A lovely invitation from Carolyn Martin of Creation wines to visit and taste their new winter menu
and to sample some of their new vegan dishes
had us heading off to the Hemel and Aarde valley recently on a beautiful autumn day
It costs R795 to experience the complete wine and food pairing
and you are welcome to request a vegan or vegetarian menu. Or go À la carteA good beginning was a glass of their crisp Elation Cap Classique, a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir,
classified as ‘Brut Nature’, because if contains only natural residual sugar from the grapes
Lemon, apple and blossom on the nose and apple, crisp, with fullness and a lovely tingle from the mousse
This is on the À la Carte Menu, accompanying a starter...
... of one of the best sushi experiences we have had
A Buckwheat sushi roll, sprinkled with warm togarashi spice, and sea lettuce
With the soya, it is like a small umami flavour bomb and the buckwheat gives it crunch
Chapter 1: Resonance is served with the 2021 Creation Viognier
The vegetarian option is this lovely mixed mushroom terrine, served on a grape leaf with three pickled grapes
and a crisp gluten free Bratzeli wafer biscuit. They are Swiss and are made with a special iron,
much like a waffle iron, but the results are thinner
The viognier has lovely white peach aromas which follow through on the fruity but not sweet palate
It has richness and depth, balanced with crisp fruit and lovely minerality
it is a lovely wine to pair with rich food like both of these course options
The non-vegan dish is a guinea fowl and nut terrine packed full of flavour with a nice garlic hit
This is served with a gluten free glazed Mosbolletjie roll, made with the last of the must from the harvest, and a Bratzeli
The next dish was a rare treat for, although we live on a coast where Perlemoen (Abalone) is indigenous,
much of it, sadly, is poached, making it very expensive and difficult to source
On the À la Carte menu, it is paired with Creation’s 2020 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blend
It arrives with a smoking ember on the plate, adding to the ambience
Served in its beautiful shell, topped with sea lettuce and samphire, and topped with lemon pepper pearls,
the perlemoen sits on a Kohlrabi mash
This elegant dish was utterly delicious and was complemented by the superb wine
and more atmosphere as you listen to the sea with a large alikreukel (giant periwinkle) shell to your ear
The Sauvignon Semillon blend is something we do very well in South Africa,
where our crisp Sauvignon Blancs and complex Semillons come together in pure harmony and sophistication,
echoing, but not copying, those of Bordeaux
Creation’s version is a classic, with Semillon showing well on the nose
and blending well with the Sauvignon Blanc on the palate; layers, full of crisp limes, lemon and well-integrated oak
Creation 2022 Sauvignon Blanc is lovely and dry, with fig leaf, pyrazine and granadilla aromas and flavours, crisp, zingy and fruity
Chapter 2: Passion - A vegan dish of Tofu marinated in turmeric in a dashi and mushroom broth with sesame, and cress
To add to the sensations, you are given half a ripe granadilla (aka passion fruit)
to taste alongside the lovely Creation Sauvignon Blanc
Lightly cured, steamed hake replaces the tofu; the fish is topped with tahini and sesame
on a bed of pak choy in the dashi and mushroom broth and a seared lime
Perfectly cooked fish, the dish is light as air and very satisfying; and a great match to the wine
Next we were presented with glasses of the four Chardonnays that Creation produces
and this does show how wonderful Chardonnay is in this amazing valley
The Estate is ethereal with a little smoke on the nose, and wonderful richness on the satisfying palate
The Reserve is a classic and has cooked apple & caramel on the nose and cooked apple and calvados with long flavours
Art of Chardonnay has fruit apple and lime dancing on the palate, crisp, ripe, dry, exciting
It has deservedly been the Wine of the Year in the Platter Guide
The Glen 2020 is named for their son
It has the perfume of apple blossom, with cooked apple and caramel and is well wooded
All the chardonnays go through malolactic fermentation and are barrel fermented
Creation is the place to discover what Chardonnay can become in the Hemel and Aarde
The restaurant is about to get a new exhibition of work by artist Kathy Robins which should be worth seeing
Through a series of sculptures, works on paper, as well as installations presented throughout the Creation Wines Estate,
Re-turn invites the visitor to pause and consider the deep connections to the landscape around them
Phillip Marais, restaurant manager is always to helpful and friendly. He is organized!
