Wine Concepts and Hughes Family Wines go back many years from the inception of their brand Nativo, both a White and a Red blend which have been available in our stores and on our online platform since inception. However recently we were introduced to several new additions to their range by Kiki Hughes and we are proud to offer them in this edition of Wine Gems.

After settling in South Africa in 1990, Argentinian-born Billy Hughes was inspired to start his own wine venture in the Cape. After being self-educated in viticulture and winemaking, in the year 2000 he and his late wife Penny bought an old wheat farm in Malmesbury, near Cape Town. Unknown to them at the time, this area – commonly known as The Swartland – would soon become one of the top wine-producing regions in the Western Cape.

Another wine brand we have been proudly supporting since their first vintage is Marras, who offer an incredible range of quality wines at affordable prices.

Martin ‘Marras’ Lamprecht was born Capetonian and raised in the small town of Dundee in KwaZulu-Natal. In 2010 he graduated from the Elsenburg Agricultural Training Institute with a Cum Laude in B.Agric Cellar Technology. He then went on to be mentored by the legendary David Nieuwoudt of Cederberg Wines. Marras eventually made his way to the Northern Rhône Valley in France and found that he had quite a bit to learn from the French, including that a winemaker must never overestimate his own importance. They also taught him how to produce wines that showcase the history of the vineyard and its people, while introducing him to some of the singular varietals he came to rediscover back home in the Swartland and Piekenierskloof.