Creation Wines

Reviewed by Jacques Weidemann – 22 July 2010 at 18:08
Discoverer Winefly – 66 farms visited and 68 reviewed.

Dare I say the best tasting room in the…country….well if not yet then soon, I mean where else do they serve you chardonnay out of a chardonnay Riedel glass?? Oh and the wines are spectacular and getting better with each vintage

Reviewed by Jan Langenhoven – 18 June 2010 at 21:50
Trailblazer Winefly – 157 farms visited and 108 reviewed.

This is a new discovery go and find it , it is great. Nice food and cheese platters.

Reviewed by Lisa McAulay – 8 June 2010 at 20:33
Casual Winefly – 6 farms visited and 5 reviewed.

What a ‘fun’ visit, cellar tour included … spent a couple of hours at Creation, enjoyed both scenery, atmosphere and of course the wines … enjoyed a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc on the balcony … would definitely recommend.

Reviewed by Cobus Coetzee – 4 April 2010 at 21:41
Discoverer Winefly – 84 farms visited and 81 reviewed.

Great views, nice cellar tour, bit pricey but a must visit. The Sauvignon Blanc are amazing.

Reviewed by Peter Weideman – 24 February 2010 at 12:52
Casual Winefly – 6 farms visited and 3 reviewed.

Image, a place deep in a forest the quite surroundings, great wine, and great people, this is what you get when visiting Creation, a fun wine & food paring session, and great wine to enjoy with you meals, I must say one of the best experience I had this weekend past.

Reviewed by Genie Botha – 23 February 2010 at 15:00
Casual Winefly – 20 farms visited and 2 reviewed.

I do not have a bad thing to say about Creation. Every time I go there, weather they are packed to the brim or quiet, the service is always great and the staff is very well informed. I always learn something new when I visit Creation.

Reviewed by Maggie Ramage – 5 February 2010 at 15:15
Casual Winefly – 32 farms visited and 6 reviewed.

Just loved this wine estate. The staff were sooooooo helpful. The location lets you have amazing views across the valley. Tasting room is well laid out and the staff very attentive. Loved the Pinot Noir. The cheese platter was “to die for”.

Reviewed by Markus Pienaar – 29 December 2009 at 07:38
Novice Winefly – 0 farms visited and 1 reviewed.

one of THEEEE best experiences i’ve had. love this farm and its people and what they stand for. go green! such a lovely view, great wine and then the pairing…to die for!

Reviewed by Diana Procter – 27 December 2009 at 17:41
Trailblazer Winefly – 186 farms visited and 90 reviewed.

It’s quite a drive on a dirt road, but very definitely worth making the effort. Committed family which means well-trained staff. Beautiful venue and some great wines. A winery to watch.

Reviewed by Carina Dignas – 5 October 2009 at 14:21
Novice Winefly – 1 farms visited and 3 reviewed.

I have heard the most wonderful things about Creation Wines. Cannot wait to visit and experience for myself.

Reviewed by Matthew Cooke – 9 September 2009 at 10:12
Novice Winefly – 2 farms visited and 2 reviewed.

Beautiful venue in out of the way location up the Hemel and Aarde Valley. Had a great tasting – we were taken into the barrel cellar and given barrel samples of the Pinot Noir and Shiraz.
Really tasty Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier.

Reviewed by Frieda Lloyd – 29 July 2009 at 21:44
Casual Winefly – 16 farms visited and 10 reviewed.

Excellent views, great interior with chandelier made of wine glasses, fynbos gardens, food & wine pairing with platters from Season restaurant

http://www.tsr.ch/video/sport/2259460-football-coupe-du-monde-rencontre-avec-jean-claude-martin-vigneron-oenologue-en-afrique-du-sud.html

http://www.doasthelocalsdo.com/news/2010/07/06/do-as-the-locals-do-in-south-africa-creation-wine-farm

http://www.creationwines.com/docs/christma.pdf

A WARM WINTER WELCOME

Greetings from a spectacularly cloud-clad, misty Creation – where our vines are slumbering peacefully during their well-deserved winter hibernation and where, thanks to nature’s exceptional gifts, we’re already looking forward to our next promising vintage! Whatever the season, our beautiful farm on the lofty Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge never fails to delight the senses. Winter is no exception and we take pleasure in inviting you to share in our little piece of paradise where a roaring fire awaits you in the cosy ambience of our reception area.

In our quest to offer our guests a world-class wine destination and experience, we continually upgrade our facilities. Thus we have recently invested in the finest Riedel glasses to ensure that our wines are being served and tasted at their optimum. Talking about wine tasting, our range now comprises eight different wines and to match these, our canapé selection has been extended accordingly. More good news is our chef’s exciting new menu with irresistible winter fare such as the superb Venison and Mushroom Pie and the scrumptious Fondue de Vignerons. A special kiddies’ menu caters for tiny tots.

