South African wine icon David Hughes died peacefully in Stellenbosch on Monday (6 February). He was 84 years old.
Hughes has left a tangible mark on the South African wine fraternity, said Bennie Howard, Cape Wine Master and director of the Cape Wine Academy.
“He was known for his ability, but was always modest about his impressive accomplishments. His career, which encompassed winemaking, distilling, journalism, consultancy and international wine and spirit judging, began in the land of his birth, Rhodesia where he worked for African Distillers.” Howard said in a heartfelt tribute.
“The South African wine fraternity is poorer for his passing but was richly blessed to have had him make such an abiding contribution. He will leave a void and be sorely missed by the thousands whose lives he touched in his inimitable gentle way.”
Hughes came to South Africa in 1968 when he was appointed operations manager at Stellenbosch Farmers’ Winery (SFW). Before resigning in 1989, he headed the company’s marketing and consumer relations.
During his SFW career he was a driving force behind the establishment of the Nederburg Auction in 1975, an event that in its heyday was regarded as one of the most prestigious wine auctions in the world.
Howard said Hughes was a firm believer in spreading the “gospel of wine”. “He was one of the founders of the Cape Wine Academy, a wine education organisation that is responsible for thousands of South Africans learning to love wine and deepening their knowledge of it.
“In recognition of the contribution he made to expanding wine education, Hughes was made an honorary member of the Institute of Cape Wine Masters, one of many honours bestowed upon him in his long and distinguished career.”
The International Wine & Spirit Competition benefitted from both Hughes’ wine and spirit expertise for nearly 30 years and he came to know the great and good of the international wine and spirits world through his decades heading up the judging panels.
Sadly Hughes lost his wife and partner, Lorna, in a car accident last year (“‘S’Bosch has lost a giant’”, Eikestadnuus, 1 September 2022). They were happily married, surrounded by an ever-growing pack of rescue dogs, for 21 years.
