16 great wine bars and wine restaurants in Cape Town 2024

Cape Town is one of the top tourist destinations​ in the world, boasting with world-class restaurants, amazing scenery – and, of course, great wine. Here's our guide to the best wine restaurants and wine bars in town!

  1. Phone: +27 21 465 0000

    Address: 39 Barnet Street, Gardens, Cape Town

    Best Long List of the Year South Africa, presented by Winterhalter 2023

    Aubergine Restaurant is centrally located in Cape Town in the inner-city suburb Gardens in a previous private house dating back almost 200 years. The interior is warm and welcoming with plenty of yellowwood furniture throughout the venue and a cozy fireplace for winter. The cooking is terrific and the chef owner Harald Bresselschmidt understands wine evolution better than many sommeliers and is a firm promoter and supporter of sommellerie in South Africa. The result is a remarkable (and mature) cellar of goodies for a small restaurant.

  2. Phone: +27 021 023 3643

    Address: 90 Regent Road, Sea Point, Cape Town

    After spending months as an evening pop-up inside Jarryds, a brunch spot that’s a staple of Sea Point, Ariel now has a permanent home next door. On offer is opulent and lush decor with cozy tables or bar seating. Long-time sommelier and winemaker Ewan Mackenzie aka ‘the wine thief’ has recently taken the helm of the wine program for the NoName Hospitality Group and has listed an dynamic mix of Italian wines alongside South African wines made from Italian varieties. No Italian food experience would be complete without the staple Negroni, of which they offer three versions. And make the next dr...

  3. Phone: +27 087 702 7470

    Address: 15 Arthurs Road, Sea Point, Cape Town

    Breakfast and brunch diner vibes by day, bustling wine bar by night. Arthur’s Mini Super stocks all things natural and low-intervention for wine enthusiasts looking for small-production wines you can’t find on most shelves. The food offers French, Italian, and American style options with outdoor seating that’s perfect for people watching in bustling Sea Point, just one block from the ocean. They also offer take away and retail wines if you wish.

  4. Phone: +27 87 153 5246

    Address: 103 Bree Street, Cape Town

    Sparkling Wine List of the Year South Africa, presented by Nyetimber 2023

    The South African wine industry's inner circles are flocking (socially distanced and masked, of course) to Culture Wine Bar on Cape Town's famous Bree St. The bar is super vibey with inviting burnt sienna hues, mood lighting, and a range of overstuffed booths, high top places to perch. Or you can park yourself at the bar and pontificate with the very knowledgeable staff.

  5. Phone: +27 21 430 3200

    Address: Bantry Bay, Cape Town

    Best Long List of the Year South Africa, presented by Winterhalter 2023

    Ellerman House is a luxurious five star hotel and Cape Edwardian mansion situated on Kloof Road in Bantry Bay. The terrasses overlook the sea where the sun sets, arguably the best setting in Cape Town in this regard. The hotel is very exclusive and private, so not a place where you can simply pop in for a drink on your way home, you will need to make a reservation in advance (maybe even plead a little bit) in order to be admitted. It’s worth it.

  6. Phone: +27 21 422 0384

    Address: 75 Kloof Street, Gardens, Cape Town

    Sustainable Wine List of the Year South Africa, presented by WWF Conservation Champions 2023

    ëlgr Restaurant on Kloof Street in Cape Town took advantage of the third alcohol prohibition to revamp and hire a new sommelier, LeRoi Van de Vyver, previously of the famed Belthazar Restaurant and Wine Bar. The main wine list is incredibly well thought out, and LeRoi has introduced an ever-changing Sommelier Selection list with some of South Africa's most coveted allocation wines. (Fun fact: LeRoi has made it to the finals in many sommelier competitions, so be sure to ask him about the stress of using port tongs on stage!) Just like great wine, the food is meant to be shared. You can mix and...

  7. Phone: +27 21 286 2733

    Address: 5th Floor, Speakers Corner, 37 Parliament Street, Cape Town

    Best Medium-Sized List of the Year South Africa, presented by Amorim Cork 2023

    FYN Restaurant is a modern and edgy space located on the 5th floor of a building located on Parliament Street in the Central Business District. The outside street is not giving much away of the inside, it’s borderline dodgy, but that just adds to the contrast. Once you come up through the elevator you end up in a ​super-refined restaurant with lots of dark colours, polished stone counters, sleek wooden tables, interesting wooden objects floating around everywhere and really, really great lighting. It is a beautiful spot with great views overlooking Cape Town's inner city. The cuisine is Asian...

  8. Phone: +27 87 153 5244

    Address: 103 Bree Street, Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town

    Best Short List of the Year South Africa 2023

    Grub & Vine is the place to go when you want to have a night out (or a long lunch) with excellent food and a great wine list. Chef and owner Matt Manning and his team have created something genuinely refined and curated. The menu is bistro-style and seasonal, where you can do two or three courses (with or without wine pairing) or order from the a la carte options. The menu's staple is definitely the Arancini, affectionately called "Matt's Balls" by the many regular patrons. The sommelier on the floor each night is Keize Mumba. Wildly knowledgeable, working his way through WSET Diploma, and wi...

