A very kind and generous invitation from Carolyn Martin to visit Creation for lunch
when we were next in the Hemel en Aarde meant that we able to go
when we came to nearby Stanford for the Grootbos Chelsea Flower show exhibit
when we came to nearby Stanford for the Grootbos Chelsea Flower show exhibit
Creation has been rated one of the world's top three vineyards for visitor experience
The restaurant is always busy even midweek on a chilly, grey day
Spacious, airy and comfortable with sunny staff who have so much knowledge about the wine and food
and put you at your ease immediately you enter with a warm welcome
Neither of our two companions (on our trip to Stanford for the Chelsea flower show exhibit)
Lynne's Sister Marcelle and Judi Thomas, our neighbour, had ever been before and they are now converts
We were served the Creation Experience lunch,
currently entitled The Power of Flowers Collect Collaborate Innovate
The welcome drink was the 2021 Creation Roussanne Grenache Blanc Viognier - Rain in a Herb Garden
Intense fruit on the full nose, with layers and layers of lime, lemon, loquat and guava fruit
Served with a magic potion!
A Herb and Flower consommé that had all the potency of the best healing chicken soup mother used to make,
with delicacy and flavour
and as a counterpoint, the 2023 Viognier, always one of our favourite purchases
Elegance with ripe stone fruits offset with good acidity and minerality. Such a good wine with food
The Wine and Food pairing menu. You can also do the tasting just with plant-based foods
Hot steaming compact towels are awakened with essential flower oils to refresh yourself before lunch
Chapter 1: Creation Sauvignon Blanc Semillon - Oceans Gift
The wine has a very attractive classic nose of green peppers, a sea breeze and dive-in complexity
Silky on the palate, full to the brim with flavours of lime, fig and salty minerality
Lynne's favourite white wine is a Bordeaux style blend like this
The gardens and restaurant are full of wonderful sculptures, all available for sale
"Serenity" by Nanette Ranger
The food pairing was the Umfino Wild Greens and petals on a lettuce taco 'shell'
Umfino is a traditional African maize meal dish/pap cooked with cabbage and leafy greens
Here it had been formed into crunchy balls, deep fried, with great flavours
Creation Reserve Chardonnay - Absolutely Brilliant Chardonnay was next on the menu
Like all the wines, it was served in the appropriate Riedel glass, this with a frighteningly thin stem
On the nose, it has the required breadiness and a perfume that would be great to wear with lime and citrus
It has good texture with lime, lemon and golden oak (just 30%) adding depth and golden deliciousness
Served with B'Bos Trout, Peas and Potato
B'Bos stands for BardskeerdersBos,
a local commercial trout farm, named after its home village in the Southern Cape and one of the few left in the Cape
It was cooked to perfection and showed its quality. Such a good dish, we all exclaimed
Skin seared till crisp but the base still au naturel and soft
On pea purée, caviar with fresh peas and pods and a potato crisp
Wow and such a great match with the wine
At this point we were joined by Glenn Martin, the son of Carolyn and Jean-Claude
- he has something of each parent in his looks!
and he ably and amusingly guided us through the next wines and courses
A treat next, a little off piste... and very welcome
The 2024 Ridge Pinot Noir has that classic (for Lynne) dive-in nose, full of refined fruit and quality
Raspberries, cherries melded with good wood, holding but not impinging on the fruit in the classy wine
One you have to drink with good food - which we were doing
We also had a taste of Emma's (Glenn's sister) Pinot Noir
Layers of flavour, soft, gentle then reveals itself with lovely fruit on the nose
Palate: Sweet and Sour fruit, sappig, changes in the glass to a very gathered together wine
full of raspberry, tayberry and rhubarb
The dish: Lamb, Broccoli, Waterblommetjie, Maize
Tiny tender trimmed lamb cutlets on a bed of broccoli and pesto
with quenelles of well-flavoured waterblommetjie maize meal
Yes, we all picked up the chops and cleaned the bones, just not John's thing..
He hates using sticky, greasy hands on his camera
Glenn chose a dish off the main A La Carte menu for his lunch. Beef Shortrib with Fine beans
The next course was served with the Creation Reserve Syrah
Boom! powerful and full of flavour with good body, minerality and chalk. This has years to go
Cherry, spice, dark oak; a delightful food wine
The course was a crunchy Braaibroodjie served with local Gruberg cheese and pesto
Boom! powerful and full of flavour with good body, minerality and chalk. This has years to go
Cherry, spice, dark oak; a delightful food wine
The course was a crunchy Braaibroodjie served with local Gruberg cheese and pesto
And another treat, a taste of the 2024 Ridge Grenache Noir
Ruby red fruit, almonds and green leaves on the nose, so pretty
Velvet on the palate with tannins, great berry fruit-
tayberries, boysenberries, red cherries, chalky tannins - it all melds together so well
Time for dessert served with the Cape White, a port style stunner
Complex nose, with caramel, honey, pineapple, apricot in layers
Paired so well with the dessert of an upscale rich and sticky Malva pudding
topped with a honey bush gelato, cinnamon and a puff of honeycomb with ginger inside
A superb lunch that none of us will forget, all paired with Creation's best wines
Thank you SO much for the invitation and for allowing us to steal Glenn's time, which we so enjoyed
All the stories we have produced since 2012 can be opened from the archive list near the top of the column on the right of this page
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