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 Just as a cricketer would enjoy a Benefit Year in the twilight of his career, when fans and supporters can show their gratitude for the role he has played, South Africans are planning a Benefit for Dave Hughes – author, distiller, wine maker, wine auctioneer and international wine and spirit judge as he completes 75 years of age, almost 6 decades of which have been spent in the wine and spirits industry. The contribution he has made to the South African wine and spirit industry is marked by numerous awards and citations he has received over the years- many of them international. Above all, he’s a man who has earned the respect and honour not because he demanded or lobbied for it but because people give it freely due to his modesty and humility.
I met Dave Hughes, looking very distinguished with his white beard matching his hair-despite his un-matching socks, at Mundusvini wine competition in Germany, 7-8 years ago, where we were fellow judges. Subsequently, I have been meeting him in South Africa a few times and many other countries regularly. I found him to be very approachable, soft-spoken and a reservoir of knowledge which he is always willing to share. He would explain to me very patiently, the stories about the days of Apartheid and Sanctions and how he convinced producers to send their wines for the competitions abroad where they would win many medals. He told me stories about the KWV-the monopoly co-operative set by the government in 1918 and how it controlled the prices and quantity each producer could produce and how the quality growth got stunted during the white rule.
Born in the then Rhodesia, he started his career in the spirits industry in 1956 as a distiller at African Distillers in 1956; he moved to South Africa in 1986 where he was the Operations Manager at Stellenbosch Farmers Winery, now called Distell. He became a freelancer in 1989. Earlier, in 1979 he founded the Cape Wine Academy, now the country’s supreme wine education and certification institution.
 He is a consultant to several wine competitions including the national Veritas Wine Competition, South African Airways and the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) in UK since it started 40 years ago. I got a very candid and instant reply from him when I once asked him what he thought of the wine competitions where we often met for judging, ‘they are to make money for the organisers,’ quickly adding, ‘of course they must add value to the participating producers because the number of samples are generally on the increase.’ He is also the official representative for IWSC in South Africa, he confesses candidly.
Cathy Van Zyl MW became the 250th Master of Wine in 2005--the first residing South African to get the coveted title. She teaches at the Cape Academy and helps edit the annual Platter’s Guide and has known Dave for many years. She is in London to judge IWC and Decanter Awards. Pleased with the recognition, she writes to delWine from London about Dave. "An eloquent and thoughtful taster with an encyclopedic knowledge, Dave is highly sought after and respected in South Africa and abroad. Despite a wicked sense of humour, he is never flippant about the judging task at hand, and always treats the wines he is reviewing with the utmost respect. He has truly been an asset to the local industry."
Fiona Macdonald is a local freelance wine writer involved with the South African wine industry for over the past 20 years. At one of the interviews with Decanter in February 2013 she was asked who her biggest inspiration had been during her wine career. She had said, ‘Probably my good friend Dave Hughes – he knows so  much more about wine than I will ever know, has travelled the world, and rubbed shoulders with the greats. Yet he remains the most down-to-earth, humble and intrinsically good person I know. Ego doesn’t come into wine for him, and he’s incredibly generous with knowledge and insight.’ Fiona penned the article about the Dave Benefit in wine.co.za yesterday.
The Dave Hughes Benefit is a befitting tribute to the man who has spent decades in servicing the local and international wine industry of South Africa. A legally administered Trust Account has been set up to receive any and all donations. The first of a number of fund-raising events planned is a Golf Day to be held at the Stellenbosch Golf Club on Thursday 15 May with a field restricted to 25 four-balls. A host of other events are planned for a year, culminating in a gala dinner in 2015 to honour Dave Hughes. These events include intimate and exclusive wine and whisky evenings in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban, celebrated with special and unique wines and spirits.
Indian Wine Academy and delWine salute the man who well-deserves the Benefit. Cheers, Dave!
For a few related articles visit
Feature: Be a Certified Wine Judge in a Day
Jonty Rhodes Scores another Ton
South African Airways: Tasting for Wines in the skies
Mundus Vini: Judgement at Neustadt
Subhash Arora
Tags: Dave Hughes, South Africa, Cape Wine Academy, Cathy Van Zyl MW, Fiona Macdonald |