Nativo

After settling in South Africa in 1990, Argentinian-born Billy Hughes was inspired to start his own wine venture in the Cape. His farming interest grew from visiting wine farms in Mendoza as a boy with his father who was an agricultural engineer. 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. At the time, he drove all aspects of his young wine venture, from the 27ha vineyard to winemaking, blending and bottling. From 2010 to 2014, Penny managed admin and sales, putting NATIVO on the wine-market map in the Cape.

The name Nativo encompasses allusions to Billy’s native origins, his progress to becoming a naturalised South African and desire to produce a wine reflective of its origins infused with site-specific characteristics. As such, Billy makes sure that a minimally invasive approach to winemaking is taken.

In our vineyard we use our Trilogy approach to farming, where we overlap three recognized philosophies to obtain balanced wines. The Organic Movement, for which we are certified in both EU and NOP standards, is the base of our system. It is a very large, well-recognized and organized movement with many certification agencies and supporters. The main feature of the movement is the prohibited use of chemicals, pesticides and herbicides in the production of crops and other foodstuff which encourages a self-sustainable, reduced-input approach to farming and winemaking. However, it does not give any input on how to make good wine or produce good crops. It just says what you cannot do. The biodynamic approach is our second philosophy. It is similar in many ways to the organic movement, but it is also about subtle energies and the influence of planets and the cosmos on the performance of living things. It features Biodynamic Preparations that we use in the production of our composts and which we apply to the vineyard. The third movement, the Mineral Soil or Ideal Soils, is about the vine diet and how to feed it properly. We know that animals and humans need proteins, carbs and fats to ensure a good diet. Plants also need a balanced diet of calcium, manganese, sodium and potassium in the right quantities to ensure a healthy life. This movement looks at restoring the mineral balance that creates the ideal soil for plant and animal health.