With a little luck, you can spot whales from the vineyard, which is why the wines are called Whale Pod. The location on the coast ensures that the grapes retain their freshness. At night it is a lot colder, which ensures an even ripening. The grapes are picked at the end of February and after fermentation ripen for 10 to 12 months in third-year oak barrels. In the glass, the Creation Pinot Noir is light ruby red as a Pinot should be. This smooth fruity pinot noir has notes of violets, raspberries and a spiciness in the nose. On the palate, the wine is smooth, fresh and fruity with soft tannins and a lot of red fruit in the taste. This wine tastes slightly chilled, around 15 degrees, the best so this Pinot Noir is an ideal red summer wine.

Harvest year 2017 - 8 (Perswijn)
Harvest year 2017 - 8.5 (DGH)

When Jean-Claude (JC) and Carolyn Martin took up the challenge of starting a winery in a corner of the Walker Bay Wine Region in 2002, it was quite exciting. Indeed, vines had never been planted here before, but JC and Carolyn - both scions of well-known wine families - were determined and convinced of the area's potential. Together they founded Creation Estate in the Heaven-and-Earth Valley. Five years later, in 2007, the first harvest took place and they equipped the cellar with the best equipment from Germany, France and Switzerland. Since then they have been hard at work. Not only with their quality wines, the tasting room has also made a name for itself.

Today Creation Estate has 50 hectares of vineyards in the Heaven-and-Earth Valley. JC and Carolyn's winemaking philosophy is based on enhancing the beauty of nature. It is primarily about the quality of the grapes, not about the tricks that can be performed in the cellar. Making wine is a delicate art that has to be reluctant to capture the nuances of its provenance, says JC Martin. The terroir is important at Creation Estate. Not surprising, because the combination of higher vineyards and the proximity to the Atlantic Ocean creates a unique microclimate in Walker Bay. In addition, JC Martin works with wild yeast cells instead of commercially developed ones, read more about this on our news page.

In 2019, the municipality of Overstrand Hermanus in South Africa was awarded UNESCO 'Creative City status for Gastronomy' status! This is one of only 10 cities worldwide and the first on the African continent to receive this award. For the Creation winery, and other many individuals and boutique producers from the area, this pays tribute to the contribution they make to achieving sustainable development goals.

Creation Estate is located in the Heaven-and-Earth Ridge, a sub-area within the Heaven-and-Earth Valley. It is located about twenty kilometers from Hermanus, the coastal town on Walker Bay which is also known as the 'whale capital' of South Africa. The Atlantic Ocean not only makes the whales float around here with pleasure, it also provides an ideal climate for viticulture. It is warm there, but it rarely gets warmer than thirty degrees in the growing season. This is due to the fresh sea breeze and the fact that Creation Estate vineyards are slightly higher than most vineyards in the area. The grapes have the opportunity to ripen optimally, but retain their fresh acids thanks to the cool nights. The soil also plays an important role in this. The vineyards have a clay-derived slate soil called Bokkeveld. It prevents water stress and makes the vines less vigorous, which in turn contributes to the slow ripening of the grapes (due to the slow release of groundwater).

In short, Creation Estate has a unique terroir in the Heaven-and-Earth Ridge. They know how to translate this into full, but at the same time elegant wines with ripe fruit aromas, fresh acids and a beautiful minerality.