Verjus

wine · Modern Verjus opened on Jackson Square in 2018 as the Tusks' standing-room wine bar across the lobby from Quince, and quickly became the room that taught San Francisco to treat natural wine with the same seriousness Lindsay and Michael Tusk bring to their three-Michelin-star kitchen. The cellar runs over a thousand references and the by-the-glass programme — twenty-five rotating wines opened by Coravin — leans into the Loire, Jura and a deliberately curated California natural section drawn from Donkey & Goat, Florèz and the Scribe project.

Wine director Carlin Karr has built one of the most disciplined buying programmes in the country. Ranks first because no other American room combines this depth of natural-wine sourcing with this level of cellar discipline.

For the full ranking, see our editorial round-up of the 10 best wine bars in San-Francisco, the broader San-Francisco wine bars guide, and our category index of wine bars worldwide.