SoMa, San Francisco
Jura, Loire, Italy and California, chalkboard list, vinyl
Our Take on Terroir Natural Wine
Terroir Natural Wine Merchant was a wine bar at 1116 Folsom Street in SoMa, opened by Luc Ertoran and Dagan Ministero. PUNCH profiled it as a natural-wine landmark and Do Bianchi called it a city icon.
The philosophy was strict. The bar poured only wines produced without pesticides, herbicides, commercial yeast or the other additives common in modern winemaking, a hard line that defined the place from 2007 on.
The list leaned French. Jura and Loire bottles dominated the chalkboard above the bar, with Italy and California filling out around 15 wines by the glass, carafe or bottle on a rotating nightly selection.
The room matched the wine. Long tables up front, a cozier mezzanine above, vinyl on the turntable and a short cheese-and-charcuterie menu made it a hangout, not a showroom, a progenitor of the city's natural scene.
Terroir has since closed. For rooms still pouring, see our San Francisco wine bars guide, the best bars in San Francisco, and the best wine bars worldwide.
The Move at Terroir Natural Wine
The Word on SoMa
- PUNCH profiled Terroir as a San Francisco natural-wine landmark, with a Jura and Loire-heavy list.
- Do Bianchi called it a natural wine icon and compared its role to The Ten Bells in New York.
- Vinography and Time Out flagged the chalkboard by-the-glass list and the vinyl-and-mezzanine room as the draws.
Read the Room
- A record of a pioneering natural-wine bar
- Readers tracing San Francisco's natural-wine scene
- Note it is closed, so plan a visit elsewhere
When To Visit Terroir Natural Wine
Terroir is permanently closed, so there is no current visit to plan. This profile records the SoMa natural wine bar and its Jura-led list.
For a natural-leaning wine bar in San Francisco that is still pouring, the siblings below are the closest in spirit, from Birba in Hayes Valley to Bar Jules.
Inside Terroir Natural Wine