  9. Phone: +27 064 527 1272

    Address: 141 Kloof Street, Gardens, Cape Town

    Best Short List of the Year South Africa 2023

    Judd's Local Eatery & Wine Bar is a great place to chill and have great conversations, with totally sharable comfort foods and a drinks list that has something for everyone. Wine, cocktails, beers; they have it all, whatever your palate is craving. Their excellent wine list has some of the coolest wine producers, like Trizanne, Savage, and Van Loggerberg, with old-school classics like Waterford, De Trafford, and Tokara. The food ranges from local fusion like snoek tacos and west coast crayfish roll to a plethora of burgers... and, of course, they have vegan options. They have street-side pat...

  10. Phone: +27 21 794 2390

    Address: Silvermist Wine Estate, Main Road, Constantia Nek, Cape Town

    Sustainable Wine List of the Year South Africa, presented by WWF Conservation Champions 2023

    La Colombe is South African fine dining at its best with white table cloths, a horde of service staff, refined detail everywhere and set on the mountain side surrounded by a forest of blue gum trees on Silvermist Wine Estate at the end of a steep and winding road leading up from the top of Constantia Nek. This is terrain that reassures 4x4 drivers that they made the right vehicle choice, don’t try to walk it up. The food and service is top notch and the wine service is quirky, showing confidence and personality. You will always have a good time here.

  11. Phone: +27 76 042 0224

    Address: Shop 28, De Oude Schuur, 120 Bree Street, Cape Town

    Bagel shop by day, cosy wine bar by night. Leo's Winebar on Bree Street has a vibe all of its own. The intimate space has about six seats at the bar, and comically, there is ONE table available for reservations which seats four. Most people congregate outside the bar for people watching and mingling with passersby. The wine list changes daily with 15-20 wines on any given night, but they pick the creme de la creme – smaller allocations, hard to find producers, and all things local and interesting. You're guaranteed to find a good selection of natural and minimal intervention wines. This intim...

  12. Phone: +27 21 422 0800

    Address: 72 Wale Street, Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town

    Openwine is a morph between a wine bar and a tasting room centrally located in Cape Town on Wale Street, about a corks' throw from the buzzle and energy of Bree Street. The spot is personified by its owners, a French and Italian couple (charismatic overload) that emigrated to the Cape and now forms an established part of the local wine fauna. The venue is comfortable and simple with several small private rooms and seating areas.

  13. Address: 11D Kloof Nek Road, Gardens, Cape Town

    Publik Wine Bar on Kloof, a staple of the cool kids and young guns wine scene, has recently changed ownership. Bar manager for the last four years, Domenic “Dom” Bodenstein, decided it was time to run the joint and keep the vibe going, and so bought it. Publik is the spot for organic, natural, and sustainable wines with something for everyone. It’s all about supporting local wine and ingredients. #LocalIsLekker (Lekker is “awesome” in Afrikaans) This cozy bar has a great by-the-glass list that changes daily, with another 100 wines by the bottle. With five seats outside, and a dozen inside, it...

  14. Phone: +27 21 879 6329

    Address: V&A Waterfront, 9 Breakwater Boulevard, Cape Town

    PIER Restaurant from the La Colombe group is a seafood lover's dream with stunning views of the V&A Waterfront. Outside ships bustling about and inside a calm and serene delectable culinary journey. As with the other La Colombe restaurants, the space is the theatre, and the food is the show. The Chef's menu is R1650 and an additional R1250 if you do the wine pairing. The pairing menu has a great mix of classic South African wines like Graham Beck Ultra Brut and Klein Constantia Vin de Constance to up and coming wines like De Kleine Wijn Koop Semillon and B Vintners Haarlem to Hope. The main...

  15. Phone: +27 21 447 0804

    Address: The Silo/The Old Biscuit Mill, 373-375 Albert Road Woodstock, Cape Town

    The Pot Luck Club menu has a little something for everyone. The small plates are meant to be shared, but you might want to keep them to yourself (the smoked beef filet with black pepper and truffle cafe au lait sauce had us licking the plates). They recommend six to eight dishes per two people, offering a cornucopia of flavors and textures. An even mix of fish, meat, and veg options are available to munch on while enjoying the view from the top of the old silo at The Old Biscuit Mill in the Woodstock. With Covid precautions in place, the tables are now distanced and have partitions, so you don...

  16. Phone: +27 21 879 6329

    Address: Pierhead Building (next to the NSRI, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town

    The Waterside Restaurant, also a part of the La Colombe group, sits directly below PIER Restaurant and shares the wine list. A bit more relaxed than its upstairs counterpart, the food is presented with a whimsical beauty that almost looks too good to eat! The six-course menu is R795 and is not exclusively seafood. If you're kicking things off with bubbly, the Colmant Blanc de Blanc is a staple. Iona Sauvignon Blanc or the Beaumont Chenin get my vote if you're in the mood for an easy-drinking white. A great selection across all South African wine categories. I highly recommend this place for...