La Mar Cebicheria Peruana

You're sitting on the bay at Pier 1½ with the water literally outside the window, and the wine list lands with more ambition than you'd expect from a seafood-forward Peruvian spot. The California-Spain-Argentina trifecta makes immediate sense here — citrus-driven whites for the ceviche, structured reds for the anticuchos. It's not a deep-cellar situation, but it's clearly not an afterthought either.

The list earns its Wine Spectator Award of Excellence by threading a smart needle: Rías Baixas Albariño and Basque Txakoli do the heavy lifting for the raw fish courses, while Catena Zapata and Vega Sicilia Único anchor the serious end for guests who want to spend up. Kistler Chardonnay rounds out the California representation with real credibility, and the Don Melchor Cabernet from Chile sneaks in as a Latin American bonus beyond the Argentina anchor. The gaps are in European diversity outside Iberia — if you're looking for Burgundy or Champagne, you're mostly on your own. But for what this kitchen actually serves, the list is honestly better calibrated than most.

With 12 to 18 options running $12–$18 a glass, the by-the-glass program is functional and reasonably priced for San Francisco. We'd expect the Albariño to be a permanent fixture here given how hard it works against the Cebiche Clásico — and it should be. The rotation doesn't appear to move much, which is a missed opportunity given how seasonally the kitchen operates.