In 1699, a certain Mr. Dippenauw was granted an enormous farm by his employer, the Dutch East India Company. It is uncertain whether this was a reward for his industry or whether the bosses cast him into the wilderness because he’d married dangerously (a sister of Adam Tas, diarist of the early colonial Cape and political rebel imprisoned by Governer Willem Adriaan van der Stel). What is known is that the newlywed couple was so overwhelmed by the farm’s isolation from Cape Town that they named it “Eenzaamheid”, a Dutch word meaning solitude. Today Eenzaamheid is owned by Christo Briers-Louw, whose family has owned the land since 1775. Christo is a dedicated farmer with an intimate knowledge of the soils of Paarl. The gravelly, decomposed shale soils on the farm allow Shiraz to ripen without irrigation, producing wines of great expression and concentration.
Winemaker's Tip: Try this wine against its sisters Beacon and Jakkalsfontein to experience the difference terroir can make in the ultimate result of a wine.
