This popular Grand Lake-adjacent wine bar is a bit headier than most others. It embraces the spiritual, mystical side of natural wine and encourages learning about natural winegrowing and winemaking practices. Saturday flights feature winemakers pouring their own wares – a great opportunity to ask more about the process (and a bargain at $10 for 5 pours). The shop also has one of the best wine clubs around.

The Punchdown, just above the 19th street BART in downtown Oakland, presents its extensive by-the-glass list not simply by color but by flavor profile: a wine might be described as cherry/cocoa/vivant/glou glou (French for “chuggable,” more or less). The list, presided over by wife-and-husband owners Lisa Costa and D.C. Looney, is thoughtful and flights are encouraged; the “Oakland Rent Relief” is an inexpensive gateway into the world of natty wines. The Punchdown also has a small but noteworthy bottle shop on site with well-priced rarities.

Named for the Italian word for “minimal,” Minimo, in Jack London Square, is a wine bar and shop that wears its heart on its sleeve. Its wines are defined by minimalism throughout the whole winemaking process, mostly from small makers. Unabashedly dedicated to creating community, the space has a shared long table, perfect for a group or for sharing a bottle or three with new friends. Biweekly winemaker tastings, on Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons, offer an opportunity for education.

With a list from natural wine champion Louisa Smith (of Lord Stanley fame, which itself has a noteworthy menu), Brandon Jew’s Moongate Lounge is an easy pick for a glass of natty in Chinatown. The ten wines by the glass and three dozen bottles read like a who’s-who of the natural wine world – look out for Julie Balagny in Beaujolaus, Vouette & Sorbée in Champagne, and Martha Stoumen in our own backyard, for example. The list is dedicated solely to wines grown organically or biodynamically, and is full of high-acid glou glou to complement the salt-fat-acid hits of Jew’s bar menu.

A beautiful, large, airy space in Laurel Heights is home to Tofino, a neighborhood favorite wine bar and bottle shop. Its owners April Sack and Mark Nevin are wine industry lifers, and share a love of teaching customers about the vagaries of natural winemaking processes, as well as lesser-known wine regions from the old world (don’t miss the sherries by the glass.) An orthodox but well-executed wine-friendly food menu — olives, cheese, charcuterie — is the handiwork of Chef Josh Even, formerly of Tosca Café. 

Occupying an English basement on the busy Divisadero strip, Fool’s Errand specializes both in old world low-intervention wines and locally-made hazy IPAs — and remarkably succeeds at both. Owner John Dampeer oversees an impressively curated list of wines by the bottle, with a heavy focus on France as well as an impressive selection of Rieslings and Gruner Veltliners form Germany and Austria. Dampeer is forever excited to talk about all things fermented, so start with a glass from the short by-the-glass list – or a pint of something juicy, and grill him about his favorite bottles.

With two locations — a wine bar in Hayes Valley and a bottle shop in the Castro — Fig & Thistle provides some much-needed natty in some more conventional-leaning ‘hoods. The bar, which was opened in 2012 by Angel Davis and Nguey Lay, is fun and funky — share the bunkbeds with friends for a more intimate experience — and the wine list is small but thoughtful, with a focus on California. The market is a meet-cute of a neighborhood bottle shop, candlelit bar, and succulent garden: A surprisingly quiet retreat from Market Street’s normal clamor.

The newest cool kid on the block, Elda – a “Californian, but Latin” bar and restaurant on the corner of Guerrero and 16th – is a bright, airy, and impressive first effort from Eric Ochoa, Alvaro Rojas, and Jay De Natale. Their wine list is small but mighty: three wines on tap and ten by the bottle (all of which clock in at a supremely reasonable $45/bottle) showcase an impressive breadth, with representation both Old World and New. Each bottle on the list has a brief, approachable description, including tasting notes, producer details (one is described as a “musician, firefighter, and rad winemaker”), and process – a novel way to coax folks away from an enticing cocktail menu.

One of the most ardent members of the 00 camp is Ruby, a small shop in Potrero Hill. They pour a few wines by the glass – whatever they’re feeling like, always $12 – but the focus is bottles for take away and to drink in the space, for retail pricing plus $10 corkage. Their bottle list is notable but perhaps not for natural novices, and their rigid attitude can come off as aloof in an otherwise hospitable, welcome wine scene.

While it might not be on the radar of many SF and Oakland wine fans, Millbrae’s Vineyard Gate is in the pantheon of great Bay Area natural wine shops. Since opening more than 20 years ago, it’s become a go-to both as a neighborhood bottle shop and as a pilgrimage for nerds from the north seeking a suburban getaway for a glass or two. Owner Alex Bernardo keeps a wide-ranging selection of hard-to-find and obscure bottles and a diverse by-the-glass selection, making it fertile turf for the natural wine-curious.