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[title]Born, raised and trained in the United Kingdom, Matt Manning has built a loyal following in Cape Town’s culinary scene since opening Grub & Vine Bistro on Bree Street in 2018. Since then he’s added a clutch of other eateries and venues to his city centre locale, along with a brand-new outpost in the vineyards of Constantia with Grub & Vine Norval.
But he’s as passionate about wine as food, and Culture Wine Bar on Bree Street has become a firm favourite for wine-savvy locals and tourists. That made it a perfect choice as the only specialist bar on offer at Time Out Market Cape Town. We sat down with Matt to find out…
A chef running a wine bar… how’d that happen?
Well, if you look at my restaurant, it’s in the name: Grub & Vine. From the beginning I’ve been about French-style cooking served with the best wines available. From day one we’ve worked on having an excellent wine list. We opened Culture Wine Bar during the pandemic, and it’s become a space for people to come and have a great glass of wine, with a few lighter plates.
Right now we have more than 600 references on the list, featuring local and international wines, and we’ve won a number of Awards for the list.
Talk us through the wine list at Culture Wine Bar in the Time Out Market Cape Town.
It’s a labour of love creating wine lists, and as a chef I’m always looking for wine that goes well with food. We’ve done that well at the Market, with a chef-driven wine list. There are between 100 and 150 wines on the list, with about 30 available by the 125ml glass. That means you can have a glass of truly excellent wine and taste more widely what’s on offer. In the future we’ll also be looking at wine pairings with the different chefs.
How do you choose what’s on the list?
The idea is that it’s broken down by area, by region, so people have the opportunity to visit different regions through our wine list. It’s about giving each region an opportunity to be featured, and we’ll keep the list fresh.
Which wine region are you most excited about right now?
I have always been a big fan of what’s happening in Elgin. Their Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs are exceptional, but you also have producers like Radford Dale there planting exciting new varietals like Gamay Noir. In the Swartland Eben Sadie is planting new Portuguese varietals, and our Chenin Blanc from the Cape is second to none.
What are the most popular wines at the Market so far?
Everything by the glass! In our first two days we sold out, and I had to go down myself to restock! What’s proving really popular are the Culture ‘house wines; which offer great quality wines at extremely good value and have all been made with food in mind. There are six wines in the range, from Méthode Cap Classique sparkling wine to a Chenin from Swartland bush vines. The Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Elgin are both fantastic. The Syrah is from the Breedekloof, and we also have a natural Pinotage that’s really light in style.
Anything quirky for wine geeks?
Absolutely, we aim to have something there for everyone. We have a skin-contact from Snow Mountain, and a skin-contact Semillon produced by Jolette Steyn. It’s called ‘I’m Your Huckleberry’ and she only makes about 1000 bottles, so we’ve been lucky enough to get a couple of cases for Time Out Market Cape Town. These wines won’t be on the list forever, but as they are finished we’ll replace them with other interesting limited releases.
Alcohol-free wines… what’s your take on them?
I think there are some very good alcohol-free wines being produced right now. There’s Allure, which is a bubbly, which we have on offer at the Market.
What wine trends should we watch out for in 2024?
I believe we’ll see more restaurants focusing on offering wines by the glass, and better quality wines by the glass, not just cheap plonk. With things like Coravin the technology is there, and by having the best producers available by the glass it helps diners to understand the level of quality we have here in South Africa.