Excellent international ratings for Creation Wines
JancisRobinson.com has published a comprehensive tasting report, entitled Stars of South Africa, in two installments: Sparking, White and Rosé, and Red.
‘For a number of years now, we’ve written about “the revolution” in South African wine, but that is now an old story,’ says staff writer and sustainability editor Tamlyn Currin. ‘South Africa has a well-earned, well-established position as a producer of some of the best wines in the world – they are certainly, on the whole, some of the most elegant.’
She adds: ‘The challenge when tasting SA wines, outside of the most commercial offerings manufactured for supermarkets, is to find wines that are ordinary.’
Creation is delighted to have received excellent ratings, in particular for our Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, not only from Jancis Robinson but also from international wine, food and travel publication Falstaff.
Jancis Robinson Ratings (wines tasted by Tamlyn Currin using the 20-point scale)
Creation Reserve Chardonnay 2023
Very, very idiosyncratic. A kind of ‘husky’ start: bran husk, cocoa husk, buckwheat and then it dazzles into resplendent lemon acidity, pomelo brightness and the tang-and-cream-and-zip of lemon-zested Greek yogurt. Caraway-seed texture. Really savoury and unusual. Compact with chalkiness on the finish.
17
Creation Art of Chardonnay 2022
Like their Reserve Chardonnay, this has a wonderful, unusual ‘graininess’ on both nose and palate. Intensely savoury. Toasted buckwheat, crispy potato skin, salted lemons, bay leaf framing steely citrus. So much here! Tight, taut finish with more than a touch of lemon verbena and menthol. Striking singularity.
17.5
Creation Art of Pinot Noir 2022
There is so much here. Layer into layer into layer of spice and stone, fruit and leaf. Reds bleed into gun-metal minerality. Green fragrance infusing into fine-ground sweetness and bitterness of seed and pod. Really long, uncompromising. Not trying to charm, but compelling. Tannins on a whetstone.
17
Falstaff Ratings (wines tasted by Peter Moser using the 100-point scale)
Creation Art of Chardonnay 2022
Medium golden yellow with silver reflections. Delicate roasted hazelnut, some caramel, ripe yellow tropical fruit and some mango, underlaid with blossom honey. Juicy, elegant, delicate fruit, with a creamy texture, a hint of nougat and lime on the finish. With well-integrated oak, it shows length. A delicate, easy-to-drink food companion, it has the substance of a Burgundian Grand Cru.
96
Creation Glenn’s Chardonnay 2021
Pale golden yellow, silver reflections. Fresh yellow tropical fruit, fine wood spice, soft notes of grapefruit and hazelnut. Juicy, white peach, complex, mineral-salty finish, taut and persistent, delicately chalky spice on the finish, good length, will benefit from ageing.
95
Creation Art of Pinot Noir 2022
Medium carmine garnet colour, purple reflections, broad ochre rim. Red forest berry confit with hibiscus and purples in the background, a hint of raspberries, candied lime zest, fine tobacco savouriness. Juicy, elegant, powerful, red berry texture, round, supporting tannins, mineral and salty finish, good persistence, a multi-faceted, complex food wine with a delicately leafy aftertaste.
94
Creation Emma’s Pinot Noir 2021
Medium carmine-garnet in colour with ochre reflections and broad edge brightening. Fine nuances of caramel and precious oak and subtle savouriness underlaid with a hint of mint. Medium complexity palate with a red-berry texture and fine tannins. Mineral-salty on the finish and still very youthful, it would make a multi-faceted food wine. Definite ageing potential.
93