Vin Debut

Wow, Not pretentious, right next to West Portal Station. They have a handful of beer on top (I have Eel River Ale) as well as a full page of small bites. Go for warm olives with a kick of spice. Mix of locals, after work crowd, a few reading books at the bar, pre-​drinks for date night, and a few just meeting up with old friends. Can’t wait to go back.

What a nice establishment in West Portal. Wine was good, cheese plate wonderful, servers very nice, place is clean and modern… So glad I don’t have to travel far to go to a wine bar.

please be aware that most of these reviews are for a business that has changed utterly. the original vin debut was a retail shop featuring affordable wines, with an attached tasting bar. then there was a fire in 2012. the new vin debut, which just opened, is a restaurant and wine bar with a few retail bottles. the difference is price. the old vin debut specialized in «six for sixty,» six ten dollar bottles of wine. it was great. the new one has bottles for no less than $ 40, $ 50 and more – sometimes the same wines– and $ 10, $ 15 per glass. maybe the food is good, and it might be a pleasant place to have an expensive glass of wine, but I couldn’t tell you because I left, it was too rich for my blood. its certainly no longer a place to sample and take home reasonably priced bottles of wine. be sure to check the dates of the reviews to see which business they are referring to.

Super nice little wine bar.
The place is put together very well.
Had a few glasses of wine all very good.
Had the smoked duck Flatbread also excellent.
Had the Brussel sprouts, also great.
All the glassware was clean, the bar was clean the staff was attentive honestly no complaints after my experience I will be back for sure.

Perfect place for a Happy Hour with friends, business meeting or a date.
Nice size room with tables are just far enough from each other that you can have semi private conversation.
$ 6 (Happy Hour price) for a glass of Chardonnay from France! Not bad at all :)
They have nice small plate selection. Definitely try flat breads. We love Wild Mushrooms with Arugula & another one with Smoked Duck, they are both very yummy & big enough to share ($ 18 each).
I’m coming back for sure to try more tasty things.
Update: came here for the second time… The same note from all my friends-​metal stools are very uncomfortable!

We were really excited to try Vin Debut out since we’d heard so many great things about them. Unfortunately, we were pretty disappointed.
For the price (and high mark-​up) of the glasses, the pours are on the small end and the wine really wasn’t that good. Of course, that’s wine selection and it’s likely that we just didn’t pick well. The real problem was the food. We ordered a small plate that was comprised of burrata, pomegranate, toasted almonds and squash. First problem was that our squash was raw. Second was that the almonds were burnt, not toasted.
We’ll try again with the hope that it was just an off night when we were there.

Vin Debut, before the fire, was fantastic. It had an ideal package: (a) super friendly staff, (b) a good selection of reasonably priced wines, and © customers who liked (a) and (b). All these things made it a pretty special place, especially when one considers how pretentious some wine shops can be. I am eagerly awaiting it’s return.
Update: looks like it’s very close to reopenning.

This is our favorite wine place — have been members of the wine club for a few years. I particularly like the wines from nearby California, which you won’t find any place else. Check out their 2 bottle/​month wine club. We save our 2 bottles (red) to share with friends and family before or during dinner and when we find a standout from the club, I go back and get more to have on hand. Force of Nature and Field Recordings come to mind as full-​bodied reds that we loved.
Looking forward to the re-​opening late January!

Sadly, this place was damaged in a recent fire that originated in the restaurant next door. Hope it opens soon… for the good of the neighborhood, of course!

Came here on a Friday night, it was okay– nothing impressive.
The best thing here is the wine, which makes sense. Service is par. The night was slow, I get it; the staff wants to get out of there asap, they made that palpable. The lighting was rather bright, distracting the ambiance that should be accompanied with wine unless you’re touring wineries.
Pricing decent, selection wide.
I think this place has potential but the overall experience here was quite mediocre. If I were to choose a wine bar in the relative area, I’d prefer Inner Fog. I will say that the Mt. Tam cheese from here was very good. But Inner Fog also offers salami… mmm.
I might come here again to give it another go. But my excitement in doing so mirrors that of their staff here; very ‘meh’. Cool people but neither helpful nor interested in being so.
A more accurate rating would be 3.5 because the wine was good. But the deal with wine bars, and anything of leisure is for the overall experience and enjoyment. And so, I must round down. Whomp whomp

For a wine bar, this place is great.
The wine isn’t overly expensive, considering it’s at most about $ 40 a bottle, that’s about $ 10/​drink or less, cheaper than Corona at most bars in SF.
The waiters/​waitresses are nice, the atmosphere is great. Definitely a classy place to hang out and sip on some good wine with good friends.
And if you don’t like wine, that’s A-​OK, because they have beer! Great beer choices.