Whether you’re a first-time wine taster or a connoisseur; whether you’re looking for a relaxed family outing or an informative vineyard and cellar tour – Creation is the perfect choice. Nature lovers will delight in our beautiful Fynbos Garden which now boasts no less than 50 different species. Our exquisite collection of contemporary art has recently been expanded to include the striking metal relief sculptures by local artist, Uwe Pfaff. To enhance the regular music performances in our reception area, we have acquired a baby grand piano – surely a sign of exhilarating times to come! And whilst on the subject of events, our extended Events Calendar has proven to be a huge success. Additional innovations include the exciting opportunity for small groups to create their own wine blend in our cellar.

No doubt about it: World Cup fever is very much with us this winter. Thrilling as it may be, there’ll surely come a time when even the most ardent of football fans will long for some peace and quiet, a little respite from the hustle and bustle surrounding the event. As a World Cup visitor to Cape Town, why not treat yourself to an outing of a different kind? A magical trip to our picturesque little enclave is sure to reward and inspire you.

Among the forthcoming attractions on our winter calendar are:

Fondue Evening – 26 June 2010
MENU
Classic Swiss Cheese Fondue
Freshly Baked Tresse Bread
New Potatoes
Caesar Salad
Pickles and Sausages
Crusty Sourdough Bread Cubes
Chocolate Brownie and Coffee
R150.00 per person

Christmas in July – 25 July 2010
Traditional Christmas Lunch

For other highlights on our 2010 Calendar, please visit www.creationwines.com/events.php.

Wishing you everything of the best!

The Creation Team

PS: Do visit our blog at http://blog.creationwines.com/ or if you feel like a tweet, join us on twitter.com/creationwines.

French romantic poet Gérard de Nerval had a pet lobster called Thibault whom he would take for walks in the gardens of the Palais Royal in Paris, on a blue silk leash. Most people get hung up on the colour of the leash or the extravagance of silk, missing the point that lobsters make great pets as “they are peaceful, serious creatures. They know the secrets of the deep, they don’t bark, and they don’t gnaw upon one’s monadic privacy like dogs do.” They are also nice to eat.

The French love to take their pets on holiday and suitable accommodation can be an issue. If the Sandton Towers would not let a guide dog into the foyer for the launch of our blind-tasted wine guide, what hope for a house-trained crustacean? Guest houses are more flexible and I think I’ve found a five-star lobster pot.

Schulphoek Guest House in Sandbaai, Hermanus, has three things going for it that lobster-loving vacationers will appreciate.

With six double rooms and one triple with nautical names like “Oyster” and “Scallop”, it is on the beach of sheltered Schulphoek Bay full of crayfish – SA Prince of Pinotage Beyers Truter has a beach house up the road at Onrus and confirms the abundance of kreef.

Atlantic breakers roll in direct from Brazil and are Neptune’s internet for Thibault and his kind.

Schulphoek has a cellar of 13000 bottles carefully managed by Mannes van Zyl who recalls: “When the One&Only opened last year, they were boasting about a cellar of 6000 bottles. I wanted to give them a call.”

And what unexpected gems. All the obvious Meerlust and Vergelegen boxes are ticked plus future classics like the wines from Creation up the road on the Hemel and Aarde ridge plus hidden gems like the wines from Mischa on the Voor-Groenberg in Wellington.

“Andy Barns (Mischa wine-maker) visits us to taste his old vintages and even invited us to his wedding in December.”

But perhaps the deciding factor is a kitchen “wat skrik vir niks” (has all the bells and whistles).

Mannes himself wears a mean toque, trained under Garth Stroebel and has a stock of hilarious anecdotes about Lifestyle writer and Amazon adventurer Caspar Greef cooking a fish.

Schulphoek is owned by Johannesburg importer of Lacanche kitchen equipment, Wehrner Gutstadt, which explains the all-singing, all-dancing facilities; like a sous-vide water bath, which is essentially boil-in-a-bag cooking raised to the culinary Nth degree by practitioners such as Laurent Deslandes at Bistro Bizerka in Cape Town.

Schulphoek chef Rebecca Mathyssen wields the bath with aplomb. She whips up succulent confits of quail breast with a summer berry reduction and anise scented sweet potato puree which went magically with a bottle of Creation 2008 pinot noir, the two versions of berry fruit (jus and vin) singing sea shanties in harmony.

A similar story with juicy Creation syrah/grenache and a sous-vide kudu loin.

But the show-stopper was medallions of Walker Bay crayfish with dill ice-cream and Creation Chardonnay 2009.

It would have had Thibault in tears.

To date the rainfall has been lower than the annual average; judicious irrigation however ensures that no undue stress is placed on the vines. The drier conditions in fact keep downy and powdery mildew at bay, resulting in healthy grapes. Depending on the vagaries of the weather, harvesting should commence in the last week of February or first week of March and we look forward to a well-balanced crop of between 5 and 6 tons per hectare.

Wishing you everything of the best for 2010!

The Creation Team

PS: Do visit our blog at http://blog.creationwines.com/ or if you feel like a tweet, join us on twitter.com/creationwines.