TREASURE ISLAND WINES

Treasure Island Wines, established in 2007, is a spacious urban winery that houses four winemakers producing under their own labels: Treasure Island, Eristavi, Bravium, and Heartfelt. Hosted by expert pourer Deneane and master vintner Victor Eristavi, we started with a crisp, mineral-tinged Treasure Island Sauvignon Blanc. Next we tried Eristavi's Symphony - a lesser-know grape varietal that's a hybrid of Muscat and Grenache. The wine is dry, with a delightfully intense floral bouquet. A pleasant taste of Rkatsiteli was another first for us.

Moving on to the reds, we enjoyed the 2010 Bravium Carneros Pinot Noir and 2009 Eristavi Zinfandel, which is lighter and drier than most. Even more impressive: Eristavi's 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and award-winning Syrah.

Lots of space, lots of wine!

Victor, who hails from the Republic of Georgia, is a chemist who has revived his family's winemaking tradition in a new setting, melding old-world techniques with modern technology. He enthusiastically sources unique grape varietals from Sonoma, Lodi, and Amador County where "the grapes are so good, it's hard to make bad wine." To be sure, we only encountered good wine, including some barrel tastes of what is to come.

Heartfelt will be bottling in July, which means that soon there will be even more to experience at Treasure Island Wines. The tasting room is open most Saturdays from 1:00-5:00 and sometimes on Sunday.


995 9th Street Building 201,
(Corner of 9th Street and Avenue I)
Treasure Island
San Francisco, Ca. 94130
415.394.9463