Anzu
Sushi and serious California wine, Union Square
Union Square · San Francisco · Sushi
Reviewed April 7, 2026
Wingman Metrics
First Impression
Walking into Anzu, the wine list feels like it belongs to a California steakhouse that somehow landed inside a sleek Japanese restaurant at Hotel Nikko. That's not a complaint — it's a pleasant surprise. A 250-350 bottle list with Domaine Leflaive and Kistler sitting next to your omakase order is not something you expect on Mason Street.
Selection Deep Dive
The list leans hard into California and France, which tracks with Anzu's Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence earned in 2024. You'll find serious names here — Kistler Chardonnay, Far Niente, Stag's Leap Cabernet, Opus One for the show-offs at the table — alongside French heavy-hitters like Louis Jadot and Domaine Leflaive's Puligny-Montrachet. Oregon gets a nod with Domaine Drouhin, which is a welcome break from the Napa-or-Burgundy binary. The gaps are real though: no natural wine, minimal exploration of Champagne or Alsace, and nothing that feels genuinely unexpected for a Japanese kitchen.
By the Glass
Twenty to thirty by-the-glass options is genuinely generous for a restaurant of this size, and the range covers Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet without just phoning it in. Glasses run $14–$22, which is fair for Union Square. We'd like to see more rotation, but the breadth means you're not stuck ordering a bottle if you just want one pour with your spicy tuna crispy rice.
Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2021 — $78
Flowers punches well above its restaurant price point here — Sonoma Coast Pinot at this level typically gets marked up to $100+ in comparable SF spots. It's the bottle we'd order without hesitation.
Domaine Drouhin Oregon Evenstad Reserve Pinot Noir 2020
Most tables at a California-focused list are going to skip straight to the Napa bottles, but Drouhin Oregon is a legitimately great producer making Burgundian-style Pinot that plays beautifully with umami-driven dishes. It tends to get overlooked when Opus One is on the same page.
Duckhorn Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020
At $132, you're paying a steep premium for a widely available bottle that retails around $55-$60. Duckhorn Cab is good wine — it's just not $132 wine, and ordering it here feels like leaving money on the table when better-value options are on the same list.
Kistler Vineyards Chardonnay + Black Cod Miso
Kistler's richly textured, oak-integrated Chardonnay handles the buttery, lacquered intensity of black cod miso without getting steamrolled by it. The weight matches, the acidity cuts through the fat, and suddenly the wine list feels like it was actually designed for this kitchen.
Wednesday — Half-price wine on Wednesdays — the single best reason to plan a midweek dinner here. That Flowers Sonoma Coast drops to $39.
🎲 The Bottom Line
Anzu earns its Wine Spectator hardware — this is a thoughtful, well-stocked list for a sushi restaurant, even if the markups and California-France tunnel vision keep it from true greatness. Come on a Wednesday, take advantage of half-price bottles, and order the black cod.
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