Janno Briers-Louw grew up as the seventh generation on the family farm Eenzaamheid in Agter Paarl. One year after matriculating at Paarl Boys High in 2002, he started his journey in wine as a member of the Cape Wine Academy which culminated in his graduation as Cape Wine Master in 2016.
Following annual visits to the Rhine in Germany in 2003, he worked as harvest intern at Rosenblum Cellars in California in 2004.
He started his B.Agric Cellar Management and Viticulture studies as part of the Elsenburg degree programme at Stellenbosch University in 2005, interspersed by visits in 2005 and 2006 to Argentina and Australia and part-time harvest work at Fairview Wines in 2007, the year he graduated successfully.
For the next two years, he was harvest winemaker at Spice Route, Swartland, on the family farm, Eenzaamheid, and at Perdeberg’s Ultra Premium Cellar in Agter Paarl. In 2009 as harvest winemaker and with very limited equipment he introduced an Eenzaamheid maiden vintage, the first wine produced there in two generations. He also completed the Cape Wine Academy Diploma.
In 2012 he visited Burgundy, Alsace and Champagne and launched the Eenzaamheid Wines brand. He has been managing director ever since, with his wines steadily winning many awards, among others, several Top 100 SA Wines, Michelangelo Gold medals, and a five-star award in the 2016 edition of the Platter’s South African Wine Guide.
He registered at the Institute of Cape Wine Masters in 2011 and passed all the requirements for CWM in 2016.
