Update since my last review was in 2005: Still the cutest, friendliest wine shop on the hill! Joel, Maxine and Annie are all awesome and the Friday night wine tastings are a great way to unwind into the weekend and meet people from the neighborhood. I'm so glad we have Ruby here in Potrero! read more

Not a speedy place, but one with tons of atmosphere, great wines and excellent service. A unique wine bar - check it out!

This is a fantastic shop, with a huge selection of great wine and Joel, the owner/operator, is super helpful and a PH local. They have everything from $10-$300 wine, all in a tidy, perfectly kept gem of a spot. Wish I lived closer! read more

Wow this place is something special...a true boutique wine shop with an eclectic mix of wines from around the world! We popped in here last night while waiting for dinner at Chez Maman. We enjoyed the wine tasting $10 for 4 pours with cheese, meats, and breads. We also loved their mix of wines. I found a Fort Ross Pinot Noir, that I had tasted at a wine event and loved in the past for a very reasonable $27. We bought it and took it with us to dinner next door! This is a great neighborhood place to find great wines around $20. The new owner and his employees are very friendly and helpful. Can't wait to try them again on another Friday date night! For more details about my experience and some pictures, check out my blog post at: http://thewinetasticweekend.blogspot.com/2012/03/wine-tasting-in-sf-series-ruby-wine-in.html read more

Ruby Wine is an adorable little neighborhood wine shop. I love coming here on Friday nights because from 5-8pm they host a tasting and provide snacks from the Ferry Building. For only 10 bucks, it's a great deal. In terms of their wines and the customer service, top notch. They have wines to fit every price bracket and palate and the staff really know what they're talking about. A novice can enter and ask for x, y, or z within some price range and go away a very happy camper. read more

My fav spot on Friday night. Get a five round of different wine and enjoy the European atmosphere as if you Were in Madrid or Rome or Paris. Wine can taste weird but unique. People at the counter will share the story of the wine. Make sure you remember the number of the glass you trying, so you don't waste any! read more

Don't bother. $15 for a very small pour, limited selection, and staff is inattentive. Disappointing because it could have been a cool neighborhood spot. read more

Fantastic wine shop! I was in from Dallas and researched natural wine shops in San Francisco and Ruby Wine came up. The selection was better than I could have ever imagined and Aran helped me choose a 6-pack. He told me the background stories on each bottle which makes them all the more special. We returned Sunday and Carolyn helped me choose 2 more wines since we drank 2 out of the wines so far and they did not disappoint. I plan to order and have shipped pretty much anything Aran recommends once the weather cools enough to ship wine here. Can't wait to visit them again next year! read more

If I could give Ruby 10 stars, I would. Fantastic service, fantastic selection, knowledgeable staff, interesting shop in a good location, and they always have a bottle open and are generous with their pours! Ruby is really more than a wine shop- it's a community. Bravo On the prices, they are more than fair for the quality and rarity of their selection- you won't get a deal, but they're not gouging you either. read more

Quite a charming spot with an excellent selection of wines. The owner is very knowledgable and his passion for wines was palpable. He recommended a cider which turned out to be distinctive and delectable as well as a Pierre Overnoy Jura. It wasn't available for purchase at the time...but an industry friend was able to track one down for me and it was every bit as magnificent as he had suggested it would be. Would definitely like to return one day. read more

In a wine store this tiny, you don't have room to stock just any old wine. Every bottle has to be something noteworthy, and they certainly do a good job of that. Props for having New Zealand Pinot Noir! And naturally you can expect help from the staff. Definitely worth stopping by when you're in Potrero Village. read more

A little button of a wine store, with a tiny cheese and beer selection, a french bread bin, and one or two kinds of crackers. But what a selection. Everything is good, exotic, upscale. If you have a new lover, stop here with a picnic basket before the next Stern Grove concert. They give the love so you don't have to. read more

Great neighborhood wine shop. They carry interesting wines not normally seen in larger stores and markets. They also have interesting gourmet food items. Check it out and give it a try. read more

Amazing selection of small production wines, knowledgeable staff, the best place to mingle on a Friday night!

