Winery August West Wines is closing, the final large production space for wineries to crush grapes in the city. August West Wines’s labels include August West, Sandler, and Mansfield-Dunne. While the Bayview’s small-batch Gratta Wines remains standing, the San Francisco Chronicle reports Ed Kurtzman’s operation was the final commercial winery in mainland San Francisco. Other wineries using the space to custom-crush their products helped keep the space open, Kurtzman told the paper.
That roster shrunk from 29 to nine in recent years, though. Those nine — Theopolis, 1211, Seamus, Perfusion, Grand Scheme, DeMeo, Arthur, Hersly and Fallon Place — will have to relocate. The paper details the various booms of winemaking in San Francisco, including the 1890s when 100 “wine houses” operated in the Paris of the West. Now, it’ll be one. Kurtzman will keep making August West and Sandler elsewhere; a final closure date was not provided.
One of Northern California’s go-to upscale Italian restaurants will take over the former MarketBar Cafe space on the waterfront. The team behind A16, which now boasts three locations plus La Pala inside the Ferry Building, will open Lucania in 2026. The San Francisco Standard reports owner Shelley Lindgren sees this new Southern Italian-inspired restaurant as part of San Francisco’s downtown recovery. The large, 140-seat space including patio will serve classic Italian fare and stay open until 10 p.m…