ADEQUATE AMBIANCE/​FURNISHING:
My colleagues and I had the place to ourselves on a Friday afternoon, around 4:00. Huge storefront windows let in a lot of natural light, while semi-​tinted glass keeps the people watching one-​way. Plush leather low-​backed sofas and stools were comfortable and very new. The biggest seating area could probably fit ten people. Most of the space is displaying wine for sale. See Mina T.‘s photos for the categories they’re displayed in. Some music without lyrics playing in the background. Just the right volume; not intrusive.
STELLAR SERVICE:
They didn’t have our particular bottle of wine chilled (Besitos Moscato $ 19, $ 6/​glass), so in the meantime, the owner/​manager (I’m guessing, since he said after their remodel, his office would disappear)* poured both my friend and I a complementary glass of the same wine, from an already opened bottle. He started by pouring just a splash, but then he double-​thought it, and just kept filling it up — fine by me! Really appreciated how he recognized that we would have been inconvenienced by a wait, so he made it up to us right away.
CHEESE PLATE & COMPLEMENTARY ALMONDS:
My friends ordered a variety of three cheeses and Marcona almonds. I didn’t try any of them but they cleared that platter pretty quickly. They gave us a big complementary bowl of Marcona almonds after. We polished them off.
CHILLED WINE:
Our wine appeared in an insulated sleeve that helped keep the wine well-​chilled, on top of a granite-​like coaster. I will definitely be back for some more Besitos Moscato, imported from Spain! At $ 19 a bottle, I can still get my moscato fix without breaking into my dwindling stash of V. Sattui moscato, which I am rightfully hoarding ($ 27/​bottle).
LIKELIHOOD TO RETURN/​REFER:
Very likely. I have to give myself an excuse to up my rating to Five Stars!
*My understanding is that Vin Debut will be undergoing some renovations. I’m not sure when, but after it’s done there will be more seating and they will offer a small selection of highly specialized small-​batch craft brews. They already have an employee on hand who specializes in recommending beers.

I’ve been to Vin Debut many more times since my initial review and have steered a lot of my comrades to check it out when they are in the area! It’s unanimous, everybody seems to dig it here! Vin Debut is now open til 11pm on Friday’s and Saturday’s…so it’s the perfect place to go to cool your heels if your table isn’t ready at Fresca or Bursa… OR if you want to enjoy an after dinner glass of vino or port and don’t want to deal with the masses at Philosophers or The Dubliner.
In addition to an always interesting and ever changing of delicious wines from all over the world… they’ve added cheese plates, olives and nuts that pair very nicely with the wines! There is a great energy here that can be attributed to the set up, the super friendly and knowledgeable staff… Jim and Gail, the owners, are frequently here, pouring and serving, and make even a first time guest seem like an old friend. You never feel rushed… chill music and lighting… comfy seating… and ah yes… THOSE wines!
A few months back, I decided to join the Vin Debut Wine Club… a bargain at only $ 34.95 a month for 2 bottles of their latest and greatest, delivered right to you! (or you can come in and pick it up… hmmm, sounds like an excuse to come back and enjoy more wine!) What can I say, I’m hooked… a clear case of Vin-​fatuation!

Great selection of wines, except for Argentinian ones. Quaint, romantic ambiance. Good place for date nights. Have not tried their cheese selection but will definitely come back to try them.
Great tip: If you find a good bottle of wine here with a reasonable price, take it home and do not drink it here. They will add another $ 10 for opening and drinking it here.

I have been to Vin Debut a few times now… I have been pleased each time.
The service is friendly and knowledgable. They change the wine choices and have a great selection. Try the cheese plate if you get a chance.
Perfect atmosphere for unwinding. Stop in before dinner or just sit and have munchies and fabulous wine!

When this place first opened, it just sold wine, plus a tasting bar. Today I was walking with my daughter and showed it to her. They had added tinted windows and had not been in for quite some time.
To my surprise, I found that they had added tables and elegant snacks. We returned this evening with two of her friends and had a grand time. The staff was helpful and very friendly. Excellent and varied selection of well priced wines and international/​boutique beers.
Definitely adding it to our walking routine!

As a diehard beer guy, I was hesitant the first time I went in here. I had an image of wine folk as snobbish and out of touch. I couldn’t have been more wrong! I’ve been hanging out at this place weekly now for almost two years, and I love it. They’re even expanding their beer selection, which is just as choice as their wine selection.
The cheese plates are well-​matched and thought out, and the staff is knowledgeable. If you can chip out the cash, join the Wine Club, as the monthly special selections are pretty excellent, especially if you don’t have the money or inclination to be a deep conisseur on your own time.
Plus, they have a coat & hat rack. Class.

I been to this place acted like undercover from Unilocal last night lol (JK), When I got in the door I know I LOVE this place. Ton of different kind of wine, Comfortable seat for hang out, They offer different kind of cheese and olives from the menu. Play relaxing house music, so enjoyable. I had Radio boca Zin, olives and cheese, made me smiling all night long :) Definitly will come back, I might be the regular customer here in the future :)

LOVE LOVE LOVE this place. I don’t know if this review will do Vin justice, but here goes.
Vin has a nice variety of wine, with excellent customer service. The best part is the wines are organized into sections by flavor, making it easier to target ones’ preference. Further, each bottle has a brief description. The selection also rotates, making it a good place to experiment. This is usually a pit stop for me whenever I feel like trying something new and off the radar, which is probably once every three weeks. In addition, the wines are decently priced, and they chill the whites on the spot if preferred.

I love this place. It is the perfect place to pick out a few good bottles while tasting a glass of wine. They have a great selection and vary in prices so its easy to choose one for a special occasion and a few others for a glass here or there. Last time I was there I noticed they had a great selection of cheeses. I will have to go back in during the day and try it out!!!
Their club deal seems pretty awesome as well! Too bad I prob won’t be in the area as much or I would have joined!
The staff is also very knowledgeable and willing to help answer any and all questions. I hope this place sticks around!!!