Our History

Kobie, short for Jacobus, is a descendant of the first French Huguenot’s who settled in the Western Cape in the 1670’s. He trained as a winemaker at the Agricultural College of Elsenburg in Stellenbosch, Western Cape. He obtained a Diploma in Cellar Technology and distinguished himself as one of the top students in his class. During the following 10 years, he attained valuable experience in top South African cellars, including valuable time spent at one of Sout Africa’s oldest and most successful cellars, Spier. It was here that he first met Faisal, who was then Chairman of Spier Wines. Years passed during which time both Kobie and Faisal moved on from Spier; Kobie gained further experience in Marlborough (NZ) and at Gabrielskloof in Botrivier. By 2015, Kobie had set out on his own and established his own winemaking business, leading to the creation of Villion Family WInes.

Meanwhile, Faisal and his family had bought a wine estate close to Spier, planted vines and proceeded to develop a wine business and label called Moerbei, which is Afrikaans for Mulberry. It was in the early stages of these developments that Faisal met Naked Wines’ founder, Rowan Gormley, who was just getting Naked Wines going. A blind tasting of Moerbei wines followed, and Rowan loved them! Soon after, Naked Wines started stocking Moerbei White Gold and Sable; 2008 was the first vintage.

Initially the grapes from Faisal’s estate had gone to the Spier winery but the relationship with Naked Wines enabled these grapes to be used in the making of Moerbei’s wines. Soon afterwards, Kobie and Faisal were reunited by the then head Spier winemaker and as they say…..the rest is history! With Angel backing, sales to Naked Wines grew and there are now 8 game-changing wines that have become cult classics. If you like trying new wines that make you go, ‘where has this been all my life?’, you’ll love Kobie & Faisal.