It's a Wednesday afternoon (Oct 8, 2025) at the Johannesburg In Your Pocket offices at Workshop17Firestation in Rosebank. While the rest of this co-working space is doing as advertised, we're setting up for a midweek wine tasting – with curious colleagues peeking in from the meeting next door wondering if theyr'e in the wrong profession.
It's deadline day, but no matter: it's all hands on deck to help. We're carrying bottles of wine, hunting down corkscrews, and delicately transporting the Riedel wine glasses we have on loan from WineX, which promise to make the tasting even better. As our host Kate Liquorish will later tell us, these are designed to enhance a wine’s aroma, flavour, and – her favourite word – 'mouthfeel', by guiding scent and flow straight to your nose and palate.
Five of us are gathered, each with six glasses set before us. On the menu? Three reds, three whites, and a series of uniquely South African snacks to go with them. We're on a mission to take the fuss out of wine tasting – making it down-to-earth, easy to understand, and fun for everyone.
The six wines we tried
Photo: Johannesburg In Your Pocket.
The six wines selected for our tasting are from South African winemakers exhibiting their current releases at Standard Bank WineX in 2025. They also represent six of the most commonly drunk wine varieties in South Africa.
1. Buitenverwachting Hussey’s Vlei Sauvignon Blanc 2022 (White)
2. Stellenrust Chenin Blanc 2023 (White)
3. Glen Carlou Chardonnay 2023 (White)
4. Nederburg The Winemasters’ Shiraz 2022 (Red)
5. Rijk’s Reserve Pinotage 2020 (Red)
6. Nederburg Cabernet Sauvignon Private Bin 163 2021 (Red)
Meet the tasters
After putting the call out to our readers on Instagram, three followers were invited to join us for this intimate tasting.Hein Swartland brought an everyman’s perspective – practical, price-conscious, yet open-minded. His go-to is a bottle of Pinotage, South Africa’s signature red grape, but he approached the world of white wines with genuine curiosity.
Vongai Marabwa, the reflective one, values balance and experimentation, savouring not just the wine but the full sensory experience of food and conversation. Her go-to is a smooth Cabernet Sauvignon.
Kefiloe Sello brought enthusiasm in local flavours, unafraid to try new things but unapologetically firm in his dislike of Chenin Blanc.
None of these three consider themselves wine snobs or have any formal sommelier training – they simply enjoy a good glass of wine like anyone else. “I fell in love with wine during my undergraduate years in wine tasting classes. Since then, I’ve explored all kinds of wines and discovered both my favourites and not-so-favourites,” Sello shared.
Joburg-based actress and food-lover Kate Liquorish, who you may also know as @joburgeats, led the group with her easy expertise and warmth, grounding everyone’s curiosity in thoughtful insight and a touch of history. Her go-to is a good Chardonnay (Hartenberg, Glen Carlou, or Arendsig) and a bowl full of Woolworths porcini mushroom girasolini in a quick burnt sage butter.
From our team, sales and content contributor Ruvesen Naidoo also joined in the fun. He's fairly new to the world of wine and often steers clear because of the headaches that sometimes follow. This tasting, however, taught him that the trick might simply be to sip, not down – and that, honestly, 4th Street Sweet White might still reign supreme. He’s now keen to see how it holds up next to some pickled fish and crackers.
Themes from the in-office tasting
1. CURIOSITY OVER EXPERTISE
Photo: Johannesburg In Your Pocket.
Gathered around the table, we asked: How do you usually go about choosing a wine? Some pick their wine with a quick Google search and a leap of faith in the tasting notes, others rely on trusted labels and friendly price tags, while a few know the best bottle is simply the one their wallet agrees with.
Liquorish kicked off the tasting with a selection that ranged from affordable to aspirational. “Price point means nothing,” she said early on, with a knowing grin. “We’ve got an R850 bottle here that might not even be your favourite."
It wasn’t – and that immediately taught us our first lesson: the best wine isn’t always the priciest; sometimes it’s the one that surprises you. We put this to the test by comparing a bottle of The Winemasters Shiraz (2022) that goes for R115 with a 1L box of Drostdy-Hof Smooth Claret for just R50. Blindfolded, we tasted them side by side – and only two of us could tell the difference.
Swartland discovered that white wine wasn’t as intimidating as he’d thought, Marabwa noticed how the wine’s temperature subtly changed its flavour, and Sello admitted that brand and price had always influenced his choices – until he realised how subjective taste really is.
The takeaway: Wine doesn’t need to be fully understood to be enjoyed – curiosity and an open mind are the best companions at the tasting table.
