Straw yellow with attractive glints of green, the Creation Chardonnay rewards with glorious layers of sun-kissed pear and peach enhanced by fresh minerality and a hint of piquant vanilla.

Do we also taste with our eyes? Undeniably, as Chapter 2 of our delectable new Creation Sensation Tasting Experience sets out to illustrate. Recently launched and already causing a considerable stir among our guests, the menu is guaranteed to titillate the taste buds in ways you’ve probably never experienced before. And the great news is that you can also enjoy it virtually.

Aimed at stimulating your sensory nerves and heightening your sense of taste and smell, the menu comprises six delectable courses or chapters, with Chapter 2 focusing on Hue and Intensity. Sight has a significant impact on the perception of wine. Have you ever tasted wine from a black glass? Or did you know: White plates enhance sweet flavours in food, black plates enhance savoury flavours and red plates make you eat less? Based on these facts, it figures that besides guessing what you might be drinking from a black glass, since you cannot determine the colour of the wine, the hue of the glass or the colour of your surroundings also changes your perception of taste. Exciting, or what?

As an aside: one of the reasons Creation uses Riedel varietal-specific crystal glassware for our on-site tastings is because clear, cold-cut crystal glasses best showcase the colour of our wines.

But back to Chapter 2 of our menu. Paired with the generously fruity, delightfully fresh Creation Chardonnay is an Heirloom Gazpacho with Chickpea Tuile and Basil – a vertical or contrasting pairing with a riot of colour and brimful of flavour. A Salad Niçoise is the second part of the pairing dish with the gold, white, green and yellow colours of the salad unpacking those of the wine – a horizontal or matching pairing of colour therefore.

During the tasting a Snellen chart is used to measure visual acuity. It is amazing to note that as you go through a character recognition process, your sense of smell improves since the optic and olfactory nerves are right next to each other. Stimulate the one, and you stimulate the other. Just for the fun of it we have also taken the colours of all the wines on the menu and created a word pattern to see if you have a colour recognition deficiency— the Ishihara test.

So is taste in the eye of the beholder? Early on in life, we begin to associate colours with flavours. Before we taste something, we usually assess what it is by its appearance. And thus colour perception has a significant impact on flavour.

To find out more and celebrate your senses in a unique and exciting way, click here to make a reservation in our Tasting Room. Alternatively you can order your Virtual Creation Sensation Tasting Kit by clicking here. Our Creation Personal Shoppers are standing by to advise you on bespoke orders and tastings and are also available to host personalised tastings at home.