SAN FRANCISCO — Looking for a taste of this city's rich military history? You'll find it, along with some rather good wine, at one of several wineries set up in former military installations.
The Armed Forces may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you picture San Francisco, but before it was a tech capital, before it was a hippie heaven, this was a military town surrounded by several bases set in the region.
People taste wine at the Vino Godfather winery on Mare Island in Vallejo, Calif., on Oct. 7, 2016. Mare Island was the site of the first Naval Yard on the Pacific Coast. Long before San Francisco was a tech capital or hippie haven, it was a military town, and some of the region's wineries are located in the footprints of what were once military bases.
Photo Credit: Eric Risberg/AP
Downsizing and consolidation led to a wave of base closures in the 1990s, which, after some tidying up, created a number of interesting spaces that have been turned into parks, sound stages, offices and other commercial applications, and, in what may be the tastiest development, settings for urban tasting rooms.
Here are a few places that have made the transition from battle-ready to bottle-ready.
The Fat Grape Winery on Treasure Island in San Francisco. The winery is located in the old Navy brig on the historic island in San Francisco Bay.
Photo Credit: Eric Risberg/AP
FAT GRAPE
Housed in an old Navy brig, this winery is one of several set on Treasure Island, an artificial island in the San Francisco Bay built for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition World's Fair. Taken over by the Navy in 1941, the island hosted strategic command and communications center headquarters and remained a military installation until 1997. It was sold to the city of San Francisco in 2007 and is now home to about 2,000 people.
Fat Grape, which makes only red wines and does not add sulfites, a preservative, offers free tastings and is open Thursday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (It's a small operation, so you may want to call ahead to check that it's open before you go: 415-613-8925.) Also on the island: Treasure Island Wines, a collective, and The Winery SF. Go here for more details on island wineries, http://sftreasureisland.org/Island-wineries.
You can get to Treasure Island by car via the Bay Bridge, or take the MUNI 25-Treasure Island bus from San Francisco.
People taste wine at the Riggers Loft Wine Company in Richmond, Calif. The winery is located in an historic building that once played a vital role in building the Liberty and Victory ships of World War II.
Photo Credit: Eric Risberg/AP
RIGGERS LOFT WINERY COMPANY
This is one of the newest urban wineries and is set in the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Park in Richmond on the east side of the bay. The building was an actual boat-riggers loft in the former Kaiser Shipyard where real Rosies put together Liberty ships and Victory ships during World War II. In fact, the SS Red Oak Victory, last surviving World War II-era vessel of those built at the Kaiser Shipyard, is moored nearby. Riggers Loft has a collective tasting room that is home to R&B Cellars, Carica Wines, Irish Monkey Cellars and Far West Cider Company.
Set on the waterfront, this is a great place to visit around sunset. Hours are 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday, noon-9 p.m. Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday. Food available and live music most Fridays and Saturdays.
A man makes his way up steps to the Vino Godfather winery on Mare Island in Vallejo, Calif. The winery is located in a mansion on officer's row. Mare Island was the site of the first Naval Yard on the Pacific Coast.
Photo Credit: Eric Risberg/AP
VINO GODFATHER
About 25 miles northeast of San Francisco, in Vallejo, is the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard, which has a military history going back to 1852. During World War II it became a submarine port and later built and repaired nuclear subs. It was closed in 1996. You can get there by car or, more scenically, by ferry from the San Francisco Ferry Building. The Vino Godfather Tasting Room, housed in a former officer's mansion on the base opened about a year ago. The tasting room is open noon-6 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and weekends and noon-8 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays. Live music Saturday afternoons.
