How to Make the Most of Your 20 Tasting Tokens

One of the questions we get asked most is: “Will 20 tasting tokens be enough?”

The answer? Absolutely! In fact, with a little planning, your 20 tokens can take you on an incredible wine journey through some of South Africa’s finest producers.

Every Pick n Pay Wine & Food Festival Event Access ticket (excl. the Designated Driver ticket) includes a tasting glass and 20 wine tasting tokens. Depending on the Pick n Pay retail price of the wine, each tasting costs between one and four tokens, making it easy to mix everyday favourites with a few premium pours. 

• Under R100 = 1 token

• R101–R200 = 2 tokens

• R201–R400 = 3 tokens

• and wines over R400 = 4 tokens

The Johannesburg producers and pouring list has been published. Spend a few minutes browsing it before the festival.  

We get stuck in routine so quickly when buying wines – either from the same producer, the same wine or the same style of wine. This event is a wonderful opportunity to educate your taste buds!

Think about:

• Which producers you’ve always wanted to try.
• What you would like to taste at the event. White, Red, Rose… Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage of blends etc. This will help you focus on which stands to visit.
• Which wines / bubbles / cocktails you’ve never tasted before.
• Which premium wines are worth spending a few extra tokens on.
• A few “must-visit” producers and a few exciting discoveries.

Having a rough plan means you’ll spend less time deciding and more time enjoying.

It can be tempting to taste every wine at your first favourite producer but remember, there are dozens of wines waiting to be discovered.

Instead, try one or two wines from select producers before moving on. You can always return later if you have discovered something new. Browse the list of producers exhibiting and mark a few that you have always wanted to taste, haven’t heard of before or haven’t tasted their wines in a while. Have a game plan to use your time and tokens wisely, even though it sounds like a lot of time to walk around and taste through your tokens, it really passes by very quickly!

The Pick n Pay Wine & Food Festival is all about exploration and discovery, and you have a whole afternoon to do that.

Many guests arrive determined to head straight for the Champagne or premium Cap Classique stands.

While we certainly encourage treating yourself, remember that some premium tastings require three or four tokens. If you spend half your allocation in the first hour, you may miss out on discovering fantastic value wines elsewhere. Identify a wine or producer who’s wine you really want to try and dedicate tokens for this purpose.

A balanced approach means you get the best of both worlds.

Wine tasting isn’t a race.

Take time to:

• Chat to the producer reps behind the counter.
• Learn about different cultivars.
• Enjoy the food on offer.
• Participate in a few activations.
• Stay hydrated by drinking water throughout the day.

Your palate (and your future self) will thank you.

The Pick n Pay Wine & Food Festival is about much more than wine tasting.

Between tastings, explore the many experiences around the venue, including activations from:

• Pick n Pay Clothing
• Pick n Pay Money & Mobile
• Bomb Squad, Bomalumz and High Ball
• Beauty Lane
• Food vendors

… and plenty more …

These interactive experiences are the perfect way to break up your tastings, discover something new and enjoy everything the festival has to offer.

In support of responsible drinking, additional tasting tokens are not available for purchase at the festival. This encourages guests to savour each tasting, drink responsibly and enjoy the complete festival experience rather than focusing only on the wine.

If you’re looking for the ultimate festival game plan, here’s ours:

🍷 Start with lighter white wines.

🥂 Move on to sparkling wines and Cap Classique.

🍷 Taste rosé before heading into reds.

🍇 Finish with your premium wines or Champagne.

🍔 Stop for lunch and enjoy the food vendors.

💄 Explore the festival activations.

💧 Drink plenty of water throughout the day.

🎶 Relax with live entertainment and soak up the atmosphere.

Tasting closes at 16h30 – earlier than the event itself. Select your favourite wines, visit the wine shop on site and buy a bottle or two to enjoy with the live entertainment. It is a wonderful way to end of the day of exploring as the sun sets!

With a little planning, your 20 tokens can become an unforgettable tasting adventure, and you’ll leave having experienced so much more than just great wine.

Visit our Producer List & Tasting Tokens page and start planning your perfect tasting route today.