Bacchus & Venus

The afternoon was going so well until one of us accidentally broke a glass. We were then cut off from purchasing more wine and told to leave. This was unfortunate and was not a happy ending to our visit.
Kelly made us feel like we were drunks and immediately handed us the bill. Really unfortunate experience.

Had a great time here with my wife. We did wine tasting of 4 red wines for $ 18, the staff was great and very knowledgeable. Would gladly stop by again.

If you’re in Sausalito definitely stop here!!! Amazing wine and even better company! Kelly, our barista, was so friendly and knowledgable! Over 150bottles of wine with something for everyone!

I’ve been a customer of Baccus & Venus for three years. We joined their wine club last year, and started visiting every week or so. We noticed the staff was turning over a lot, and heard some grumbling. Today was the last straw. We met friends there for wine, got a couple of tastings and bought a bottle. We cashed out and our friends were charged full price for the bottle, even though the owner knows we are wine club members. I questioned her gently, and she informed us that the person paying for it was NOT a wine club member and that he would pay full price. We decided not to push it, but as we were leaving, Marcy told us we were no longer welcome and would no longer be members of the wine club. I asked my friends if I was unreasonable or said anything wrong. All said no. I wasn’t going to make an issue over $ 3, but apparently it was important to Marcy. Oh well. We won’t be going back again. I’d suggest Madrigal down the street.

Before I say anything, I need to put this review in context.
I rarely write Unilocal reviews. I do not usually feel the need to warn people of a bad experience at a place of business unless I have experienced something fraudulent. I figure, everyone makes mistakes and you can’t expect perfect service all the time. Instead, I much prefer to compliment a job well done and to recommend places where I have been treated well or been exceptionally pleased with the product or service. I am also a resident of Sausalito. I am proud of our town and am motivated to support our local businesses and promote them to our friends and acquaintances.
Within this context, I will now say that I will never again set foot in Bacchus and Venus in Sausalito and it is entirely due to the treatment that I and my friends received from the manager/​owner, Marcy.
We have been patrons of Bacchus and Venus for a number of years now. This past year we even joined their wine club. We were brought to Bacchus and Venus by friends from church and we have brought other friends there as our way of supporting their business. Tonight we did that once again by bringing friends from Mill Valley and another friend from Sausalito to Bacchus and Venus for wine tasting and some relaxed time together. It was also our hope that two of our friends would join the B&V Wine Club.
After ordering a wine tasting for 4 people, finishing off a bottle of wine between the four of us as well as a few single glasses, we felt it was time to go. At check-​out, we found that while our wine was charged at the member rate, our friends’ wine was not. .. even though we offered to pay for them. The difference was all of $ 3, but for us, it was about hospitality and being treated well as customers who have supported this business for several years. The owner, Marcy, did not see it our way and rudely insisted that our friends had to pay the non-​member price. We were not overly upset by it but clearly felt that we had not received the kind of service that we were accustomed to from the regular B&V staff.
We were not pleased but had no intention of making a stink about it. That was until we started to leave and Marcy abruptly informed us that we were being kicked out of the wine club and were no longer welcome in her establishment. We were beyond stunned. Her reason for treating us this way was to claim that someone in our group had «looked at her in a nasty way.»
We were embarrassed in front of our friends (who we had hoped to get to join the wine club). We were furious about the way we were treated and have vowed to take Marcy’s invitation and will not be returning to Bacchus and Venus. We will instead be taking our business down the street to Madrigal and we advise that you do the same.

Pretentious servers complained about how tired they were and that they didn’t want to be there.
Last pour of a house bottle was short and the server in training asked the lady in charge for confirmation that she opens a new bottle. It was ½ short of a standard pour (half pour charged a full).
We asked questions about glass type as we didn’t know why one glass paired with a particular wine type. We ordered the Cab and Merlot. Rather than taking the opportunity to educate us, she became defensive and stayed that they didn’t have specific glass types for the wine they served. We simply wanted to know about why certain glasses were used on certain types of wine. Not call her out on something that wasn’t an issue for us.
Also, we ordered the cheese and cracker plate. The cheese knife kept coming apart. We pointed this out and she told us to «…just stick it back in there.» and walked away. It continued to come apart and rather than wait for good service, we asserted the need for a new one. The server in training came over and apologized while handing us a new knife. A minute later the lady in charge came over with one twice the size — overkill and a bit late, the kind server provided us one already.
We got a feeling of being unwelcome there for a rainy Saturday afternoon. Definitely will be on the list of places to avoid in Sausalito. It’s a cute place. Unfortunately the service was sub-​par for the prices. It did give me and my friend something to laugh about later that arvo. We concluded that she was «The lady who’s husband bought the place so she would stay busy and not complain about how bored she was every time he came home.»
Good luck to her husband. Now she can complain about how tired she is from having to pour people wine.

