Tap a pin to open the venue. Gold pins are Exceptional venues.
The best wine bars in Cape Town draw on the vineyards at the city's doorstep, and they open them by the glass with real ambition. At Belthazar on the V&A Waterfront close to 200 wines are poured at once, while Marble, along the quay beneath Table Mountain, serves older Boekenhoutskloof and Mullineux vintages. Bree Street holds two more: Tannin, three floors given over entirely to South African labels, and Culture Wine Bar, up a flight of stairs, with its own Steen and Elgin Pinot Noir. Further out, Furny's pours more than 70 wines under the milkwoods of Noordhoek, and Foxcroft looks across the Constantia Valley. Across these 7 venues, Swartland Syrah, old-vine Chenin Blanc and cool-climate Hemel-en-Aarde Cabernet sit side by side, each a single pour from the next.
Exceptional
Belthazar Restaurant And Wine Bar
Wine Bar · Cape Town, 8001, South Africa
Few rooms anywhere pour as widely as Belthazar. Set on the V&A Waterfront with views across the harbour towards Table Bay, this steak-and-seafood house keeps close to 200 wines open by the glass and more than 500 on the bottle list, and Coravin is what lets it pour rare vintages, small allocations and newcomers without committing anyone to a full bottle. South Africa is the heart of it, with an international selection for contrast. Wine director Darius Potgieter, back in Cape Town after years building drinks programmes in the UAE and now working through his WSET Diploma, keeps the list moving. Recent pours have run from Anysbos 'Disdit', a Chenin-led white from Botrivier, to Taaibosch 'Crescendo', a Cabernet Franc-driven Helderberg blend, and a mature 2012 Boekenhoutskloof Syrah.
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Furny’s Fine Wines And Taste Room
Restaurant · 67 Beach Rd, Chapmans Peak, Cape Town, 7979, South Africa
Out on Beach Road in Noordhoek, at the foot of Chapman's Peak, Furny's works as a restaurant, wine bar and bottle shop in one, with tables set beneath old milkwood trees and children and dogs made genuinely welcome. The family behind it, father and son Wayne and Murray Furness, run a menu of more than 150 wines, upwards of 70 of them by the glass, while the shop holds over 400 bottles, including limited allocations. That makes it close to a tour of the Cape winelands in a single sitting. Glasses worth chasing include Restless River's cool-climate Cabernet from Hemel-en-Aarde, Porseleinberg's mineral, whole-bunch Swartland Syrah, and the Mullineux Old Vines White from the Paardeberg. Tastings and food pairings run alongside, and the mood stays relaxed rather than reverent.
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Marble Restaurant Cape Town
Restaurant · 1 Dock Rd, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa
Marble cooks over open fire on Dock Road at the V&A Waterfront, with Table Mountain filling the windows, and its wine programme matches the drama of the grill. Sommelier Wikus Human, once named South Africa's best sommelier, leads a WSET-trained team, and more than 60 wines are open by the glass across sparkling, white, rosé, red and sweet, with sherry and port for the end of the night. What sets the list apart is its willingness to pour older vintages from the country's leading estates: a 2016 Boekenhoutskloof Cabernet Sauvignon, Ken Forrester's 2019 FMC Chenin Blanc served from magnum, and Mullineux's Schist Roundstone Syrah from Swartland. Younger, fresher bottles sit alongside, so the list works equally well for a single glass at the bar or a long dinner.
View Full DetailsOutstanding
Tannin
Restaurant · 86 Bree St, Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa
Spread over three floors on Bree Street, Tannin is a wine bar devoted entirely to South Africa. Owners Dominic and Lisa Wood built it around a cellar of more than 430 local labels, with Dominic tasting and buying for the list himself, and more than 40 are poured by the glass on a rotation that changes often enough to reward repeat visits. Expect everything from Swartland's low-intervention growers to established Stellenbosch names, with orange wine and cool-climate Riesling in the mix. Recent glasses have included Anysbos 'Disdit', a Botrivier white that layers Chenin Blanc with Grenache Blanc, Marsanne and Roussanne, and Minimalist's 'No Place like Home' Syrah from Elgin. Seasonal small plates are made for sharing, and the team knows the country's regions well enough to steer any glass towards a new favourite producer.
View Full DetailsExcellent
A Tavola Restaurant
Restaurant · Wilderness Rd, Claremont, Cape Town, 7708, South Africa
On Wilderness Road in Claremont, A Tavola has served seasonal Italian cooking to the southern suburbs since 2008, and the family behind it treat the wine with the same care as the pasta. The by-the-glass range is largely local, taking in Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cinsault and Pinot Noir, with Italian bottles from Chianti through to Barolo and Amarone for those who want to drink with the menu's homeland. The real surprise is the Vintage Cellar, a run of mature South African bottles stretching back to 1996, depth few neighbourhood restaurants attempt. Recent glasses have included Swerwer's old-vine Swartland Chenin Blanc, Crystallum's 'Peter Max' Pinot Noir from Hemel-en-Aarde and a Col di Rocca Prosecco Superiore DOCG, which makes a fine start to any meal here.
