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Tl;dr – If you’re in Cape Town and looking for a place to enjoy a great glass of wine, possibly over some tasty eats, I recommend you stop in at Publik Wine Bar.
I’m perpetually looking for great local spots to drink wine when I travel. As part of a larger trip to South Africa last year, I spent a few days in Cape Town, visiting wine farms in Franschhoek and Stellenbosch, and attempting to do the same in Constantia. After my failed post-hike tasting efforts in Constantia, I hopped in an Uber to Publik Wine Bar, hoping to turn lemons into lemonade (sour grapes were right there, my fault). Here’s a short review of my experience there.
My Visit to Publik Wine Bar
Located in the Gardens neighborhood of Cape Town, Publik Wine Bar is a small outpost that serves wonderful wines and tasty bites. The bar is especially strong on the natural wine front, though, as I learned from one of the proprietors, that’s not something a label he especially enjoys being known for. Instead, Publik Wine Bar seeks to be a destination for independent and smaller producers, showcasing the work of South African winemakers whose wine you might not otherwise find while passing through the country. After hopping out of our Uber, we changed out of our hiking gear in the restroom (I may not have confirmed the wineries hours but damned if I wasn’t going to have a change of clothes) and posted up in some pub seats by the window.Â
The first thing that catches your eye is the wine menu on the wall, featuring the day’s selections. True to form, all the offerings feature local South African producers doing some pretty cool stuff. 
If I were to judge from the bar’s decor alone, the rugged postmodern-industrial feel would suggest that the interior was designed by a University of Restoration Hardware at West Elm dropout who had turned to a life of edgy emo-revivalism. The Publik Wine Bar space – Source: You Are Travel
Honestly, I was worried I was in for a showdown at the hipster corral, but thankfully, the experience was anything but that. The service was super friendly and inviting. Over the course of a few hours, we sampled nearly all the wines offered – all were outstanding. That’s not hyperbole either – I was legitimately impressed by every wine I tasted. Prior to making a selection, we had a chance to sample a taste to see if we wanted to commit to the glass. Even the wines I didn’t go with tasted unique and well-crafted. It was clear there’s a lot of complexity and locality to the wines the team sources from producers.
Alongside the standout wines is an equally impressive food menu. We intended to snack but ended up leaning into the ‘to-share’ section of the menu. These lamb skewers and pasta were bonafide winners.
As it wasn’t too crowded, we had an opportunity to chat with the bartender and learn more about the South African wine industry. Like some other up-and-coming wine regions, most of the wine made by local smaller shops doesn’t leave the country – the volume and distribution just aren’t there. Even if you had a few days in town, it’d be a lot to visit and sample the offerings of many of these producers at their wine farms. Your travels would have you bouncing between Swartland, Stellenbosch, Paarl, Elgin, Breedekloof, Klein Karoo, Franschhoek, and many more places. This makes a spot like Publik Wine Bar, where hyperlocal wines can get some shine, super unique and worthwhile.
If you enjoy wine, I highly recommend stopping in here when you’re in Cape Town.