Excelent place to have a good glass of wine and a very good service! We are in love!!!

What a warm and wonderful place.
Visiting from out of town, we stumbled on this Gem! The wine selection is fantastic and Jesse, the wine club Manager was most knowledgable and gracious. This is a must do!

Nice little wine bar in Sausalito.
Dog friendly.
You get 2 white and 2 reds for the $ 12 tasting. The wine was nothing special, nothing blew my taste buds.
Service was ok. Some periods we waited a while for our next pour.

Popped for a quick tasting. Very nice selection. Staff was cordial.
Tasting flight was $ 12 not too bad.

Terrible service. Marcy was clear, if you weren’t buying any wines then you aren’t important.

Absolutely love this wine store. The owners are so incredibly knowledgeable in wine, and so easy to talk to. We are part of their wine club, as it’s such a fun way to explore new types of wines and find new wineries we hope to visit. When we stumble across one that we love, we typically chat with the owners for recommendations on others — and if they’re open, they let us sample them before we buy. Every single time we’ve walked out with not only our monthly 2 bottle pick up, but also additional bottles of whatever we fancied at the moment ;)
The only «downside» I’ve stumbled across is that I wish they offered free tastings to members/​guests when they stop in the store. A couple of times I’ve stopped in with visitors who decided to try some wines thinking they were free, only to be charged the $ 18 or whatever the fee is for tasting. That being said, I understand they probably have to charge since they’re distributors vs. an actual winery. Perhaps an alternative would be to offer just a few sips to family members of members «on the house.» I’ve been offered a sip of something while I wait, but it would be nice if they also offered something to the guests I’m with on the house.
In any case, this place has a special place in my heart. And I love it so much!

This place would get negative stars if that was an option. I went here with some girl friends for a wine tasting. We all had the chilled flight except for one who had the dessert flight.
All were alright, nothing to write home about. The Rose and the Sav blanc were probably the best. The flights were 12 dollars for 1oz pours, the smallest pours ive ever had wine tasting. We all bought a glass of our favs and the pours… still small, we thought they gave us a revisit of our fav since so many cellars do that.
We had our cards charged one at a time, signed, and left. When we got home and checked our accounts we realized that our accounts werent charged ONCE but TWICE and with one of our friends THREE times. Up to 55 dollars.
They had manually gone back and recharged our cards WITHOUT authorization. They did not try to get in contact with us and when we called they put all the blame on us for something THEY had forgotten. They told us with attitude that «we should have known» «it felt like stealing» and that she felt it was «hard to believe that none of us noticed «. I find it hard to believe that a business would have such poor practices they cant remember what to charge four ladies who had been DRINKING.
IF they had contacted us, explained their mistake, and apologized, instead of attacking us we would have felt fine with the recharge but how they handled it was unprofessional, rude, and ILLEGAL.
Pay with cash if you come here at all.

I wish no stars was an option. I’ve never posted a review before, but this experience inspired me…
I had a mediocre tasting with my friends, then we each got a glass and chatted waiting for another person to show up. Once he got there we were asked if we could pay now because it was busy and having to deal with 4 different cards would take a while. Okay, sure. So we pay, I decide to buy an aerator, and instead of just charging my card again, she cancels the first charge (but I never saw a receipt saying the charges were reversed) and charges the card again.
When we get home, we all see an additional charge on our cards. After calling our card companies, and finding out the card number had been manually keyed in by the store after we had left (umm FRAUD much?), we called the shop and were rudely berated for «stealing.» Since none of us were charged for the small glass of wine after the tasting we figured it was included.
I’d recommend not going here, unless you like rude people and fraud! But if you do, pay in cash…
Edit: I’ve also found out, she FORGED my signature on the receipt to prove to the card company I’d agreed to the charges.
So go here if you’re looking for a really slimy business that has no morals and shitty business practices.

