The Hughes Family Wines is more than a winery. It’s a story of rediscovery, the circle of life, and being true to your roots.
After arriving in South Africa in 1990, Billy – an ambitious mechanical engineer – had a dream… make wine. But he didn’t want to make just any wine – he wanted to create wine that was a true reflection of the place grown, and the creativity of the family who make it.
The Swartland was this place. He bought a wheat farm on auction in Malmesbury, planted a vineyard, and started making wine. At first, he collaborated with different Swartland cellars, and then built his own underground cellar that harnessed the power of the earth – all off-grid, cooled by nature.
Billy’s farming interest grew while visiting wine farms in Mendoza as a boy with his father, who was an agricultural engineer. As a full-time mechanical engineer, Billy started Nativo as a passion project to fulfil his lifelong dream of making his own wines.
Alongside his engineering career, Billy oversees all aspects of the winery, and works hands-on in the vineyard and cellar.
Using his innate engineering knowledge, he is constantly innovating on equipment & processes. From sourcing new clay Quervi’s from Eastern Europe, to designing wine presses that use gravity, he is always creating something new to make wine a better experience for those who drink it. His tinkering is the heart and soul of The Hughes Family Wines.
Born with a mind for sales and the kindest soul, Billy’s late wife Penny stood by him as he began his wine journey. Working in travel most of her life, she decided to leave the travel industry and use her years of managerial experience and passion for sales to put The Hughes Family Wines in the public eye.
After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009, Penny continued to pour her heart into Nativo, and became well-loved in the wine community of Cape Town. Even after her passing in 2014, Penny’s memory perseveres in the minds and hearts of the Cape wine community, where she is fondly remembered.
Her spirit lives on through her family and through The Hughes Family Wines, which would not be what it is without her.
Raised with a passion and respect for nature, Billy and Penny’s daughter, Kiki, spent most of her childhood weekends being bundled into the car at the crack of dawn in her duvet-cocoon, still half asleep, and being awoken an hour later to the rolling wheat fields of Malmesbury.
She would play around the vineyard, picking grapes during harvest, and stomping the berries for fun, all the while learning the ins and outs of the cellar.
After a Master’s in Biology and Genetics, an MBA, and working in climate-tech, she is now emersed in the South African startup and Venture Capital space, helping founders of small science and engineering-based businesses grow and scale. Alongside this, she works with Billy every day to create wines that express their family’s creativity and passion, and which provide a unique experience for the taster.
