LOCATED IN AUSTIN, TEXAS
We are a tasting room, bottle shop and wholesale distributor featuring unique and sustainable South African wines, with a space that offers wine education and community events.
We believe that everyone
everywhere needs community.
About Me
Located on San Marcos St. in vibrant East Austin/ Saltillo
Cape Bottle Room is a dream with fifteen years in the making.
OUR MISSION
We believe that everyone, everywhere needs community. Many of us live in places where rapid transformation has left so many without a true sense of belonging, and we want to bring people together through our favorite catalyst – great wine. While wine compliments good food, it also drives great conversation and shared experiences.
This will be a place to eliminate the pretense people associate with wine and focus purely on its enjoyment and the uniqueness South Africa brings. South Africa radiates creativity, community and sustainability with a similar exuberance to Austin. We want Austinites to drink wine like they drink beer - casual, low pressure, and all about a great experience.
We decided to start Cape Bottle Room when we realized that there is a serious lack of South African wine options in the United States. This dynamic region is slowly gaining traction but we wanted to expedite their expansion and highlight the dynamic region in a dedicated tasting room and facilitate exposure through wine education. Those who know the wine region are loyalists and we are excited to expose our city and beyond to the excellence of South African wine.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
IN SOUTH AFRICA
As a somewhat emerging market, South Africa is setting a standard for social and environmental sustainability that exceeds nations with far greater resources and infrastructure in place to support such initiatives. As companies compete to be branded as “socially responsible,” and people flock to participate in ecotourism, South Africa’s wine industry has quietly risen to become a global leader in sustainable business.
The Biodiversity & Wine Initiative is a partnership between the South African wine industry and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to minimize loss of natural habitat and promote native species via sustainable wine production. Over ten years (2005 – 2015), the WWF provided free advisory support and guidance to Biodiversity & Wine Initiative members in the wine industry. The WWF notes that a third of the South African wine industry now has environmental management plans in place.
THE HISTORY OF THE
SOUTH AFRICA WINE INDUSTRY
The South African wine industry has a long history dating back to 1659, when a supply station for the Dutch India Trading Company was established in Cape Town. The intention was to plant vineyards and produce grapes and wine for the ship’s crew to ward off scurvy. In 1685, Simon van der Stel, became the Cape governor and expanded wine production, aiming for a higher quality, even bringing French winemakers to the region. As the wine industry evolved, there was an imbalance of supply and demand that triggered the South African government to form a co-operative known as KWV, a structure still in place today, regulating prices and setting policies. Up until 1990, Apartheid damaged the South African wine industry with most countries distancing themselves from the country for upholding horrific legislative policies of racial segregation. Since the abolishment of Apartheid, the wine region has experienced a tremendous renaissance, and the dissolution of the KWV relinquished the price fixing structure to create private business and elevate the quality to meet the competitive global market. The reconnection to the global wine industry also brought outside involvement into the wine making process which has reidentified South Africa as new fixture of the global wine market.
OUR SPACE
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OUR STORY
Cory and Danya have been toying with business ideas their entire marriage. Now, with 2 young kids we realized that not only did we want to create an exciting business, we wanted it to be about community.
DANYA
Danya wanted to design a business. She gave the business structure and direction and defined it as uniquely Austin. She didn’t just want to sell wine but instead redefine how wine is perceived and how it fits into everyone’s lives.