I stopped in just before closing on a Tuesday night, looking for a nice red to bring to Gary Danko later in the week (okay, shameless restaurant name dropping!) The owner was there and recommended several pinots and burgundies. No hard sell. No recommendations of pricey wines. Just his recommendations on wines that would go well with our fancy-schmancy dinner. I ended up buying a bottle in the high end of what I intended to spend but only because I wanted to. Very nice shop and very nice proprietor. read more

No place in the city brings me back to the streets of Paris than Ruby. After our second visit here, we joined the wine club and now collect our red wine allotment quarterly. Such a simple laid back gem that I'm delighted we found. read more

The owner usually has awesome recommendations. However, the staff arent that knowledgable or polite :)

Great local wine shop! My favorite in the city. Aron always has delicious reasonably priced wines to recommend. We belong to his wine club and look forward every month to his uniquely wonderful selections. He also bring in wine makers and distributors from all over the world, each Friday night to pour, taste, and discuss their wine. The perfect date night spot... read more

Great wine, but there has been significant price creep in their selection. I can no longer count on this place to get everyday drinking wines at a reasonable price. It would be nice if they had an under $15 or under $20 selection that was color coded. This won't cut into their high end margin but will expand their client base. read more

Having lived in Potrero for several years, Ruby Wine became my wife's and my primary wine shop--I shudder to think how much money I've spent there, but it's all been worth it. Joel and the other owners don't carry a warehouse-type selection, but they do specialize in smaller productions, as well as items that they simply like themselves. Their personal love for wine is apparent, and they're always willing to make a good recommendation or two. I often stop by to pickup whatever's new and good, and I like that there's never pressure to be upsold: if an $18 bottle of Grenache is what everyone's excited about that week, than that's the recommendation, and if a $70 pinot is the big new arrival, then I can go that route instead. This place is definitely about quality, and not the sticker prices/big name labels. Two recent additions, a wine club and Friday night tastings, have made the place even better. The former gets you 2-4 moderately priced bottles that are almost always great, and the latter allows you to meet local winemakers in an intimate setting where they can talk about their work and of course give samples. Add to that the fact that they've managed to track down some rare wines for me, and it's hard not to love the place. read more

Top notch! Fantastic wines, warm and friendly and helpful, great prices! They have some of the same wines that Whole Foods down the road carries, and Ruby is the better deal of the two! That says a lot about the kind of awesome business that these people do. read more

Used to be a fine little wine shop but no more. Spent close to $50 on a bottle highly recommended by the owner and it was undrinkable. Not corked - just a dreadfully made wine. Cloudy, bitter, off putting. I won't be back. read more

We had a bad experience with the Ruby wine club. We had some good months with pretty good wines and then two months in a row each with a bottle with bad cork and rancid tasting wine (coincidentally both opened in front of the same friend on separate Fridays.). The problem wasn't as much about the bad wine: after the first bottle, I tossed it and didn't think too much about it. After the second I called to express my concern and was told that I 'don't know or don't like this type of wine and that I should bring the wines back to SF if I want a refund.' I expressed diaappointment that Aran came across condescending that I don't understand the wine and also that my word was not sufficient (I live on the peninsula and I let him know it was inconvenient to come to SF for this.). Aran offered no other alternative at that time. I cancelled the membership on the phone with Aran given his lack of courtesy to us, who had been loyal customers with no complaints for several months. I sent a cancellation confirmation email to the Ruby wines email address the following week. Aran replied with another email basically saying there was disproportionate frustration from me and making other excuses about natural product spoilage and only at that time offered to send shipping labels for defective wines. He also went on to give me "pointers" about how I should handle future concerns with other wine clubs. The thing that is frustrating about Ruby wines is the arrogance of Aran and I wouldn't expect this business to last with the disrespect shown to good customers who had otherwise supported them. read more

Great Selection, Great Wines for every budget. Also have a great beer selection. Staff always has great recommendations.

Great little wine shop - always have good wines to recommend in the $10-$13 range. Unlike BevMo, Chris and his staff really know what they're talking about. And when I'm ready to pop for more on a special bottle, I was always know the investment will be well worth it! read more