2. LOCAL FOOD PAIRINGS STAY WINNING
Forget crackers and Camembert; our pairings turned the experience into something unmistakably South African. If you'd like to replicate our menu, here's how it went down:
1. Pickled fish on crackers x Buitenverwachting Hussey’s Vlei Sauvignon Blanc
Why it works: This crisp Sauvignon Blanc cuts through the tangy, sweet-sour marinade of pickled fish.
2. Pap and chakalaka x Stellenrust Chenin Blanc
Why it works: The ripe pear and apple notes of the Chenin Blanc balance the heat and spice of chakalaka.
3. Chicken Licken wings x Glen Carlou Chardonnay
Why it works: A gold medal Chardonnay with a rich, creamy texture and balanced acidity – perfect for smoky or spicy wings.
4. Mince and vetkoek x Nederburg The Winemasters’ Shiraz
Why it works: The Shiraz’s pepper, dark fruit, and gentle oak spice mirror the savoury depth of the mince filling, while its smooth tannins complement the soft, fried vetkoek dough.
5. Malva pudding x Rijk’s Reserve Pinotage
Why it works: The Pinotage’s ripe plum, coffee, and mocha flavours echo the caramelised sweetness of malva pudding.
6. Koeksisters x Nederburg Cabernet Sauvignon Private Bin163
Why it works: This premium Cabernet’s bold blackcurrant and cedar-spice intensity provides a striking contrast to the syrupy sweetness of koeksisters.
Sello's favourites from the tasting – Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Sauvignon Blanc – all found new life alongside these familiar dishes. “The pairings worked because they made sense to us,” he said. Marabwa loved the koeksisters and pickled fish pairings and said, “I'm definitely trying out Sauv Blanc with pickled fish in the future.” Swartland couldn't stop complementing the malva with the Pinotage. Even Liquorish was impressed. “The crisp 'Sauv Blanc cut through the sweet, spiced marinade of the pickled fish. The green citrus notes married beautifully with the saltiness of the fish,” she said. “It’s one of those surprising combinations that just clicks.”
The takeaway: Our local menu took away the pressure to “get it right” and made wine more approachable when it meets familiar flavours. Also taking a page from French winemaker Christian Mouiex's book, who says: “More important than the food pairing is the person with whom you drink the wine.”
3. LETTING GO OF THE RULES
Photo: Johannesburg In Your Pocket.
There’s something exciting about realising that you don’t need to have the vocabulary or the training – or the budget – to have an opinion. Reflecting on our tasting, Liquorish said, "I enjoyed how honest people felt they could be; no one held back or felt the need to please, and that was refreshing!" Wine is meant to be shared, not studied. It's a personal experience.
We played a game of Wine Bingo after tasting each wine, where we marked the word on cards that best captured our personal impression. Youthful, earthy, jammy, vintage, and bouquet were among the descriptors. To make it more playful, Liquorish asked us to choose, for one glass, an animal that embodied the wine, and for the next, an emotion that summed it up. Some of the answers had us chuckling: For one taster, and we're not naming names, Chardonnay called to mind regret. Pinotage felt like a warm hug (with a flavour reminiscent of South Africa's Six Gun spice), while a Cabernet Sauvignon came across as a gracious deer.
This is quite the opposite of "wine lingo" – the jargon of the wine world used to describe how wine looks, smells, tastes, and feels in your mouth. While it can sound fancy or intimidating, most of it is just shorthand for describing sensory experiences. And we're here to tell you: Even if you can’t taste the hills of Constantia in that one sip like the tasting notes described, that’s perfectly fine.
The takeaway: Wine is a social connector – it’s more about shared experience than tasting and perfectly describing the notes.
Looking ahead to Standard Bank WineX
Photo: Supplied.
By the end, everyone had a favourite and a newfound curiosity about what’s next. Swartland summed it up: “I’m most excited to try wines out of my price range – that’s the point, right?” Marabwa agreed. “Pinotage has never been my favourite, but now I’m determined to find one I like.” Sello is looking forward to exploring South Africa’s MCCs. And Liquorish? She plans to pace herself. “I want to take my time this year. WineX is like the best buffet you’ve ever been to – if you overload your plate at the start, you’ll miss the special treats at the end.”
Five tips for first-timers
From one group of curious tasters to another, here are five beginner-friendly tips to demystify your tasting experience a Standard Bank WineX:1. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate: Your future self will thank you.
2. Eat first: Preferably something hearty.
3. Start light: MCCs, rosés, and whites before the reds.
4. Take a walk before you sip: Scope out the stands and what's on offer first
5. Don’t overthink it: If you like it, that’s enough.
Our office tasting reminded us that wine isn’t about “getting it right.” The best wine is always the one that makes you smile.
Visit Standard Bank WineX on Thu, Oct 30 or Fri, Oct 31, 2025. Go curious, open-minded, and ready to have fun. Get your tickets here.
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