I came here after running the SF marathon.
Probably not the smartest idea.
Loved the location and ambiance of this charming place.
If I’m ever in Sausalito again, I’ll come by :))

They should call this place Basic Bacchus. Went here tipsy after our awesome experience with madrigal. Also went with higher expectations but now I can see why the reviews are so mixed. Clearly, they favor their friends over anyone else. Doug was a real sour puss and he knew we were tipsy bc we were cackling like idiots and he was just so smug when he was telling us what wine he was pouring that we were like whatever were gonna drink it anyway. I’m pretty sure he said «fine, it’s shit in a bottle.» HAHAHAH YOU RIGHT. The wine tasted dry and sour and my friend actually was like «this smells like diarrhea.» HAHHAHAHAHHA I CANT WITH THIS PLACE. Plus like selling all that other little bs. Place is trying to over compensate for their shit wine and hey I didn’t even say it, the guy that worked there did.
Take a stroll a few doors down to magical madrigal. Also, thank god for Kelly, she was funny and prob the only reason we didn’t walk out sooner.

Stopped in on Sunday (Memorial Day weekend) and had THE best experience! Doug and Kelly were so awesome– had us laughing the entire time. We had the Reserve Sampler– amazing. Thank you, Doug and Kelly, for the great time and delicious wine! We will be back! — and thank you, Kelly, for the dinner recommendation in the city– we went and LOVED. (LC)

After biking to Sausalito, we thought it would be nice to do a wine tasting. We were confused at first because when we walked in no one really greeted us or asked if we were doing the wine tasting. After a few minutes, we just grabbed a seat and asked, «hey are y’all doing wine tastings today?».
The girl behind the bar was really chill and awesome. You can pick between a white and red flight, just red flight, or dessert wine flight. I’m a huge red fan, so I got the red flight. My friend got the mixed. She gave him a few extra pours because I was enjoying my wine. It would have been cool to go off the menu a little bit and had a little more interaction with the wine expert, but it was overall a good experience! Unlike napa, it’s more laid back with just a few people in the store, so I enjoyed it.

I can see how the Bacchus & Venus star rating fluctuates. I try to remain as positive as I can during my reviews, this is a pretty generous one.
First of all, it’s Sausalito so everything is expensive and touristy, we get it. I loved the little shop attached to this winery and almost bought a bunch of stuff. So many awesome dog-​themed items! And ocean/​beachy items, also a huge plus for me. I think I will see if they can order me some pillows and ship to my house because they had the best dog breed specific pillows I’ve seen around! This sounds odd, I know, but picture a store full of wine stuff and they happen to sell throw pillows, too.
I felt the wine tasting experience was just so-​so. They had a pretty good selection but our wine guide missed the mark on a few of my preferred tastes. I wanted a heavier red, and a very dry white, and none fit the bill even after we had two different flight tastings.
One thing that sort of stunk was the arrival of our wine guide’s buddies. We went from a really informative tasting to her suddenly telling her coworker she’d be joining the other side of the bar in 10 minutes. We sort of felt pressure to leave. They could have made this experience better by handing us off to the other wine guide behind the bar, «this is Joe, he’s going to continue with you, Joe, they like dry whites or heavy reds» or something along those lines. We only had her to work with and while she was friendly, it was clear that she’d moved on to her friends and we were more of an annoyance then anything.
My friend ended up ordering a few bottles to have shipped to her house, and I bought one to go. I was a little sick over the price gouging but I was more into it for the vacation atmosphere. It’s not my first choice for a wine tasting experience.

A friend at work has been a long-​time member of the B & V wine club and I’ve been lucky enough to share a few bottles on delivery day. I’ve always been impressed with the high-​quality, low-​volume wine producers that are represented in the wine club shipments. As examples, I’ve sampled Adelaida from Paso, Bink from Anderson Valley and Sea Smoke from the Santa Ynez Valley as part of the wine club shipments. These are fantastic winemakers that are not easily found in random wine shops around SF.
I found myself in Sausalito on a recent Saturday afternoon and stopped into the tasting room to learn more. Kelly was pouring a Roussanne from one of my favorite Paso winemakers, Booker. I love the winemakers represented here at B & V! I spent most of my time scanning the inventory for wines from small winemakers that I have a hard time finding in the Bay Area.
The vibe is friendly and casual although around 0400PM it became extremely busy as regulars stopped in for a happy hour tasting. The staff and patrons all made me feel welcome and were extremely friendly.