I don’t know about you, but when I am dining out and I get offered the house wine, I often perceive it as being the cheaper option, or an alternative to the wines that are kept safe for the true wine afficionados. My perception of someone offering me a house wine has also often been that they are too lazy to explain the other wines on offer and then I would purposefully ask about another wine on the menu, purely to test their knowledge… I suppose it comes from being a mystery guest pre-Covid. But, the Cape Town-based Culture Wine Bar is proving me (and everyone else) wrong, as they have just released their own house wine, with the mission of restoring the dignity of house wines as we all know it.
“We wanted to introduce a premium wine collection, under our own label, produced for us by the same top winemakers whose wines we feature in our bar,” says Matt Manning, the owner of Culture Wine Bar. The small batch, high quality wines have been specifically sourced and have been produced with minimal intervention.
Some of the local wines included in Culture’s own label collection are: Culture Cuvee – an MCC by Lammershoek; Culture Village – a Chardonnay by Paul Cluver; Culture Crozes – a Syrah by Donovan Rall; and Culture Herminoir – a Pinotage by Spider Pig Wines.
The range also features three prestigious French wines that form part of the international collection: Culture Champagne by Champagne Monmarthe in the Premier Cru Appellation of Ludes, Champagne; Culture Bourgogne Chavy Roman (Chardonnay) and Culture Bourgogne Chavy Maximus (Pinot Noir) produced by Domaine Chavy-Chouet in Meursault, Burgandy. These last two wines are sentimental in many ways. For me, it reminds me of the de Villiers side of my family, who once had a farm in Franschhoek called Bourgogne. Named after Matt’s sons, Ramon and Maximus, they are of sentimental value to Matt as well.
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Alex Dale, Managing Director at Radford Dale Imports says that the addition of these three French wines is significant. “These highly respected Domaines have been producing tremendous wines for generations. Like most growers in Champagne and Burgundy, Monmarthe and Chavy-Chouet simply don’t do ‘own label’ wines. This partnership with Culture is a first, and especially poignant for an independent South African wine bar, 10 000km away from France.”
Matt adds that instead of going the ‘white label’ route, they have intentionally championed the winemakers behind the new wine range. “We both recognise and appreciate their talent and contribution. You will find these leading producers’ names on all our house wine labels, telling you exactly where the wine came from and who made it, and thus setting the standard very high.” He says that from day one, Culture has maintained that to truly celebrate South African wine, it will not serve the industry to be big fish in a small pond. “It’s our mission to facilitate access to some of the best wines from around the world. Not only will this add richness, learning and diversity to our local wine scene, it also tactilely demonstrates just how well SA wines stack up against their global counterparts,” says Manning.
On Culture’s own wine range’s label, you will spot the iconic 103 Bree Street heritage building in which Culture and Matt’s other establishments – Grub & Vine, the Chef’s Studio and The Blue Room – are housed. The Bree Street building holds special significance as he got married there. The illustration of the building on the label is based on a pencil sketch by Matt’s cousin, artist Claudia Rose, with the label design done by VH Branding. In an ode to the classic French labelling style, the aforementioned French wines’ labels differ slightly.
“We set out to create an exciting, great value, premium wine collection, produced by top winemakers, under a brand that people know and trust – and I believe our range does just that,” says Matt.
Dare I say that the Culture wine range might just be the start of a new era of house wines?
P.S. Follow me on socials for a review of Culture’s Steen 2020 Chenin Blanc from the Swartland and the Culture Crozes 2022 Syrah by Donovan Rall.
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