As Grub & Vine enters its seventh year, Chef Patron Matt Manning is returning to the restaurant’s roots – good, honest cooking paired with serious wine – with the launch of a new regional series, Santé!
Kicking off in March with Santé Bot River, the six- to eight-week showcase will focus on one South African wine region at a time, celebrating its producers and terroir.
For the first edition, Bot River moves to Bree Street for six weeks.
- Each series will include a mix of renowned, “hidden gem”, and up-and-coming producers, with Santé Bot River featuring Anysbos, Beaumont Family Wines, Gabriëlskloof Wines, Genevieve MCC, Luddite, Villion Family Wines and Erin Wines. It will run until mid-April, when the next hero region will be announced.
Manning says that “Santé” – French for “cheers” – is less a theme and more a reset. After seven years on Bree Street, and following Grub & Vine’s recent win for Best Medium-Sized Wine List in Africa and the Middle East at the Star Wine List of the Year International Open 2026, he felt it was time to sharpen the business’ focus.
“I want to get back to the core of what we do best: great food, serious wine, an intimate room with real atmosphere, and a focus on the stories behind the wine. Championing producers has always been central to Grub & Vine, and this year we’re doubling down on that by celebrating a different, diverse South African wine region every few weeks, for city diners to explore.”
Manning believes that winemaker dinners have become commonplace and are thus starting to lose a sense of occasion or “specialness”, due to the sheer number of these event formats. He says that while it is fantastic that SA’s producers are being increasingly recognised, he wanted to create a vehicle that would allow him to spotlight a region over an extended period, highlighting leading producers from the region through every facet of his businesses, which includes Culture Wine Bar, The Blue Room and the Chef’s Studio (located in the same building as Grub & Vine at 103 Bree Street). Through the various touchpoints and over time, the six- to eight-week rhythm will allow each region to have weight and depth, rather than feeling like a passing feature.
“Instead of a once-off event, our regional wine series is built around immersion. For each region, we visit the vineyards, taste with the producers in situ, and really get under the skin of the place.”
This process inspires the design of a wine-paired menu that authentically reflects the character of the place itself, which diners can enjoy every day in Grub & Vine while creating other relevant touchpoints throughout the business – for example, a regional tasting flight in Culture, or a winemaker-led interactive dinner in the Chef’s Studio.
“It was important to me that this series not feel transactional or gimmicky. When you’ve stood in the vineyard and tasted the wines where they’re made, it changes how you cook for them.”
Manning says that Bot River is, for him personally, one of his favourite underrated wine regions. “Those in-the-know get it, but many people – especially tourists – tend to focus on the more established regions, like Stellenbosch or Constantia. Bot River is now where I believe the Swartland was a few years ago, just before the Swartland Revolution – on the cusp of serious recognition and cult status.”
The Santé Bot River roll-out
From March – mid-April 2026:
- Grub & Vine will offer a Tasting, Prix Fixe and À La Carte menu with an optional Bot River wine pairing or By-the-Glass list for diners to enjoy any day of the week (Grub & Vine’s normal award-winning wine list will remain available to diners)
- Culture Wine Bar will pour Bot River-themed tasting flights and a curated By-the-Glass selection.
- The Blue Room will also offer a Santé Bot River By-the-Glass list
- Sommelier-selected Bot River wines will be available for retail through Culture’s online shop.
- The series will culminate in a Santé Bot River Walk-About Tasting on 10 April at Culture Wine Bar, where the featured winemakers will pour their wines in person.
- The next region in the series will be announced early April.
As Manning reflects on the past seven years, he sees the series as a return rather than a reinvention. “Grub & Vine was built on the relationship between food and wine. That’s still the magic. This series just gives us the structure to do it properly; to give each region the attention it deserves.”
Bookings for Santé Bot River for March are now open. To book, visit https://grubandvine.co.za/
