Wine without the fuss: why Winefeast is our kind of gathering

Winefeast brings brilliant South African wine, good people and a generous spirit together in one gloriously un-stuffy Joburg celebration.

Wine is wonderful. However, the wine world can sometimes be a little tricky to navigate. Somewhere between the centuries of classification, the tasting-note tightropes and those persistent hints of forest floor, a drink rooted in culture, celebration and community has acquired an intimidating reputation.

Winefeast is here to loosen the cork on all of that.

The annual festival in Sandton has a refreshingly simple premise: you should not need to understand wine before you are allowed to enjoy it. Instead of hushed halls and stiff convention-centre carpets, Winefeast puts some of South Africa’s most interesting independent, minimal-intervention winemakers right at the centre of a very good time.

That idea immediately felt familiar to us at CN&CO. We believe the best experiences are open, human and built around real connection. Wine can do that beautifully: it gives people a reason to gather, a story to swap and, every so often, a memory that lasts much longer than the bottle.

“Wine has never really been about knowing the right words. It is about who is around the table, the conversations that begin and the stories you carry home. Winefeast understands that instinctively,” says Carel Nolte, CN&CO founder and EasyEquities chief enablement officer.

A relationship worth raising a glass to

Our introduction to the Winefeast team came through Derek Kilpin of Great Domaines, someone whose enthusiasm for exceptional wine is matched by his enthusiasm for bringing people together. It is the sort of introduction we love: one relationship opening the door to another, and a shared idea quickly turning into something worth celebrating.

Great Domaines has long helped South African wine lovers discover remarkable bottles and the people and places behind them. Winefeast brings a complementary energy to the table – curious, inclusive and more interested in enjoyment than examination. Together, they remind us that expertise is at its most powerful when it invites people in.

A festival for curious drinkers

The inaugural Winefeast in 2024 brought together 40 of the country’s best independent minimal-intervention winemakers and more than 900 Joburgers in the basement parking lot of a coffee roastery. Around 1 500 bottles were opened. People tasted, talked, laughed and shouted at the rugby. Wine was not the whole conversation; it was the fuel for it.

That spirit has helped Winefeast build a loyal following and create a bridge between winemakers and a vibrant community of curious drinkers. The festival’s founders describe themselves simply as people who love wine without necessarily knowing all that much about it. That lack of ceremony is not a weakness. It is the magic.

“The things we value at CN&CO – friendship, curiosity, generosity and a healthy disregard for unnecessary formality – are all alive at Winefeast. You can arrive knowing nothing about wine and leave with new favourites, new friends and a very good story,” says Carel

See you there

The third instalment of Winefeast promises more of the same joyful formula: 40 winemakers, more than 180 wines, 1 000-plus new best friends, excellent chefs, great DJs and the Springboks live on a billboard screen throughout the day.

Join the feast on 21 November 2026 at Father Coffee, 19 Dartfield Road, Sandton. Come for the wine, stay for the people, and leave the tasting-test anxiety at home.

Tickets and event information: www.winefeast.co.za.