yollys wine bar finds its niche in Franschhoek with informal tasting model and focused local list

Franschhoek is not short on places to drink wine. Between estate tastings, restaurants with serious lists and highly curated visitor experiences, there is already a strong sense of expectation before you even walk into a space. That makes it a difficult place for a new wine bar to stand out.

yollys wine bar, owned by Simoné Yolland, doesn’t try to compete on scale or formality. Instead, it builds its own rhythm.

It sits somewhere between a tasting room and a casual wine bar, but doesn’t fully belong to either. That in-between space is where it finds its identity.

A different way of serving

At the centre of yollys is the “flavour belt”, or as they call it, “the mothership”. It sets the tone as soon as you walk in.

There is no traditional menu. Instead, small plates of cheese, charcuterie and seasonal snacks move through the space, and you choose what catches your eye.

It changes how people eat. There is less deciding, more noticing. You pick something, you talk about it, you wait for the next thing to come around. The pace slows down without feeling staged.

Because the offering changes with what is in season, no two visits feel exactly the same.

A tightly focused wine list

The wine list follows the same thinking. It is small, focused, and built around independent producers rather than volume or familiar labels.

The yollys team started out with around 25 wines. They spent hours tasting each one with Matthew Freemantle from Leo’s Wine Bar, refining the lineup as they went. After a lot of back and forth, they landed on a tighter, more considered list.

The final lineup really shows their love for South African winemaking. They’ve pulled together bottles from independent and boutique producers who like to do things their own way and aren’t afraid to shake things up.

Even after opening, the process hasn’t really stopped. New wines are still tasted regularly, and the list continues to evolve as they come across producers and bottles that fit the space.

There is a clear bias toward wines that don’t sit everywhere else. Bottles you are unlikely to find on a standard shelf.

Polished, but not formal

Franschhoek has a certain polish to it, and yollys leans into that visually. Everything is considered, from glassware to plating to the way the space is put together. But the mood stays relaxed.

It is not trying to be a formal tasting room, and it is not trying to be a restaurant either. The balance sits in between.

You can arrive knowing very little about wine and feel comfortable ordering a familiar glass, or you can spend the evening exploring lesser-known varietals and talking shop with the team. There is no pressure either way.

Finding the gap in Franschhoek

yollys works in Franschhoek because it doesn’t try to copy what’s already out there. It slips right into a gap nobody else is filling.

Around here, it’s usually either formal tastings at wine estates or full-on sit-down meals. yollys lands somewhere in the middle. You can just pop in with no reservation, hang around longer than you planned, and head out without making it a big deal.

The place is small – just enough room for about 25 people. So it feels friendly and close, not packed or hectic. And because it’s not huge, it’s easy for them to make the space fit whoever’s there. They don’t push a strict format or force an agenda. It just works around you.

Winemaker Wednesdays add to that rhythm, with producers coming in to pour, talk and spend time in the space rather than simply supplying wine to it.

Connection beyond the glass

There is also a clear thread of connection running through the concept. Many of the producers they work with are local, and a number are women, which ties back to the timing of its opening on Women’s Day.

More than that, there is an effort to connect what you taste in the bar back to where it comes from. If you discover something you like, the conversation often moves toward the farm or producer behind it, and where you can find them.

It is less about staying in one place, and more about opening up others.

Why it works

In a town where wine experiences can easily feel polished and predictable, yollys works because it doesn’t try to match that structure.

It shifts the focus away from formal tasting and toward a more fluid approach.

You don’t leave with a wine checklist. You leave having moved through something, and usually with a few things you want to go and find again.