‘The whole industry seems positive about the 2025 vintage,’ reports our viticulturist, Gerhard Bruwer, who says he is ‘very’ excited to taste the range of wines currently being nurtured in the Creation cellar.
It was a relatively short harvest period, from the end of January until the end of March, but for the viticultural team the hard work began last winter, as Gerhard reports:
‘Our 2024 winter rainfall was above average, ensuring a high groundwater table and full dams for the growing season. Winter temperatures were little higher than hoped for, but at least there was no early or uneven budding. Rainfall for spring was average, while rainfall for summer was below average, but water stress is never a problem for us, because we have irrigation in all our vineyards, and enough water to irrigate if needed. Luckily, we did not have many days above 30°C, especially during the last part of the grape ripening period, because this can lead to sun damage. The more moderate conditions ensured slower ripening, helping to ensure optimum ripeness. During the whole harvest period, we had only 10mm of rain. This ensured we had no rot and did not have to wait to pick any grapes. We could not ask for better conditions.’
Gerhard explains that normal concerns during a growing season relate to ‘too much’ of anything, for example, winds that are too strong, too many heatwaves, too much rain during the harvest. ‘We are grateful that none of the above was a problem in 2025. No gale-force winds during flowering or blowing off shoots, no pests or diseases, very little harvest-time rain. The overall crop size was below average, so we took extra care to ensure we did not lose any grapes through disease or water stress, but in all cultivars the grape quality was very good.’
Vineyard line manager Catherine Dees concurs: ‘This year’s harvest was outstanding. It took a lot of early mornings and hard work, but we’re lucky to have such a dedicated team that collaborates so well to make it all happen.’
‘I’ve never been part of a team that shows this much mutual respect and passion for their craft—from tending the vines to making the wine,’ says intern Talia Nazar.
In the cellar, Creation winemaker Gerhard Smith says his initial take on Vintage 2025 is that it is ‘a very high-quality year’ characterised by ‘great acids, low pH and moderate sugars with good flavour/ripening’. He adds: ‘The wines are obviously very young, with many still needing to go through malolactic fermentation in barrel, but the signs and basic building blocks for a great vintage are there.’
Here are some soundbites from Creation’s long-standing cellar hands:
‘Mother Nature was kind to us this year; our grapes were exceptional.’ – Urle Hansen
‘Vintage 2025 looks fantastic. The grape quality was good as always and I hope the wine will also be as good.’ – Kirsten Myburgh
But the final say goes to Creation co-owner and cellarmaster, Jean-Claude Martin, who keeps his verdict on the 2025 harvest short and sweet: ‘Just perfect.’