her story
My aunt Anne saved her empty appelstroop tins and stacked them into a tower in her kitchen. Nobody asked her to. She liked how it looked, so it stayed.
natural wine, small plates, art and connection
This is 
My aunt Anne understood the art of connection better than anyone I've known. Now we're opening a natural wine bar on Kloof Street in her name, and a meeting place for art, music, poetry and talks.
That was Anne. She saw beauty in things other people threw away, and in people other people overlooked. She wanted to know what everyone thought, especially the ones who saw the world differently.
She studied Russian, and learned Arabic to talk with her neighbours. She lived in communes, and went to church and to Quran classes to understand both.
My siblings and I spent magical childhood weekends in her little house in Amsterdam, and it was always full. Full of creativity, full of wonder, and full of people who would never have met anywhere else.
Anne loved poetry and music, and she found art in the most ordinary things. She never ranked it. If someone had made something with care, it was worth her full attention.
I think everyone has a bit of Anne in them. The part that is curious about a stranger, and open to an idea that isn't their own.
These days that part of us doesn't get much room. Our feeds and the people we surround ourselves with mostly agree with us, and it's easy to stay in that bubble. We need places where we sit across from someone who doesn't, share the books and songs we love, and try to understand each other.
So I built a place around her spirit, and gave it her name.
A table for people from different worlds, and a stage for the art, music, poetry and stories that sometimes get overlooked.
the wine
Anne died in 2022. She once gave me a little felt bag of cards, each with a wish in her blue ballpoint. I still have it, and our wines are named after them.
What are you wishing for tonight?
Natural wine from small South African makers you won't find on most wine lists, the kind of people Anne would have made space for. Tell us your mood, and we'll pour to match, with a few small plates to go with it.
tap a wish to see what we pourclick a wish to see what we pour
for energy
Testalonga El Bandito, I Wish I Was a Ninja
Lemonade for grown ups, the maker says: green apple, lemon and a touch of honey. Craig and Carla Hawkins started Testalonga in 2008, and now farm Bandits Kloof against the Olifantsberg in the far north of the Swartland.
Swerwer Chenin Blanc
Pear, peach and citrus, lean and dry. Jasper Wickens started Swerwer in 2012 as a home brew in Adi Badenhorst's cellar, and now makes his wines in a 100 year old cellar on his wife's family farm on the Paardeberg.
for pleasure
Intellego, The Pink Moustache
Cranberry, raspberry and white pepper, light with snappy acidity. Jurgen Gouws worked with Eben Sadie, Tom Lubbe and Craig Hawkins before starting Intellego in 2009, and makes his wines with wild yeast and nothing added.
Vinevenom, Satellites
Red berries, earth and spice, juicy with soft tannins. Samantha Suddons worked at Reyneke before moving to the Swartland in 2014, and makes her own wines in small, mostly non vintage batches from Swartland grapes only.
for a story
Craven Pinot Gris
Six days on the skins turns it pale red, with strawberry, red apple and a slightly salty finish. Mick, from Australia, and Jeanine, who grew up on her family's Stellenbosch farm, met as cellar hands in Sonoma in 2007 and started Craven in 2011.
Mother Rock, Liquid Skin
An orange wine with fynbos, citrus and stone fruit, broad and textured. Johan Meyer, known as Stompie, farms organically on Platteklip, a high farm in the Piketberg, and adds no sulphur to many of his wines.
for warmth
Natte Valleij Coastal Cinsault
Cranberry and cherry, earthy, with white pepper. Alex Milner brought winemaking back to his family's 1715 farm on the Simonsberg in 2005, and goes looking for forgotten old Cinsault vines, which he calls a poor man's Pinot Noir.
Scions of Sinai Féniks Pinotage
Berry and bramble, with a hint of earth after rain. The Bredells have farmed old dryland bush vines on Sinai Hill in the Helderberg for generations. Bernhard Bredell started Scions of Sinai in 2016 to make wine from them with as little intervention as possible, and these vines were planted in 1976.
for rest
Momento Paardeberg Grenache Noir
Rose, cranberry and strawberry, light with a very dry finish. Marelise Niemann fell for Grenache while working with Eben Sadie in Priorat in 2010, and Tim Atkin named her Young Winemaker of the Year in 2023.
Thorne & Daughters Tin Soldier
Tea leaves, yellow peach and warm toast, creamy with a salty edge, and copper coloured from its time on the skins. John and Tasha Thorne-Seccombe started Thorne & Daughters in 2013, and make it from what is believed to be the only pure Semillon Gris vineyard in South Africa.
for love
A.A. Badenhorst Raaigras Grenache
From a single block of under a hectare, described as the oldest Grenache planting in South Africa. Adi Badenhorst made his first wine at 13, and has farmed Kalmoesfontein with his cousin Hein since 2008.
Van Loggerenberg Break a Leg Blanc de Noir
Orange, potpourri, herbs and spice, with a gently savoury finish. Lukas and Roxanne van Loggerenberg started their label in 2016 and ferment with wild yeast. Lukas named this pink Cinsault after the double knee surgery he needed during one harvest.
This is the list we open with. When a wine runs out, a new one takes its place.
connection
Anne cared about genuine connection
So we made a few small things to get people talking.
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A question on every glass
Every glass comes with a paper disc around the stem, and a question on it. Ask the person you came with, or the one next to you.
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A wish for whoever sits here next
Write a wish for the next person in your seat, add your handle if you like, and we'll put it around their glass.
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Pass it on
A wall of books, songs, films, poems, places and things to do, left by the people who sat here before you. Take one, leave one, and ask us for a polaroid to pin up with it.
on stage
A meeting place for art, music, poetry and talks
Anne always managed to bring people together. Some evenings, the stage is open to anyone with something to share.
- Anne Talks. Two people get five minutes each on something they care about, then the whole room joins in. Anyone can sign up.
- Friendly debates. We open the room for a friendly debate between people who disagree, and share a glass afterwards.
- Poetry, readings and songs from anyone who wants to share one, whether it's their first time or their fiftieth.
take part
Want to speak, read, play or perform?
Anne Talks, a debate you'd like to have, a poem, a song or a story. Tell us a little about it. It doesn't have to be perfect.
We hope you leave having met someone new, understood someone a little better, or seen an old friend in a different light. And if not, at least with a really good book, music or art tip.