Eenzaamheid is situated in the Agter-Paarl area of South Africa’s Western Cape province. The name of the farm is Dutch for “solitude”, and refers to its isolation from Cape Town, when it was named in 1693. Janno Briers-Louw, winemaker, 7th generation farmer, produces award winning, handcrafted wines from the old dryland vineyards.
Because Eenzaamheid produces a very limited quantity of wine, each fermentation vessel is dedicated to a single lot of grapes; each tank is used only once during harvest, which means that fermentation and maceration are never rushed. After almost a year in barrel, the wine is bottled unfiltered and unfined and undergoes an additional year of bottle age before the wine is released— some two years after harvest.
Eenzaamheid Shiraz has intriguing notes of Fynbos shrub, Cape succulents, delicate red fruits, tilled earth, smoked venison and a kick of Eenzaamheid dust on the nose. The gentle tannic grip on the palate entry is sublimely supported by pure red fruits to flesh out the mid palate. Lively flavours of crunchy red currants, black cherries, fresh herbs, a venison meatiness and a roll of tobacco, with a bright acidity. It’s succulent and juicy, and it’s pure and precise.