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Foxcroft
Restaurant · Constantianek, Table Mountain (Nature Reserve), Kaapstad, South Africa
Foxcroft has moved to the historic Constantia Nek site, where a dramatic ceiling installation hangs over the dining room and the windows look out across the Constantia Valley. The wine team has deep roots in this corner of the Cape: Carlo Stevens has worked at almost every farm in the valley and at the original La Colombe at Constantia Uitsig, while sommelier Jarrod Galvin came over from La Colombe with a keen eye for newer grape varieties. More than 25 wines are offered by the glass across bubbles, blanc de noir and rosé, whites and reds. Look for Graham Beck's 2013 Blanc de Blancs, Mooiplaas 'Houmoed', an old bush-vine Chenin Blanc from 2015 that still has bright acidity, and the Cabernet Franc-led Taaibosch 'Crescendo'.
View Full DetailsGreg's Hidden Gems
Culture Wine Bar
Wine Bar · 103 Bree St, CBD, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa
Up a flight of stairs at 103 Bree Street, Culture Wine Bar is the city-centre room wine people recommend to one another. Chef-owner Matt Manning runs it as an easy-going place for all comers, with more than 50 wines by the glass, a short food menu, weekly tastings and live music. The list mixes respected Cape producers with cult names, natural and low-intervention bottles, and imports from Burgundy and Champagne. The house's own-label range is a highlight: a Western Cape Steen, the local name for Chenin Blanc, an Elgin Pinot Noir and a 2014 Blanc de Blancs sparkling. The Guide rates the list for its range and personality, and Star Wine List agreed in 2023, awarding it the Grand Prix for South Africa's best wine list overall.
View Full DetailsFrequently Asked Questions
What are the best wine bars in Cape Town?
The Coravin Guide lists 7 venues in Cape Town. Belthazar Restaurant And Wine Bar, Furny’s Fine Wines And Taste Room and Marble Restaurant Cape Town are rated Exceptional (more than 60 wines by the glass); Tannin is rated Outstanding (41 to 60); A Tavola Restaurant and Foxcroft are rated Excellent (20 to 40); Culture Wine Bar is one of Greg’s Hidden Gems, a small by-the-glass list chosen for inspiration rather than scale.
Which wine bar in Cape Town has the deepest by-the-glass list?
Belthazar Restaurant And Wine Bar pours 200 wines by the glass, the deepest list in this guide, followed by Furny’s Fine Wines And Taste Room (150), Marble Restaurant Cape Town (60) and Culture Wine Bar (50).
Which neighbourhoods in Cape Town have the best wine bars?
The venues on this page cluster in CBD (Culture Wine Bar), Cape Town City Centre (Tannin), Chapmans Peak (Furny’s Fine Wines And Taste Room), Claremont (A Tavola Restaurant) and Table Mountain (Nature Reserve) (Foxcroft). Use the map above to plan an evening by area.
Where can I drink natural and organic wine by the glass in Cape Town?
Belthazar Restaurant And Wine Bar, Tannin and Culture Wine Bar give natural, organic or biodynamic bottles a place on their by-the-glass lists.
Which Cape Town wine bars pour Champagne by the glass?
Marble Restaurant Cape Town, Foxcroft and Culture Wine Bar keep Champagne or serious sparkling wine open by the glass.
Which wine bars in Cape Town have a terrace or outdoor seating?
Belthazar Restaurant And Wine Bar and Marble Restaurant Cape Town offer a terrace, courtyard or waterfront setting alongside their by-the-glass lists.
Which Cape Town wine bars have a sommelier on the floor?
Belthazar Restaurant And Wine Bar, Marble Restaurant Cape Town and Foxcroft have a named sommelier or wine team guiding the pours.
Which Cape Town venues pour wine by the glass using Coravin?
Belthazar Restaurant And Wine Bar pours rare and mature bottles by the glass with Coravin, so a single glass never means opening the bottle.
How We Select Venues
The Coravin Guide selects venues based on the quality and ambition and depth of their wine-by-the-glass programme.
Each venue is rated on how many wines it keeps open by the glass: Exceptional for more than 60, Outstanding for 41 to 60, Excellent for 20 to 40, and Greg’s Hidden Gems for small lists chosen for inspiration rather than scale. In Cape Town that gives three Exceptional, one Outstanding, two Excellent and one Hidden Gem. The deepest list is at Belthazar Restaurant And Wine Bar, with 200 wines open at any one time.
No venue pays to be included. Ratings reflect the overall standard of the wine-by-the-glass experience, not the broader dining or hospitality offering.
Wine by the glass turns a single evening into a tasting flight, and the wine bars in Cape Town above show how far a thoughtful by-the-glass programme can travel — from grower Champagne to bio-dynamic reds. Use the map to plan a crawl by neighbourhood, and open each venue for opening hours, the current pour list, and booking details.