"Discover Metanoia Permaculture Farm and Distillery near Barrydale on Route 62, an award-winning Klein Karoo craft gin and whisky distillery that belongs on every Easter weekend itinerary. Here is everything you need to know before you visit." - Ruth Goodman There is a dirt road just outside Barrydale on Route 62 that has no signage. You drive down it through one or two farms, a growing sense of uncertainty building with every kilometre, and then suddenly you arrive somewhere that makes every moment of that anticipation completely worth it. This is Metanoia Permaculture Farm and Distillery and it is one of the most extraordinary, most authentic, and most quietly celebrated craft distilleries in the Western Cape.
This Easter, if you are exploring the Klein Karoo along the R62, this is the stop that will stay with you long after you have left.
The story behind the nameThe word metanoia is a Greek term meaning a fundamental transformation of mind and heart, a profound shift in perspective that changes everything that follows. It is a word that perfectly describes what founder Kenny Scheepers did when he walked away from a career as an international oil trader in 2015 and purchased a degraded, overgrazed piece of land in the Tradouw Valley near Barrydale.
What he found was a farm that had been stripped of its vitality. What he saw was the possibility of something extraordinary. And what he built, slowly, deliberately, and with deep respect for the land is one of the most remarkable small farms and distilleries on the Klein Karoo wine route.
A farm built on regenerationMetanoia is not simply a distillery that happens to be on a farm. It is a farm where distilling is one expression of a much deeper philosophy. Since 2015, Kenny and his team have been actively rehabilitating the land using regenerative agricultural principles including permaculture, agroforestry, and holistic management based on the work of Allan Savory.
The approximately 20 hectares of arable land at Metanoia are farmed organically and diversified, a living, breathing farm where the soil is being restored, native botanicals are thriving, and the relationship between the land and what it produces is deeply intentional. This is not an industrial operation dressed up in craft clothing. It is the real thing.
Award-winning spirits grown from the Klein Karoo landscape
At the heart of the Metanoia product range is the Klein Karoo Gin, a small-batch, handcrafted spirit that has earned national recognition in the most competitive arena of South Africa's rapidly growing craft spirits market.
Awarded Double Gold at the 2022 Craft Gin Awards and Gold with an exceptional 96 points at the 2024 Trophy Spirits Show, Metanoia Klein Karoo Gin is widely regarded as one of the finest expressions of what the Klein Karoo landscape can produce in a bottle.
The gin is crafted from 13 botanicals grown on the farm and in the Tradouw Valley, including buchu, artemisia afra (wilde als), confetti bush and other aromatic and medicinal plants that grow in abundance in the Karoo landscape around Barrydale. These are blended with classical juniper to produce a spirit of subtle, crisp citrus notes and genuine botanical complexity. The botanicals are macerated overnight and then distilled on a state-of-the-art Muller potstill imported from Germany, a process that achieves the kind of layered, delicate flavour profile that only small-batch, unhurried craftsmanship can deliver.
Beyond the gin, Metanoia produces a range of spirits that reflects the full depth of Kenny's distilling knowledge and ambition. The Metanoia Klein Karoo Single Malt Whisky, noted by acclaimed whisky judge Andy Watts with 90 points in October 2024, is a remarkable achievement for a farm distillery of this scale, with a nose of vanilla tartlet and cinnamon, a palate of lightly spiced shortbread and butterscotch, and a warm, lingering finish.
The range extends to single rye whisky, potstill brandy, grappa, and a collection of fruit brandies and eau de vies made from pears, apples and apricots grown on the farm. The Heerlik Gin, also produced at Metanoia, offers a different expression using seven botanicals including fresh citrus from five varieties grown in the Tradouw Valley.
Visiting Metanoia, what you need to know before EasterMetanoia is not open to walk-in visitors and has no signage on the road. This is entirely intentional and entirely in keeping with the character of the place. Visits are by appointment only and are arranged directly with Kenny Scheepers. This means that a visit to Metanoia is a genuinely personal, intimate experience, a distillery tour and tasting conducted by the man who built the farm and distils every spirit on it.
If you are visiting Barrydale over the Easter long weekend and you appreciate fine gin, whisky, or brandy, reaching out to Kenny in advance to arrange a visit is one of the best decisions you can make for your itinerary. A visit pairs beautifully with a stop at the neighbouring Joubert Tradauw Private Cellar, which is a close neighbor on the same stretch of the Tradouw Valley.
Contact Kenny Scheepers directly to arrange your visit by appointment:
WhatsApp: 076 936 1858
Email: [email protected]Website: www.metanoiadistillery.co.za
Instagram: @metanoia.r62
Located in the Tradouw Valley near Barrydale on Route 62
Why Barrydale and Karoo Escapes this Easter
Metanoia is one stop on a Klein Karoo Easter weekend that rewards the curious, the unhurried and the adventurous in equal measure. Barrydale, Daily Maverick's Small Town of the Year 2025, sits at the centre of a landscape and a community that is unlike anywhere else in South Africa. World class restaurants, craft spirits, award-winning wine, ancient mountain passes, natural hot springs and a community of artists, makers and farmers who chose this valley deliberately and love it deeply.
If your Easter escape to the Klein Karoo leaves you wondering what it might feel like to live here permanently, Ruth Goodman at Dormehl Phalane Property Group Barrydale and Overberg would love to show you what is possible.
As Barrydale's most awarded estate agent with six consecutive Agent of the Year titles, Ruth knows every property, every street and every reason why people who come to Barrydale for Easter so often end up staying forever.
Ruth: 074 142 2861
[email protected]www.dpgbarrydaleoverberg.com