There is a lovely road from Hermanus that twists and turns up through the Hemel-en-Aarde valley and when you get to the ridge at the top, looking down over rolling hills and vineyards all the way to the sea at Walker Bay, you can’t help but hear The Carpenters singing “I’m on top of the world, looking down on creation...”
From this vantage point, where JC and Carolyn Martin carved out vineyards and a wine estate from virgin land in 2002, the naming of their estate and wines as “Creation” makes perfect sense, as does their slogan “earthy wines from a heavenly source”.
Winemakers often talk about a “golden thread” running through their wines – a particular style or wine-making approach, or expression of a specific terroir that comes through in the flavours of the wines across a range. Tasting almost the full range of Creation wines recently with marketing manager Phillip Marais proved one of the few occasions where I could really pick up and understand this “golden thread”.
Owners Jean-Claude and Carolyn are passionate food people and hands-on in the vineyards and cellar, says Marais, with a focus on making wines to be enjoyed with food.“We want to make wines that are quaffable on their own, and versatile with food – wines that match well with food.
The wines are all about accessibility and balance.”And he’s right – there’s a clear umami profile that runs through all the wines, a savouriness and subtle salty minerality that just goes so well with food and, as Phillip says, always “a mouth-watering finish that prepares the palate to look forward to the next sip – or the next bite”.
That mouth-watering finish is what stands out in the full-bodied and refreshing silky sauvignon blanc 2017 – it’s got a delicious ripeness balanced with natural acidity that suggests it easily age into more elegance for up to five years. The wooded 2017 chardonnay is a fresh, easy-drinking style, lots of layers of flavour and richness but it’s not so big as to be “hard work” – honeyed vanilla balances with a touch of bitter grapefruit and the oak is subtly integrated.The sauvignon-semillon blend is definitely one to hunt down – a salty bouquet that carries through to a minerally finish, perfectly balancing the green zestiness of the Sauvignon with the fuller body, and a just hint of waxiness, of the semillon. The “earthy” aspect of Creation comes through clearly in the fresh and savoury pinot noir which has the gentle sweetness and earthiness of roast beetroot, umami savouriness balanced with red berries. – really just delicious.
A brilliantly ruby merlot is “The Merlot for the Anything-but-Merlot brigade”, says Phillip, velvety but not sweet, distinctive sour cherry notes, a touch of merlot mocha and smoky oak and spice – this is what mMerlot should be!My personal favourite, the syrah grenache is softer than the merlot (“this is syrah for merlot lovers”) with intense black olive savouriness, pepper and concentrated dark fruit that opens up and rounds out in the glass.