An Instagram-Friendly Rosé Garden Blooms in the Marina

Over in the Marina, where yoga pants and brunch reign supreme, a storefront selling only rosé is poised to open. The Rosé Garden is a retail pop-up from Usual, a direct-to-consumer wine company that has branded itself for the Instagram generation, selling single servings of wine in glass bottles.

The storefront, which was once a location of Fleet Feet, will open on July 26 in the heart of the Marina’s shopping district (2076 Chestnut Street), flanked by coffee shops and salons. Inside, the small space is filled with on-trend, leafy plants like fiddle leaf figs and palms, with table seating and large coolers of rosé.

Courtesy of Usual

Courtesy of Usual

The company is from a duo of former corporate lawyers, Matt Dukes and Rachel Vodofsky, who started Usual and Vinebox (a subscription-based model) as a quest to serve better wines in single serving formats; their efforts have recently secured them $5.9 million in funding from investors. Usual’s two offerings include a rose sourced from Santa Barbara, and a red blend of zinfandel and cabernet sauvignon from Sonoma County, an answer to the four-packs of Sutter Home that are usually proffered as single servings.

The whole thing is basically a rosé shop with the option to drink it immediately, take home, or transport immediately to Fort Mason’s wide open day-drinking expanses. The servings are about a quarter of a bottle of wine each (187 ml each versus at 750 ml bottle), and cost $8. Visitors to the garden can also order an ice bucket with four bottles for $30, which is purchased at the register and delivered to the table; otherwise it’s self-serve with checkout at the register like any other retail store.

When it opens, stop by from 12 p.m.- 9 p.m. seven days a week. There won’t be any reservations, or food.

Courtesy of Usual

• Usual [Official]
• Where to Eat and Drink in the Marina [ESF]