Carolyn Martin sat with us throughout the tasting of the food and wine and explained the menu and their philosophy
They understand the need to provide plant-based food and food that caters for allergies, health and welfare
And Chef Eleanor provides it in such adventurous and delicious ways
Carolyn's husband, JC Martin, the talented cellarmaster, was away the day we visited
It has been a long, slow harvest this year with great results promised
And the next course on the Wine and Food pairing menu Chapter 3: Innovation, goes with the Reserve Chardonnay
Pork belly topped with crisp fried noodles, on a rich celeriac purée, with pickled apple and lemon gel
picking up all the flavours of the wine so well
As Carolyn says, “Everyone needs a little magic in their lives" and courses like this do conjure it up
The skill of the sommelier!
Time for the four much anticipated Pinot Noirs that Creation crafts
and it is a delicious tour de force of excellence
The Estate has incense wood, cherry and vanilla on the nose and mild chocolate on the palate
A classic with no faults and if we were introducing someone to Pinot Noir, we would use this one
The Reserve, from a single site, is more subtle, more reserved, hinting at things to come
Dark cherry and plum fruit; clean and long with licorice wood on the end
The Art of Chardonnay, also from a single site, has the essence of cherry, layered,
with sweet cherry fruit under some kirsch, dark toast; it is perfection
Emma's Pinot Noir (named for their daughter) has perfume, pretty red cherry and cranberry notes and is fresh
it hints at things to come
The next Chapter, 4, is entitled Charisma and is accompanied by the Reserve Pinot Noir
Perfectly pink and tender sous vide lamb on a base of delicious barley carrot and onion risotto;
a vine leaf salsa with a lamb and red wine jus and Creation olive oil
It was one of the best lamb dishes we have had anywhere. Another perfect pairing with Pinot Noir
The restaurant entrance gallery has been greened with these hanging plants
Philip the juggler removing our tasting glasses!
Chapter 5: Alchemy. Fun with Finesse,
is a cheese platter paired with the unusual Creation 2020 Viognier Roussanne,
a wine blend found more in Northern Rhône and the much-colder region of Chignin in the Savoie AOC, known as Bergeron
The Creation wine has hints of honey from the viognier and lots of ripe fruit on both the nose and layered palate:
peaches, nectarines, limes. A lovely wine to quaff and with food
Four cheeses
Anysbos goat cheese Pecorino,
Aux fromage with a blue streak,
Tafelberg hard goat cheese and Belnori soft goat cheese
accompanied by a sesame cracker and a fruit purée
We also tasted the vegan cheese platter, which had a 'cheese' that tastes rather like humus
To accompany the rich and classic Creation Cape Vintage port style wine came a Sweet Temptation dessert served in a nest. On a soil of dark chocolate and olive oil cake is a gelato made from sweet potato, and topped with a crisp Bratzeli. It is accompanied by a rich, handmade Cape Vintage chocolate Praline which goes so well with the wine
This is the vegan interpretation of the Lamb dish, with baby beetroot the hero instead of lamb
Walter Finlayson, Carolyn’s renowned father, had come to see her and John could not resist taking his portrait
Three generations of Finlaysons have played an important role in the Cape's modern wine industry
Dr Maurice Finlayson, a pathologist originally from Inverness in Scotland, started the family wine business
when he bought Montagne farm in the Bottelary area of Stellenbosch and renamed it Hartenberg
His sons, Walter and Peter, both contributed significantly to the development of our modern wine industry
Walter took over the winemaking at Blaauwklippen in the 1970s
and was the first recipient of the prestigious Winemaker of the Year title, winning it in 1981 and again in 1982
He bought Glen Carlou near Paarl in 1988 and built it into a premium wine producer
His son David joined him in 1994
Walter sold Glen Carlou in 2003 and switched to farming Ayrshires. David bought his own farm, Edgebaston
What a wonderful meal and experience. We thoroughly recommend that you go and try it
Such great hospitality, superb wine and food and innovation has earned Creation several noteworthy awards:
GREAT WINE CAPITALS OF THE WORLD AWARDS 2021: Most Innovative Wine Estate in South Africa and Global
WORLDS BEST VINEYARDS (WBV) AWARDS 2019: Selected as number 45 among the top 50 wineries selected
at the inaugural 2019 World’s Best Vineyards (WBV) awards
The view of autumnal vineyards and fruit trees from the terrace at Creation
which is nestled beneath the mountain that gives the valley its name, Babylon's Tower
and, below it, heaven and earth, Hemel en Aarde
All our stories can be seen in the Blog Archive near the top of the column on the right
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