, Two Wine Bars in Five Days

We are suckers for Groupons and Living Socials for local Wine Bars and had two that were expiring this week.  So we made an afternoon trip to Santa Cruz to the Vino Prima Wine Bar and a weekday evening trip to San Francisco to the Bin 38 Wine Bar Lounge.  And surprise, we liked them both.

Vino Prima is on the Santa Cruz Wharf pretty much at the far end.  Now you may need to know that we think Santa Cruz is one of the great places in the world, but I think nobody is going to tell you that this location is not cool.  We decided we would hit it in the early evening and hang through the sunset and that was a good choice.  We went from a packed beach in front of the Boardwalk to a scene with all the lights glaring on the Boardwalk.  Out the other side is a view to the north of the East Cliff area and the Dream Inn.  There was live music that started at 7:30 so it was a great scene which included the other customers.

 

We had a Pinot Flight and a Cabernet Flight.  The Pinot Flight had a definite standout, the Santa Lucia from Sonnet Vineyards.  Of the three Cabernet’s, probably the Titus stood out.  There are many wines available by the glass as well as quite a few beers.  The Wine Bar has been open three years and there seemed to be quite a few regulars.  The operation is run by an Uncle and Niece team.

Five days later we were at the Bin 38 Wine Bar in the Marina District of San Francisco.  We picked an evening where it was 98 degrees in the East Bay and 59 degrees and socked in fog in San Francisco.  The neighborhood was rocking with no less than five other drinking establishments on the same block.  We managed a seat at the bar and the wine tender was cranking out the wine. Our Living Social provided us two tasting options, a White and a Red.  The winning flight was the White which included a Long Meadow Ranch Sauv Blanc (see 7-13-12 review) and a Swanson Pinot Grigio.  The Red flight was less impressive with the T-Vine Napa Merlot being the standout.  After our flight I had a Horse and Plow Harvester Red which was excellent and reasonably priced.

Bin 38 appears from the street to be a small establishment but it has a couple of protected and well heated outdoor areas.  They have daily specials but one that we will be back for is their Classic Rock Brunch with bottomless Mimosas.

Go to Vino Prima anytime of the year. Sunsets are neat but probably cold foggy days are equally nice.  Go to Bin 38 during the midweek in the evening when you are more likely to get at seat at the bar or like us next time at bunch time during the weekend. 

Vitals:

Vino Prima

55 B Municipal Wharf

Santa Cruz, CA 95060

(831) 426-0750

www.vinoprima.com

Bin 38

3232 Scott Street

San Francisco, CA 94123

(415) 567-3838

www.bin38.com