34 kloof street, cape town · opening soon
This is 
My aunt, and the reason we're opening a wine bar on Kloof Street.
Follow @thisisanne for the opening date
We'll post the date there first.
what
Natural wine, small plates, stories and art
where
34 Kloof Street, Cape Town · map
when
Evenings, opening soon · @thisisanne
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.
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 learned Arabic to talk with her neighbours, and went to church and to Quran classes to understand both.
My brother 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 books were one of the ways she stepped outside her own world. She found art in the most ordinary things and 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 show us people who already agree with us, and we rarely sit across from someone who doesn't. We need places where we do.
So I built this place around her spirit, and gave it her name. A table for people from different worlds, and a stage for the art, music and stories that sometimes get overlooked.
the wine
What do you wish for?
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. Our wines are named after them.
Every wine we pour comes from a small South African maker with a story of their own, the kind of people Anne would have pulled up a chair for. This is the list we open with. When a wine runs out, a new one takes its place.
energyTestalonga 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.
pleasureIntellego, 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.
a storyCraven 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.
warmthNatte 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.
restMomento 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.
loveA.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.
in her spirit
Short talks, friendly debates and a stage for new work
- Anne Talks. Two people, five minutes each, open to everyone.
- Friendly debates, with people who see things differently.
- First readings and new music, from people who don't usually get a stage.
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.