KWV turns wine tasting into award-winning design at Decorex Joburg

At Decorex Joburg 2026, KWV Classic Collection reimagines the traditional wine tasting experience through the KWV Classic Café – a trend-led café concept designed to immerse visitors in the world of wine through flavour, design and discovery.

Conceptualised by KWV Classic Collection in partnership with Studio H, the café interprets the brand's Here for Living platform through the activation theme, Here for Good Taste. Rather than a conventional tasting stand, the experience invites guests to explore wine through thoughtfully curated food pairings within a contemporary café setting.

The concept was recognised with the Best Experiential Stand award as part of the House & Leisure Awards at Decorex Joburg 2026, celebrating an activation that approaches wine discovery as a complete sensory experience.

At the centre of the experience is an unexpected pairing medium: cake.

Each pairing has been carefully developed to demonstrate how aroma, flavour, texture, weight and contrast influence the way wine is experienced, offering visitors a fresh and accessible way to discover the versatility of the KWV Classic Collection range.

KWV Classic Collection Chenin Blanc, with its passion fruit, pineapple, guava and Granny Smith apple character, is paired with a mieliemeel Madeleine and Boerenkaas Catalan, bringing together a distinctly South African ingredient, savoury richness and the wine's vibrant fruit profile.

KWV Classic Collection Moscato Rosé, with aromas of rose water, Turkish delight and lychee followed by fresh strawberry notes, is paired with a vanilla Sablé biscuit. The biscuit's buttery texture and restrained sweetness allows the wine's perfume and freshness to remain the focus.

For the more structured Petit Verdot, ripe plum, raspberry, cedar, clove and herbal notes are paired with a dark chocolate torte and beetroot crème, complementing the wine's darker fruit profile and savoury complexity.

"Each pairing was designed to highlight how flavour, texture and aroma can transform the way a wine is experienced. By combining wine with thoughtfully selected food pairings, we wanted to give consumers a fresh and engaging way to discover the KWV Classic Collection range," says KWV Classic Collection Brand Manager Marline Wiese.

Visitors can reserve a seated three-course cake-and-wine pairing, enjoy an available café table or explore individual pairings at the tasting bar, creating an experience designed to balance guided discovery with spontaneous participation.

Alongside Chenin Blanc, Moscato Rosé and Petit Verdot, guests can also discover KWV Sparkling Brut, Grenache Blanc and Merlot, encouraging exploration across both familiar favourites and lesser-known varietals from the KWV Classic Collection.

Supplied by: KWV.

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