Hi there and welcome to Zorgvliet Wines Food Blog

Lets start by introducing myself. I am Dayyan du Plooy, Executive Chef and Picnic Manager here at Zorgvliet Wines. I have been in the Food and Beverage industry for over Ten years now, I m very passionate about my food and presentation, not to mention taste. So come with me thru this culinary experience and let me take you on a journey that will make your taste buds go crazy!

Lets take a look at some of Zorgvliet's history and background.

1692:      Old Stellenbosch Freehold Vol.2 fol. 15

                   15.10.1692

                   Grant to Casper Wilders

 

 

Casper Wilders or Willers

Casper Wilders, or Willers as it is sometimes given, arrived from Hamburg (or Homburg, this is not clear from the records) some time prior to 1680, for in this year he is shown as serving as a soldier with the Dutch East India Company. He only became a burger in 1686 yet in 1683 he was granted Zorgvliet by Simon van der Stel which was only registered n 1692.  On 17 September 1684 he married Adriaantjie Sterreveld, the widow of Heinrich Evert Smidt, the couple settled in the Stellenbosch district, and eventually at least three children were born to them – Adrianus, born on 2 February 1687, Jan (birth date unknown) and a daughter, Catherina, who afterwards married Abram de Metselaar.

 

Interestingly In 1686 Casper Wilders was banished to Mauritius by order of the Court of Justice for six years for stealing fruit trees. This sentence was not enforced by Simon van der Stel as Wilders suffered from epilepsy.

 

Not much is known about Casper Wilders, but it is certain that he owned several large farms in the area at different  times, among them Stellengift and the lovely farm in the Banghoek known as Zorgvliet which he acquired in 1692. In 1703 he sold Zorgvliet to Johannes Mulder, the former Landdrost of stellenbosch.